Before you dive in, put this on your calendar.
Thursday, Nov. 12th, from 12 to 2 p.m. ET, we're hosting a free live webinar: The Ultimate Listing Presentation.
We'll walk through how to build a listing presentation that wins the appointment, from research and design to the pitch and follow-up.
You'll also get the first look at our new AI listing presentation builder, live.
Everyone who registers gets the replay and a free trial.
Here's what's on this week's B.I.T.S. agenda:
🏆 [B]est in Class: An open house that turned into a holiday market
💡 [I]deas That Work: The assumable mortgage check (and email to send)
📈 [T]raffic & Attention: 5 homes that hit No. 1 on realtor.com
🔔 [S]eller Signals: The "Zillow says it's worth more" objection handler
Let's dive in 👇
🏆 [B]EST IN CLASS - Real campaigns by top listing agents
The worst weeks of the year to list, and the open house that became a holiday market
You're about to list into the stretch between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Buyers are busy, calendars are full, and your seller wants to know what you're doing about it.
Last year, Sarah Maguire, principal of the Aranson Maguire Group at Compass, had that exact problem: three units in a Jamaica Plain development to sell in that window.
"It's the absolute worst time to sell anything," Maguire told Boston.com. "We're like, what the hell are we going to do?"
What she built
Maguire and her team turned the open house into a holiday market inside the development, with local makers.
Vendors sold everything from knitted hats to homemade dog treats, spread throughout all three units.
What happened
The sale of the units set price records.
Why it works
It shows your seller the effort.
Maguire's point: sellers need to see you trying everything you can to get people through the door.
Before you book the vendors
Maguire is clear that events like this cost thousands, so the risk has to be worth it.
Her test before spending: "What's the product? What's the price point? Where's the location?" Then check that the commission covers the cost.
Run those three questions on your own holiday listing first. If the numbers hold, call the makers your buyers already shop with.
The takeaway:
In the slowest weeks of the year, your seller is watching for effort.
Give them an event they can see, but only after the commission math says you can pay for it.
💡 [I]DEAS THAT WORK - Strategies listing agents should use
10% of mortgages could be assumable but only 0.6% say so
Your seller tells you, "Nobody's buying. Rates are too high." Or, "I can't give up my rate."
An assumable mortgage answers both.
It turns the rate they're scared to lose into something a buyer may pay attention to.
You win listings by being the agent who can explain it. Then you email your past clients one short offer: a free check of whether their mortgage is assumable.
Worst case, the people who want to sell raise their hand.
The gap you're filling
Realtor.com estimates about 10% of active listings today could be assumable, though it's hard to tell how many actually are.
By their count, only about 0.6% of listings mention "assumable" in the description. That gap is your opening.
Which loans can be assumed
Here's HomeLight's read, loan by loan.
Loan type | Assumable? | What the buyer needs |
|---|---|---|
FHA | Often, with lender approval | Must qualify under FHA standards. Covers the equity gap in cash or a second loan |
VA | Usually | Usually a 620 credit score (set by the lender) and VA approval. Non-veterans can assume. Funding fee usually 0.5% of the balance |
USDA | Under certain conditions | Lender and USDA approval, often at a new rate and terms |
Conventional | Generally not | Most carry a "due on sale" clause |
The explainer: 3 steps to walk your seller through
Have your seller call their servicer. Find the loan type on the mortgage statement first. Then your seller asks: can this loan be assumed, and what's the process and fee? If it's a VA loan, also ask what happens to their VA entitlement. If a non-veteran assumes, it usually stays tied to that loan until it's paid off, which can affect your seller's next VA purchase.
Do the equity gap math out loud. On a $450,000 house with a $250,000 balance, a qualified buyer owes your seller $200,000 at closing. That's the hurdle. The buyer needs that in cash or a second loan, so assumable listings draw buyers with equity to bring.
Say it in the listing. If the loan checks out, put "assumable" in the first line of your remarks and in your MLS's "Assumable" field if it has one.
The email (copy and paste)
Subject: Is your mortgage assumable?
Hi [First name],
If you have an FHA, VA, or USDA loan, a buyer may be able to take over your rate when you sell, with the lender's approval.
Many homeowners don't know to check, and very few listings even mention it.
Reply "CHECK" and I'll walk you through how to find out, and what it could mean if you ever decide to sell. No cost and no pressure.
I'm not a lender, so I'll connect you with one to confirm the details.
[Your name]
The kitchen-table version
When a past client replies "CHECK," start with one line: "Grab your mortgage statement, and let's find out what kind of loan you have."
You explain how assumptions work. Loan questions go to the servicer or a licensed lender.
The takeaway:
Check the loan before you write the remarks.
The rate your seller is scared to lose may be the first thing a buyer reads about your listing.
Plus, you can start to send the seller listings with assumable mortgages now that they are a buyer as well.
📈 [T]RAFFIC & ATTENTION - Listings going viral (and why)
4 homes hit No. 1 on realtor.com's most popular list. Here's what their saves say.
Your seller's listing gets a burst of attention. They want to know what it means.
Over four straight weeks, these four homes each took the top spot on realtor.com's weekly most popular homes list, and each one teaches you something different about your seller's listing.
