Since the NAR commission suit settlement, buyer agents have faced new rules, new documents and a new normal. This month, Inman drills down on Today’s Buyers Agent with the fresh marketing strategies, skills and tools buyer agents are using to prosper in changing times.

Unpredictability is nothing new in real estate, especially in vacation and second-home markets like the Florida Keys. Lately, however, the hesitation on both sides of the transaction has become louder. Buyers are waiting. Sellers are second-guessing. And brokers? We’re adapting.

Some days, it feels like half my job is logistics, and the other half is keeping people calm and focused. But deals are still happening — just not in the same way they used to. To keep pace, I’ve leaned into a mix of new tools, steady leadership, and a very human approach to service.

Here’s how we’ve been keeping business steady — and what other brokers might take from our playbook.

Less noise, more intentionality

Blanket marketing doesn’t work in a selective market. Today, every listing needs a strategy, not just a sign in the yard and a blast email.

We recently took over a home that had sat unsold for months. It wasn’t the property — it was the presentation. We restaged it, hired a professional photographer, rewrote the listing copy and created a campaign targeting the right buyer profile. It sold.

The key? Straightforward, honest storytelling and hands-on effort. Educating your client isn’t extra — it’s essential. Every market shift is a chance to be more thoughtful and precise.

Combine AI with actual effort

Tech alone won’t make you a better broker. But when used well, it can enhance your strategy and outreach.

We use AI tools to find seller leads, refine messaging and streamline content, but always in combination with real conversations and consistent follow-up. That means digital ads, handwritten notes, automated insights and actual phone calls. It’s not “either/or” — it’s both.

Efficiency matters, but trust still closes deals.

Lead by example — not just by title

When things get challenging, people look for clarity. I don’t just hand my agents new tools and hope for the best — I show them how to use them and stay with them.

We do weekly check-ins, monthly masterminds and shared campaigns. If I expect my agents to prospect, I’m on those calls. If we’re testing AI, I’m the one piloting it first. Culture starts at the top, but it’s built shoulder-to-shoulder.

Learn your buyer’s patterns — and speak directly to them

Key Largo has rhythms. Winter brings snowbirds. Summer brings South Floridians. If you don’t track those shifts, you’re missing opportunities.

We monitor SEO data, website traffic and search behavior to time our outreach and tailor our messaging. Geo-targeted ads, seasonal content and timely follow-ups help us stay relevant, not just visible. Success here isn’t about shouting louder. It’s about listening better and responding with purpose.

3 things that still work — no matter what the market’s doing

1. Use AI to get smarter, not lazier: It’s a tool, not a replacement. Make it work for you, not instead of you.
2. Show up with your sleeves rolled up: Your team needs to see you doing the work, not just giving direction.
3. Get specific. Stay consistent: The right message, in the correct format, at the right time — that’s how you gain traction.

Real estate isn’t about avoiding the hard stuff but handling it well. If we stay proactive, keep learning and put relationships at the center of our strategy, we’re not just surviving a challenging market — we’re building something more substantial for the next one.

Jaclyn Kelley is broker-owner of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate serving the Florida Keys. Connect with Jaclyn on Instagram and LinkedIn.

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A 50-year high in multifamily housing starts has yielded great rewards for renters as rent growth cools and a growing share of landlords sweeten leases with discounts and other amenities. According to Zillow’s latest market report, 33.2 percent of rentals on the portal included concessions in July, a 23 percent increase from the year before.

Skyler Olsen | Photo credit: Zillow

“Builders have stepped up and built an incredible number of homes in response to soaring rents during the pandemic, and renters are now seeing the benefits,” Zillow Chief Economist Skylar Olsen said in a written statement. “Now is a great time for renters to find a deal, with more new apartments hitting the market than at any time in the past several decades.”

Nearly 60,000 multifamily rental units came online in June, with more than 882,900 units still under construction. The last time the U.S. multifamily market saw a building boom of this magnitude was in 1973, when new privately owned housing starts for buildings with five units or more reached a peak of 919,700 in July.

However, multifamily builders have been slowing their pace as quarterly vacancy rates (6.6 percent) hit the highest level since winter 2021.

Due to increased inventory, multifamily rent growth fell for the second consecutive month in July, dropping to 5.1 percent — a far cry from the double-digit rent increases seen in 2020 and 2021.

Raleigh, North Carolina (53.3 percent); Charlotte, North Carolina (53 percent); Atlanta (52.2 percent); Salt Lake City (50.9 percent); Nashville, Tennessee (50.8 percent); and Austin, Texas (50.5 percent) led the way in the share of rentals with concessions. Meanwhile, San Jose, California (-9.7 percent) had the biggest decline in rentals with concessions, signaling an increasingly competitive market.

GOBankingRates’ latest report shed some light on California’s rental market as renters grapple with an increasingly complicated answer to an age-old question: Rent or buy? The report said California’s for-sale and rental markets are some of the most expensive in the nation, with renters and homeowners facing monthly costs of living in the high four figures.

In San Jose, the median household has an annual income of $136,010. If a homeowner purchases an average-value home ($1,472,661), they can expect to pay $8,720 per month on mortgage payments, assuming they offer a 10 percent down payment and secure a conventional 30-year loan at an average rate. Meanwhile, renters are paying an average of $3,243 on rent.

When other costs of living are factored into the equation, the typical homeowner’s monthly cost of living in San Jose ($11,159) is 49.08 percent higher than the typical renter’s ($5,682), making renting the best deal.

Olsen said the trend could hold throughout the rest of 2024 as “a slowing job market and lower mortgage rates” impact the market.

Email Marian McPherson