UPGRADE WITH LIBERTAS & EXP REALTY
By Tim & Julie Harris · October 14, 2026
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One in five sellers cut their price last month, the most for any September on record. If you have listings, the price conversation is coming. Have it in week three and you keep the listing and the seller's trust. Wait until week twelve and you'll be explaining an expired listing.
Buyers have more homes to choose from than they've had in over a decade, and the agents who win right now are the ones who tell their sellers the truth early. Today you'll get the exact words to use, how to set it up so a price change never feels like a surprise, a buyer-agreement mistake that could cost you, and why other agents' expired listings are your best opportunity this fall. Are you having the honest conversation, or waiting for week twelve?
1. Buyers have more choices than they've had in over ten years
What happened: NAR says there were 1.62 million homes for sale in August, 4.9 months of supply, as we covered Monday. The typical home took 31 days to sell, and NAR's Lawrence Yun says all this supply is "giving homebuyers better opportunities to negotiate."
Why you care: Your listing isn't just competing with the house down the street. It's competing with every house in the buyer's price range, and the buyer knows it.
Action point: Before every listing appointment, preview every competing listing and every pending sale in the seller's price range, in person, as if you were the buyer comparing.
Walk through them the way a buyer would. Notice the condition, the layout, the updates, the price and what you'd pick if it were your money.
Look hardest at the pendings. They show you exactly what buyers chose and what they passed over.
Walk into the appointment with those homes in your head. That's a tremendous advantage, because you can talk about the competition from experience, not from a printout.
Your listing price has to make sense in the minds of buyers and buyers' agents. Ideally, your listing looks like the obvious best choice.
Say this to your seller:
"Before I came over, I toured every home a buyer would compare to yours, and the ones that just went under contract. Let me show you what buyers are choosing, and where your home needs to be to look like the best one on their list."
2. Price cuts just hit a September record
What happened: Redfin says 21% of sellers cut their asking price in the four weeks ending September 20, a September record, as we covered Monday. Denver and Indianapolis were near 30%, and San Antonio, Dallas and Austin were all above 26%. And, as Monday's issue noted, nearly half of buyers are getting some kind of concession from the seller.
Why you care: Your seller's neighbors are cutting their prices. If your seller doesn't hear it from you, they'll hear it from someone else and wonder why you didn't tell them. Redfin's Asad Khan nailed it: the sellers who sell fast are the ones who get the price right from day one.
3. Home prices are still up, but it depends where you live
What happened: The national median price was $429,100 in August, up 1.6% from a year ago, the 38th month in a row of gains. In the Northeast, prices were up 4.3%. In the Midwest, 3.3%. In the South, less than 1%. And in the West, prices dipped slightly.
Why you care: Prices aren't crashing, and you should say that loud and clear to anyone who asks. But your seller's market can look nothing like the national headline. Know your local numbers cold.
Say this:
"Prices in our area are holding steady. What's changed is buyers have choices. The homes that are priced right are selling. The ones that aren't are sitting."
4. The buyer-agent commission mistake that could cost you
What happened: Here's a mistake that's costing agents right now. Here's an illustration: say an agent in Phoenix signs a buyer agreement at 2%, then collects a builder's 3% offer and calls the difference a "bonus." The buyer agreement sets the ceiling. Taking more than it allows can get you in real trouble.
Why you care: This is the new world of buyer agreements, and plenty of good agents still aren't sure of the rules.
What to do: Put the highest fee you'd ever want on the agreement, with specific numbers for resale, new construction and rentals. You can always go down, but you can never go up. And before you take any extra money, ask yourself: does this help my buyer, or only me?
Our Premier Coaching members already have this covered. The Buyer Presentation is part of Premier Coaching, and it walks your buyer through the agreement and your fee the right way, so mistakes like this one never happen.
The price reduction conversation, and where your spring listings are hiding
The reason price reductions feel so awful is that most agents never set them up. The seller signs the listing, you go quiet for three weeks, and then you call and say, "We need to lower the price." Of course they get mad. It feels like you've been holding out on them.
Part one: set it up at the listing appointment
Agree on the plan before you sign. "Let's agree on a game plan right now. If we don't have a showing in 10 days, or an offer in 21, we'll sit down and look at what the market is telling us. Fair?" Now a price change is a plan, not a surprise.
Show up with the market, not your opinion. The competing homes and pendings you previewed, new listings that came on, recent price cuts nearby, showing feedback, and how long similar homes are taking to sell. At a price review, preview the new competition again first.
Let them say it first. "Based on what buyers are doing, what do you think they're telling us?" When the seller says the price out loud, it's their decision, not yours.
Make one real move. In a market with more homes coming on, a tiny cut just chases the market down. One meaningful adjustment beats three little ones.
And here's the script for when your seller pushes back:
"I'm not here to tell you to lower your price. I'm here to tell you what the market is telling us. You can choose what to do with that, and I'll back you either way."
Part two: other agents' expired listings
Every listing that expires or gets pulled this fall belongs to someone who still wants to move. Most of them will list again in January or February.
Call with a question, not a pitch. "I noticed your home came off the market. Are you still planning to move, or have you decided to stay?"
Be the agent who explains why it didn't sell. Bring the list of competing homes and price cuts in their neighborhood. Every other agent is going to ask for the listing. You're going to give them the reason.
Your challenge this week: Call every one of your current sellers and set a market review date. Then call five expired or withdrawn listings in your area.
Listener question: "45 days, no offers, and my seller won't reduce"
"My listing has been on 45 days with no offers, and my seller won't reduce. What do I say?"
Stop asking for the price cut. Give them choices.
"We have four options. We can adjust the price. We can offer to help with the buyer's closing costs or rate. We can improve the condition, with paint, carpet, or a deep clean. Or we can take it off the market and come back in the spring. Which of those feels right to you?"
Bring showing feedback and what's sold nearby. Let the market do the talking.
If they choose to wait, write it down, agree on the next review date, and keep showing up.
Listener question: "Should I call expireds now or wait until January?"
"Should I call expired listings now, or wait until January when they're ready to list again?"
Now. Absolutely now.
The agent who builds the relationship in October gets the listing in January.
Fall is when you help them figure out what went wrong: price, condition, timing or marketing. By spring, they trust you.
Stay in touch every couple of weeks through the holidays. Most agents disappear in December. That's your opening.
What to do this week
Five concrete moves:
One: preview every competing listing and pending sale in person before your next listing appointment.
Two: call every current seller and set a market review date.
Three: use the 10-day / 21-day game plan at every new listing appointment.
Four: call five expired or withdrawn listings with a question, not a pitch.
Five: check your buyer agreements. Highest fee you'd ever want, with numbers for resale, new construction and rentals. The Buyer Presentation and the price conversation scripts live in Premier Coaching: $1 for a 7-day trial at premiercoaching.com.
The bottom line
The market isn't hard right now. It's honest. One in five sellers cut their price in September, buyers have 4.9 months of supply to choose from, and the sellers who sell fast get the price right from day one.
Have the honest conversation today, and the listing will follow. We'll see you tomorrow. Get to work.
Want to practice these price conversations with us before you're sitting in the seller's living room? Join Premier Coaching. And if this issue helped, forward it to an agent who needs it. They can subscribe free at HarrisRealEstateDaily.com.
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If you set a 10-day and 21-day game plan with every seller, previewed every competing home and pending before your appointments, and called five expired listings every week until the holidays, how many spring listings would already be yours by January?
— Tim & Julie Harris
Founders of Tim & Julie Harris Real Estate Coaching | Publishers of Harris Real Estate Daily | Hosts of PowerHouseTalk | eXp Realty Sponsors at Libertas
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