# | Home | Price | Zillow views / saves | Saves per 100 views |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Clifftop cabins, Stanley ID | $2,995,000 | 10,888 / 301 in 9 days | 2.8 |
2 | Skate bowl ranch, Cedar Creek TX | $339,900 | 1,212 / 72 in 14 days | 5.9 |
3 | Oyster House island, Middlesex VA | $995,000 | 18,090 / 547 in 79 days | 3.0 |
4 | "Caveman" rock house, Armington IL | Listed $59,000; sold $60,500 | 42,235 / 2,546 in 35 days | 6.0 |
1. The clifftop cabins that border 465,000 acres of National Forest (Stanley, ID)
Williams | Hendricks of Sun Valley Real Estate listed it. The primary cabin is only 900 sq ft.
Steal this: If your seller's lot touches something nobody can build (public land, water, a view corridor), put that number in your first line. A 900 sq ft cabin isn't the story. 465,000 acres next door is.
2. The ranch with a pro skate and BMX bowl (Cedar Creek, TX)
Beth Rountree of The Agency Austin now opens her Zillow remarks with "Named America's #1 Most Popular Home of the Week by Realtor.com."
Steal this: When press picks up your seller's listing, put it in your first line. Your seller sees you working the attention.
3. The "Oyster House" on its own 1-acre island (Middlesex, VA)
Shyann E Lewis of Isabell K. Horsley Real Estate has it. You reach the island by causeway at low tide.
Steal this: When the best part of your seller's property can only be reached at certain times, try putting the showing windows in your remarks.
4. The "Caveman" rock house for $59,000 (Armington, IL)
Tracy Lockenour of HomeSmart Realty Group floats "a multi-unit property" in the remarks and backs it with a fact a buyer can check: two separate electric meters.
Steal this: If your remarks suggest a use, name the fact that makes it possible, like a second meter or the zoning.
What the attention says
Same No. 1 spot, different outcomes. Our math, from Zillow's counts: the Caveman house had about 6 saves for every 100 views and sold Oct 29th for $60,500, above its $59,000 ask.
The Oyster House has about 3 and is still for sale at 84 days. The skate ranch matches the Caveman house at about 6 and is still for sale at 19 days.
Price plays a part too ($59,000 against $995,000), so treat saves as one more signal to watch.
The takeaway:
Don't read your views alone. Put saves next to them, because a save means someone wants to come back.
Tell your seller: "Views tell us people are looking. Saves tell us how many are thinking about touring it."
🔔 [S]ELLER SIGNALS - Conversations agents are having with sellers right now
Your seller says "Zillow says it's worth more" (here's how to walk them to the real number)
Here's what that usually means. They didn't make the number up. They walked in holding one.
The 2026 Survey of Best Practices for CMAs and Listing Presentations, from Giant Steps Advisors and Lone Wolf Technologies, puts it this way: "Sellers now arrive anchored to Zestimates, public AVM data, and neighborhood stats."
In the same survey of 2,165 agents, 33.6% said they didn't win a listing because the seller wouldn't agree on the list price.
Byron Lazine and Tom Toole worked through this conversation live with agents.
Here are their price scripts, in the order you'd use them.
1. Start with the buyer, not the price
"Who do you think the likely buyer is for this home?"
Then tie it to price (swap in your seller's number):
"We talked about the price of your home at $800,000. What we know is that people typically buy a home that's going to be about four times their annual income. That means the likely buyer is going to make about $200,000 a year just to get in the door and qualify."
2. Hand your seller the appraiser's sales to sort
Lazine's line when the sales come out: "Here are the properties an appraiser is going to put into their report to protect the bank's investment."
Then let your seller place each sale.
Pricing strategy | What it means | Comps your seller puts here |
|---|---|---|
Aspirational | The seller tests a higher number | ______ |
Comp-based | Follows the sales an appraiser will use | ______ |
Competitive | Sets the home up to draw multiple offers | ______ |
When a sale lands in the wrong pile, ask: "Do you think that's the right category?"
3. Ask if they're a seller at that price
"Neither of us knows what the market is going to decide this home sells for. Now, if the market decides it's closer to these recent home sales, the appraiser is going to use them. Appraisers work for the bank. They don't work for these buyers. So even if a buyer wanted to pay more, the appraiser is going to point to these homes to protect the bank."
"If ultimately that's where the market comes in, are you a seller at that price?"
Then stop talking.
The takeaway:
Don't fight the Zillow number. Walk your seller from the website to the buyer, then to the appraiser's sales, and let them sort those sales themselves.
By the time you ask "are you a seller at that price?", they've already seen the answer in their own handwriting.
Live webinar: The Ultimate Listing Presentation
Your listing presentation is the first thing your seller judges you on.
Next week, we’ll show you how to build one that wins the appointment, and how to follow up so the listing doesn't walk after you leave.
You'll also get the first live look at our new AI listing presentation builder.
It's free to attend, and you can bring your questions. We'll answer them live.
Can't make it? Register anyway and we'll send the replay.
See you next week,
- Chris Smith and Jimmy Mackin
