Learn the best strategy for pricing listings in a slow market and the talking points agents should use with sellers to price conservatively to get homes sold.
When the market shifts, your pricing strategy must shift with it. If you’re still pricing homes like it’s 2021, you’re setting your clients—and yourself—up for failure. In a slower real estate market, pricing becomes more of a science and less of an art. And trust me, this isn’t guesswork. It’s time to roll up your sleeves, analyze the data, and lead your sellers with confidence.
VIDEO: Pricing Listings in a Slow Market
The Old Way Doesn’t Work Anymore
From 2009 through the mid-2020s, real estate agents could consistently push listing prices just above the last comp and watch homes sell like hotcakes. Appreciation rates averaged 5–10% annually. But today? That strategy falls flat.
Now, we’re in a market with increasing days on market, rising inventory levels, and skeptical buyers. If you overprice, your listing won’t just sit—it will stall. And in a slow market, a stagnant listing is a dead listing.
Why Conservative Pricing is Crucial
When you miss the mark on pricing, you don’t just lose time—you lose exposure. The first 30 days, what I call the “magic month,” is when most serious buyers see your listing. If the price is too high, those buyers will skip over it. And once that window closes, regaining attention means one thing: a significant price drop.
Let’s be clear: small reductions won’t do the trick. If you start too high and then trim by $5,000 or $10,000, you’re still invisible. To turn heads again, you’ll have to slash the price—usually to a level even lower than where you should’ve listed it in the first place.
You’re the Expert—Act Like It
Imagine a doctor saying to a patient, “What do you think I should prescribe?” Sounds ridiculous, right? Yet too many agents let sellers dictate the listing price.
Your sellers hired you for your expertise. So don’t defer to them—guide them. Show up to your listing presentation with a strong, data-backed recommendation and stick to it. Use visual market reports, absorption rates, and active inventory to paint a realistic picture.
You’re not a salesperson—you’re a trusted advisor. Sellers need you to lead, not to ask for permission.
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The Seller Lead Conversion Process
ONLINE COURSESLearn how to use your sphere of influence to turn leads into listings. Packed with tips, tools and techniques, this mini course gives you the skills you need to get seller appointments, field phone calls and in-person meetings, handle objections and close the right way, every time.
Designed for all learning types
Video Training
In-depth professional video training on every module, presented by the author, Brian Icenhower.
Written Modules
Detailed and downloadable written modules with detailed graphics, scripts, spreadsheets, forms, and so much more.
Course curriculum
Enrollment includes access to the following course materials for 2 years
Course materials- The Seller Lead Conversion process
- Video Part One: Overcoming common objections
- Video Part Two: Getting answers
- Video Part Three: The pre-listing packet
- Video Part Four: The kitchen table consultation
- Seller Lead Sheet
- Quiz
- Action Steps
- The Listing Consultation Script
- Scripts for Listing Consultation Objections about Price
- Objections about Finding a Home to Buy Before Listing
- Urgency Objections
- Overcoming Objections about Paying a Commission
- Price Reduction Graphic
- Listing Consultation
- Pre-Listing Consultation Video Scripts
- Pre-Listing Video #1 Script
- Pre-Listing Video #2 Script
- Pre-Listing Video #3 Script
- Pre-Listing Video #4 Script
- Pre-Listing Video #5
About this course
- $149
- 23 lessons
- 2 hours of video content
Certification & Designation Upon Completion
In this ICC online course, you will receive an official designation of "Certified Listing Agent" or CLA upon completion, as well as a downloadable (and printable) Certificate of Completion. Add your designation seal, as well as your designation letters, to your email signature to bolster your reputation and show off your expertise to clients and colleagues alike.
Reviews
"I use ICC systems, the Online Learning Center, and the coaching program to coach and train my team of over 30 agents. I use the ICC dashboard systems to keep my entire team accountable for their activities and set proper expectations."
Jake Rockwell
Over 500 Units Sold Annually
"I have coached with ICC for over five years. ICC has helped me quadruple my luxury business through marketing strategies so that I receive listings and sales through lead generation and multiple pillars of income."
Dennis Adelpour
Luxury Agent - West Los Angeles
"When we started coaching with ICC we worked all the time with some degree of success. Now, seven years later, we have grown to have the #1 market share in our area, we more than tripled our income and production, while also improving our work-life balance to enjoy our personal life with family and friends."
Tammi Humphrey
#1 Market Share & 100 Million in Annual Sales Volume
I use ICC systems, the Online Learning Center, and the coaching program to coach and train my team of over 30 agents. I use the ICC dashboard systems to keep my entire team accountable for their activities and set proper expectations.
Jake Rockwell
Over 500 Units Sold Annually
I have coached with ICC for over five years. ICC has helped me quadruple my luxury business through marketing strategies so that I receive listings and sales through lead generation and multiple pillars of income.
