If you’ve been spending your summer babysitting a Sutton Place one-bedroom that’s been on the market for 100 days and is draining your spirit, here’s a thought: maybe it’s a better time to be working with buyers.

Many listings are stale right now. The urgency is gone. But buyers? They’re out there. Watching. Waiting. Wondering if they missed the window. Now is the moment to shift your energy. Don’t just hold space for inventory that isn’t moving. Go build a pipeline of people who will.

Because when fall inventory hits, and it will, and if rates even flicker downward, the buyers you’ve nurtured this summer will be the first to move. You want to be there, not just with listings, but with people who are ready to act.

Here’s how agents I coach are filling their pipelines right now:

1. Reactivate your ghosts

Those buyers from 2022 and 2023? The ones who got cold feet or lost out in bidding wars? They are still curious. Send the text. Make the call. Start with:
“I know the last time we spoke, timing wasn’t right. It might be now. Want to revisit what’s possible?”

2. Offer value, quietly

This market rewards subtlety. Send one off-market opportunity. Forward a mortgage rate update with context. Offer to walk a buyer through how pricing strategies have shifted. These touches don’t scream sales. They whisper relevance.

3. Run your buyer business like a listing business

Create structure. Set weekly goals. Track engagement. Don’t wait until a buyer is pre-approved to get serious. Treat your buyer pipeline like your listing pipeline: consistently nurtured, strategically messaged, and fully visible in your business plan.

Coaching Corner: Create demand before the market shifts

In behavioral economics, there is a principle called loss aversion. People are more motivated to avoid missing out than to pursue a potential gain. You can use this to help your buyers make informed decisions without pressure. Frame opportunities in terms of what could be lost by waiting, not just what might be gained by moving.

This is also a season for precommitment, a tool used in habit formation. The agents who will thrive this fall are laying the groundwork now. They are setting the intention, building the bench, and putting in the reps while the market is quiet.

You don’t need to chase momentum.
You need to create readiness.

You need to stay close to the people who will move when the time comes.

Build the bridge now. Future you will thank you.