After three decades in the residential real estate market I have discovered the secret to list every house every time! Some agents never learn these words of wisdom. Others spend a lifetime waiting for this magic elixir.  The solution simply is to promise more than you can deliver.

If a seller is not serious about selling and insists on a ridiculously high asking price, take the listing anyway. What do you have to lose beside your time and you reputation? Use the 'Three P's' - put up a sign, put it in MLS, and pray the market improves.

Why worry about staging? The car dealers say there a rear end for every seat.  Therefore, isn't there a buyer for every house?  Is it not politically incorrect to questions someone's decorating preferences?  Isn't that a protected class?  Isn't cruelty to shag carpeting a misdemeanor in California? That smell could be temporary indigestion.  Forget about it.

Setting sarcasm aside, the purpose of a listing appointment, particularly in a weak market, is to determine if youwant to retain a seller at a particular price.  The goal is not to obtain any listing, but to appraise the property, the seller's motivation, and the probability that the agent's efforts will result in a sale in a reasonable period of time.

Years ago, I was on a caravan and one proud agent was bragging that they never had a listing expire.  To this day, this remains the most inane comment I've ever heard.  Obviously, this agent was new to the business, didn't take enough listings, or had a very wry sense of humor.

An expired listing in this market is a badge of courage.  The agent had the guts to try to find a buyer.  Walking away from an unsaleable listing deserves a medal of honor.  Cancelling a listing due to pricing inflexibility, or a seller's resonable demands is worthy of a purple heart.

There is no way every listing should be taken every time in this market.  Don't miss the remake of the song 'Fifty ways to leave a listing alone'.