Slow Market, Growing Business: What Agents in the Worst Markets Do Differently

In 2021, about 6 million homes sold with rates near 3%, and agents were still leaving the business.

In 2023, with rates climbing toward 8%, some agents had the best year of their careers.

If the market doesn’t decide who wins, what does? Here are the proven slow market strategies that data and real-world agent examples demonstrate—and what to do if this slowdown lasts another six to twelve months.

The Market Is Shifting, and It May Stay That Way

Gus of Power ISA, who was an agent through the 2008 to 2010 downturn and now works with agents every day, laid out the current picture.

• Inventory is at about 4.8 months nationally. In 2021 it was roughly one month, and in some markets a week or two.
• NAR data shows the country on track to sell a little under 4 million homes this year. Earlier in the year, estimates were closer to 5 million.
• Mortgage rates touched about 5.9% in February and have climbed since. For perspective, the average hit about 8% in October 2023, and rates more than doubled in eight months during 2022.

A recent industry keynote asked a pointed question: what if it doesn’t get better in January or March? Planning for a long slowdown changes how you work.

Austin is the example to study. Values there have dropped about 20% and the market has struggled for roughly four years. Even so, about 700 homes sold in the city of Austin in the last 30 days. Deals still happen. The question is how many you get.

Go Back to Fundamentals: Core Slow Market Strategies

Gus pointed to the book Shift, which lays out what top agents do when conditions turn:

• Double down on prospecting and follow-up, which tend to slip when business is good.
• Get serious about lead generation instead of waiting for people to come to you.
• Sharpen conversion skills, because it takes more calls, leads, and appointments to close the same number of deals.
• Focus on motivated buyers and sellers, with extra emphasis on sellers.

Why it works: in a slower market, the same effort produces fewer results, so holding steady already means doing more. Staying exactly where you are can be a win.

Give Buyers a Reason to Act

When buyers are scarce, a general invitation isn’t enough. You need an offer, which is a specific reason to talk to you now.

Builder Incentives

Builders are trying to move inventory with closing cost credits and rate buydowns. Gus has seen some buy rates down to 5%, including permanent, 2-1, and 3-1 buydowns, with some spending $20,000 to $30,000 to do it. Pull the current builder sheets in your area and tell your buyers what is available.

Assumable Mortgages

Some FHA, USDA, and VA loans can be assumed by a qualified buyer, which can mean taking over a much lower rate. Conditions apply and buyers have to qualify, so say that up front. Gus showed a real ad from San Diego that put an assumable 3.35% rate front and center. It was not pretty, and it had been running for six months, which he took as a sign it was working.

Curated Best-Deal Lists and Buyer Guides

Only you know which homes have been sitting and which sellers will negotiate. Build a list of the best deals by neighborhood or school district, or write a guide on how to get the best deal in your city. No portal can do that curation for you.

AI can handle the formatting. Paste each offer into ChatGPT or Claude and ask for a one-page PDF written for your city and your brand.

Start With Your Own Database

The cheapest place to test an offer is with people who already know you. You are already paying the phone bill.

• Call old leads with the new offer first, then email or text it. One team reactivated 54 buyers from old leads in 30 days, with an ISA making the calls.
• A luxury holiday-market agent runs ads and still calls his old buyer leads whenever he has a new property.
• Host a class for your sphere, such as one on VA loans, builder incentives, or how to get a good deal in this market.

The strongest example is from August 2023. An agent who had closed only three deals that year wanted to hire an ISA and run ads. Instead, she paused both and called the roughly 200 people in her database, many of them military. She taught a VA loan class, with more than 70 registered and over 60 attending in person. Within 90 days she earned about $20,000 in commissions, with rates near 8%.

Why it works: people don’t know what they don’t know. Educating your audience is part of the job.

The same pattern shows up at the brokerage level. An Austin broker said his agents are up 17% year to date without buying leads. They are veteran agents who work their database with time blocking and a CRM.

Win the Sellers Who Are Motivated

With high inventory, agents become more valuable. In 2021 some agents complained that homes sold themselves. Now it takes real skill to present and price a home that is sitting.

Expired listings are abundant, and FSBOs tend to be more reasonable because their homes are sitting too. Gus expects a record number of expireds around January 1, 2027, though that is his prediction.

The key is to qualify for motivation. Sellers need to present the home well, by decluttering, fixing, and painting, and price ahead of the market instead of chasing it down. If they won’t, move on. Be honest, and spend your time on the sellers who will.

A few examples from the session:

• One Austin agent got 11 listings in 10 months from circle prospecting, with none in the first six months.
• Another Austin agent got six listings in five weeks working expireds.
• A New Jersey agent in a tight seller’s market works the few available expireds every day with an ISA, and wins by out-skilling the competition.

Mistakes to Avoid

When implementing your slow market strategies, here are the most common traps to avoid:

• Waiting for the market to save you. It could take three, six, or twelve months to shift.
• Treating “nobody is buying” as fact. A Labcoat Agents post on handling the 7% rate objection drew 270 comments, and the agents who said the sky was falling often skipped the question.
• Spending on ads or hiring before you work your own database.
• Listing sellers who won’t price or prepare the home.
• Assuming your audience already knows about options like VA loans or assumable mortgages.

Start This Week

• Pick one offer for buyers: builder incentives, assumable mortgages, or a curated best-deals list.
• Use AI to turn it into a one-page PDF for your city.
• Call your database with it, then follow with an email or text.
• Schedule a class for your sphere and invite them personally.
• Qualify every seller for motivation before you list.

Builder incentives, assumable mortgages, and loan programs have conditions that vary by lender and builder. Confirm the details before you promote them.

Watch the Replay and Try It

To see the real ads and the agent examples, watch the full replay:

Power ISA, the company behind the session, has a Labcoat Agents page. You can also get a copy of the slide deck by emailing info@powerisa.com with “market shift” in the subject line.

• Power ISA page: https://www.powerisa.com/lca