Dennis Adelpour
Luxury Agent - West Los Angeles
When we started coaching with ICC we worked all the time with some degree of success. Now, seven years later, we have grown to have the #1 market share in our area, we more than tripled our income and production, while also improving our work-life balance to enjoy our personal life with family and friends.
Tammi Humphrey
#1 Market Share & 100 Million in Annual Sales Volume
InstructorBrian Icenhower.
Are you ready to revolutionize how you think about closing, and get more listings than ever?
This condensed course gives you the tools and techniques you need to leverage your sphere of influence in all the right ways, focusing in on how you can convert leads into listings without getting stuck or getting ahead of yourself. With ICC's tried and tested scripts and systems, you'll have everything you need at your disposal to make the most of your networks and take full advantage of every opportunity to close on a seller lead.
Turn your leads into listings.
Discover the techniques top producing agents use to connect with and convert their seller clients, and take the next step to grow your real estate business.
Add to CartTalk to a coach
If you've been considering hiring a coach, now's the time. Book a FREE coaching consultation session with your purchase of this course! Book Your Call
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1×1 Solo Agent Weekly Coaching Program
This 1×1 Solo Agent Weekly Real Estate Coaching Program designed to help you increase your production and your commission income with strategies and systems for sustainable business growth.
Jake Rockwell
Over 500 Units Sold Annually
"I have coached with ICC for over five years. ICC has helped me quadruple my luxury business through marketing strategies so that I receive listings and sales through lead generation and multiple pillars of income."
Dennis Adelpour
Luxury Agent - West Los Angeles
"When we started coaching with ICC we worked all the time with some degree of success. Now, seven years later, we have grown to have the #1 market share in our area, we more than tripled our income and production, while also improving our work-life balance to enjoy our personal life with family and friends."
Tammi Humphrey
#1 Market Share & 100 Million in Annual Sales Volume
It’s Not Just About the Listing Price
This isn’t just about hitting a number—it’s about managing expectations. A home that sits unsold becomes a source of stress for your clients. It puts their next move in jeopardy and, frankly, reflects poorly on you.
You might hear, “That agent down the street listed it too low. I could’ve gotten more!” That’s not an informed opinion—that’s denial. And if your listing doesn’t sell, your clients will view it as your fault. Why? Because you picked the price. Even if they pressured you into it, you’re still the professional.
Tap Into Motivation
Sellers aren’t just moving for fun. They want a better school district, to be closer to family, to downsize, to upsize—whatever the reason, that’s their “why.” Your job is to bring that motivation front and center in the pricing conversation.
If a seller won’t budge on price, remind them what they’re walking away from. “Are you really going to give up your dream home near the lake over $20,000? Especially when that $20,000 will be offset by the deal you get on your next home in this same slow market?”
Help them see that it all comes out in the wash. When you sell and buy in the same market, pricing is relative.
Show, Don’t Tell
Sellers may not believe your words—but they’ll believe the numbers. Bring charts that show how many homes are sitting in each price bracket. Use inventory stats and absorption rates to highlight their chances of selling.
In most markets, once you get above the median price, homes take longer to sell. Fewer buyers are looking at those price points. That’s just reality.
Use visuals. Let the data do the talking. Show them why pricing conservatively is their best chance to attract multiple offers and favorable terms.
The Magic of Multiple Offers
A conservative list price doesn’t mean your sellers are “giving money away.” In fact, it’s often the opposite. The right price brings in more buyers, which increases competition and can drive the final sales price higher.
This strategy often results in waived contingencies, quicker closings, and fewer headaches. Compare that to listing high and waiting… and waiting… and eventually reducing to a number lower than you could’ve started with.
The One Mistake You Can’t Afford
If you mess up pricing, there’s no quick fix. Sure, you can reduce the price later—but by then, most of your buyer pool has moved on. Your listing becomes stale. The home becomes a “problem property” in the eyes of buyers and agents alike.
That’s why pricing listings in a slow market is the one thing you must get right from the start. It’s not a skill you can wing—it requires preparation, knowledge, and the courage to have tough conversations.
Now, we’re in a market with increasing days on market, rising inventory levels, and skeptical buyers. If you overprice, your listing won’t just sit—it will stall. And in a slow market, a stagnant listing is a dead listing.
Brian Icenhower
Make It a Team Priority
This isn’t just a solo agent issue. Teams and brokerages must monitor their active listings as a group. Review inventory at every weekly meeting. How many are listed? How many are pending? Where do we need to adjust?
When a team member has a dozen stale listings, that’s not a brag—it’s a problem. As a coach, I often assign price reduction strategies as the number one action item on our calls. That’s how we get homes sold.
Final Thoughts
Your influence is on the line every time you price a listing. Don’t play games with your reputation—or your clients’ futures. Conservative pricing is not just a strategy—it’s the right thing to do.
Let’s lead with professionalism. Let’s stop gambling with seller equity. And let’s remember that helping people move forward in life is more important than winning a pricing war.
