How to get listings when sellers stay put longer.

Getting listings has rarely been harder. Owners are staying in their homes longer, and fewer homes change hands in a typical year than many agents would like. But nearly every seller still hires an agent, which means the listings exist. The question is who they go to.

This guide looks at what NAR's latest research says about sellers, ten methods for how to get listings as a real estate agent, a worked example of farming a neighbourhood, and how to make your website pull its weight.

What does NAR's latest data say about home sellers?

NAR's 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, covering transactions from July 2024 to June 2025, has a few findings worth knowing before you plan your listing strategy:

• 91% of sellers used a real estate agent, up from 90% the year before.
• For-sale-by-owner sales fell to 5%, an all-time low.
• Sellers had owned their home for a median of 11 years, also an all-time high.
• Sellers placed a high priority on three things from their agent: marketing the home to buyers, pricing it competitively and selling it within a specific timeframe.

Put together, that tells you two things. Sellers still want agents, and they're picky about what the agent does. Each seller also moves rarely, so you need to stay in touch for a long time to be the person they call.

Where do listings come from?

Most listing leads fall into five buckets. Each needs a different approach.

What are the best ways to get listings?

1. Contact past clients every quarter. Not a generic newsletter. Something useful, such as what their street's homes have sold for, or a reminder about property tax appeals if that matters locally.

2. Send an annual home value update. A short, honest note with recent nearby sales. It gives past clients a reason to think of you when their plans change.

3. Tell your sphere specifically what you do. "I sell homes in Westfield and Oak Park" is easier to pass on than "I'm in real estate."

4. Hold open houses with neighbours in mind. Neighbours often visit open houses to see what the house next door is like. Some of them are quietly thinking about moving.

5. Farm one area properly. More on this below.

6. Follow up expired listings respectfully. These owners wanted to sell and didn't. Lead with what you'd do differently on pricing and marketing, not with criticism of the last agent.

7. Offer FSBO sellers practical help. Some will eventually want an agent. Being helpful without pressure leaves the door open.

8. Build a seller page for each area you work. A page that explains how you'd market a home in that specific neighbourhood, with recent results, is a better first impression than a generic "Sell" tab.

9. Publish local market updates. Owners search for "[neighbourhood] home prices" long before they call anyone.

10. Ask for reviews after every closing. On Google and on the portals where you have a profile. Recent reviews help both your website and your profile look current.

How do you farm a neighbourhood for listings?

Here's a worked example with illustrative numbers. Use real figures from your MLS.

• You choose a neighbourhood of 800 homes.
• Your MLS shows about 32 sales a year there, so roughly 4% turn over annually.
• You aim to win 1 in 8 of those within two years. That's 4 listings a year.
• You mail every home monthly, knock doors quarterly, sponsor one community event and publish a neighbourhood market update each month.

The maths is simple: four listings a year from one neighbourhood, at your average commission, against the cost of mailing and your time. If it works, you can add a second area. If after two years you're still at zero, the area or the message needs to change.

Two cautions. Farms are slow, because, as NAR found, owners now stay for a median of 11 years. And a farm that already has a dominant agent is much harder to break into than one where nobody has made a consistent effort.

How can your website win seller searches?

Buyers browsing listings will usually end up on Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin or Homes.com. Sellers are different. Before choosing an agent, many owners search questions like:

• "What is my home worth in [neighbourhood]?"
• "How long do homes take to sell in [town]?"
• "Best time to sell a house in [city]"
• "How much does it cost to sell a house in [state]?"

These are searches a local agent can win, because the best answer needs local knowledge. A useful set of pages looks like this:

1. A seller page per farm area, explaining your approach and showing recent sales you handled.
2. A valuation request that leads to a real conversation with you, not an automated estimate.
3. Monthly or quarterly market updates for each area, written from your own analysis of the data.
4. Neighbourhood guides that describe the area's homes, streets and amenities with your own photos.
5. A Google Business Profile with recent reviews and accurate service areas.

This is the core of what our real estate SEO service builds. If you're weighing it against ads, SEO vs PPC explains the trade-off.

AI assistants are starting to answer these questions too. Clear, specific local pages make it more likely you're the agent they mention. Our guide on getting mentioned in ChatGPT explains why.

What should a listing presentation cover?

Getting the appointment is half the job. NAR's 2025 Profile gives you a ready-made agenda, because sellers said their priorities were marketing the home, pricing it competitively and selling within a set timeframe. Build the presentation around those three, in that order:

• Marketing. Show exactly where and how the home will be presented: photography, listing copy, online placement, open houses and how you'll reach buyers who aren't yet searching.
• Pricing. Walk through recent comparable sales in plain language, including the ones that don't flatter the seller's hopes. Explain how you'd adjust if the market responds slowly.
• Timing. Agree a realistic timeline, the checkpoints along the way and what happens at each one.

Leave a short written summary behind. Sellers who interview more than one agent will compare notes, and the clearest plan is easy to remember.

What rules apply to listing prospecting?

Every method above is marketing, so the usual rules apply:

• Fair housing. The Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604(c), and HUD's rule at 24 CFR 100.75 prohibit advertising that indicates a preference or limitation based on a protected characteristic. That includes farm mailers, neighbourhood guides and social posts. Describe homes and places, not who should live there.
• Choice of media. HUD's rule also covers selecting media or locations in a way that denies particular groups information about housing. Be careful about farming or ad targeting that deliberately skips parts of a community.
• Phone outreach. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the National Do Not Call Registry apply to calling marketing. Check numbers, follow your brokerage's policy and honour opt-outs.
• Honest advertising. NAR's Code of Ethics, Article 12, requires a true picture in advertising and the firm's name shown in a readily apparent manner.

What doesn't work for getting listings?

• Postcards with no point. A "Just Sold" card with no context does little. A card showing what nearby homes sold for, with your take on it, is more useful.
• Buying seller leads and calling once. Seller leads often need months of follow-up. If you won't follow up, don't buy them.
• Competing with portals on listing searches. Put your effort into seller and area searches instead.
• Overpromising on price to win the listing. Sellers told NAR that competitive pricing was a priority. Winning a listing at an unrealistic price often ends in an expired listing.
• Switching tactics every few months. Farming and SEO reward consistency. Give each method enough time to judge it properly.

The short version

Sellers still use agents, but they move less often and expect more. Stay in touch with past clients for years, farm one area properly, follow up expireds and FSBOs within the rules, and build a website that answers the questions owners ask before they choose an agent.

This guide is general marketing information, not legal advice. Check federal, state and brokerage rules before running any prospecting campaign.

Sources: National Association of REALTORS®, 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers (highlights, November 2025) and "Top 10 Takeaways from NAR's 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers"; Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604(c); HUD, 24 CFR 100.75; National Association of REALTORS®, Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, Article 12; National Association of REALTORS®, TCPA and do-not-call guidance.