Your Next Deal Might Be a Call You Haven't Returned

Photo: Binyamin Mellish via StockSnap (CC0).

REAgentGigs Weekly · Edition of Oct 24, 2026

📞 There's a name on your list you've meant to call for two weeks. Maybe it's a past client, a buyer who went quiet, or someone from Sunday's open house. You know it matters, but something louder keeps taking the slot.

That's what the posts in our feeds kept circling this week: the follow-up is the work, and a lot of it isn't getting done.

📊 This week in Market→Ops

The leads are there. The second touch isn't.

Chart: REAgentGigs. Data: HousingWire.

• HousingWire shared an analysis of 10 million real estate leads: 91% had no human contact in 90 days (X). On Friday it asked whether response speed actually converts (X).
• Tom Ferry's take: AI tools only work as well as the follow-up system behind them. He also pointed to veteran agents losing ground because their databases have gone stale (X, X).
• NAR's REALTORS® Technology Report says agents adopt AI mainly for efficiency and productivity (X, LinkedIn). That efficiency only pays off when the time it frees up goes to a person.

The best leads may already be in your phone

Photo: Top Down Tech via StockSnap (CC0). Watch: Mike Ferry's YouTube Short.

• Tim & Julie Harris suggested calling 10 past clients this week, with no pitch, just to check in (TikTok).
• Tom Ferry made a similar point on Friday: plenty of Q4 closings start when someone finally returns a call they'd been putting off (X).
• Mike Ferry's version is about protecting the time. Block your call hours, prep the list and scripts first, and log who you reached and what happens next (YouTube Short).

Leaders are looking at the same gap with their agents

• NAR Research says 18% of firms name agent retention as a top concern, and 34% of departing licensees left for another real estate company (X). HousingWire added that keeping agents takes more than tracking sales and adjusting splits (X).
• Inman's Q3 report found that falling production doesn't predict an agent's move. Colleague exits and recent job-hopping are better signals (X).
• HousingWire noted that prelicensing covers eligibility, so workflows, supervision and document review get taught inside the office (X).

What it changes on Monday: before you add a new tool or lead source, work the follow-ups already sitting in your list. If you lead a team, the same goes for your agents. A real check-in tells you more than a production report.

🗞️ News recap

Chart: REAgentGigs. Data: NAR Research, NAHB via RISMedia, Realtor.com (links below).

1. 📉 Pending sales fell in September: down 7.3% from August and 11.3% from a year ago, with all four regions lower, per NAR Research (X).
2. 🏗️ Builders are cutting prices and adding incentives: NAHB builder confidence fell to 29 in October, the lowest since June 2012, and 43% of builders cut list prices, per RISMedia (X). RISMedia added that buyers need help judging which buydown, credit or concession actually lowers the long-run payment (X).
3. 📈 Rates eased a little: Realtor.com reported the 30-year rate dipped to 7.32% for the week ending Oct. 22, the first decline in two months (TikTok).

❓ Questions to consider

• Inman, citing Zillow and Thumbtack, reported homeowners insurance is up 54% over five years (LinkedIn). When do your buyers see their first premium quote?
• An Arizona agent recorded two calls from someone posing as a seller, and one led to a police sting (Inman on LinkedIn). How does your team confirm a seller is who they say they are?
• RISMedia walked through covering term length, compensation, seller contributions, services and cancellation in the written buyer agreement before the first tour (X). How much of that conversation happens before you unlock the first door?

🎯 One move to make this week

Photo: Green Chameleon via StockSnap (CC0).

Call ten people who already know you. It takes under an hour, and you don't need to buy anything.

1. 📋 Pull ten names: past clients, plus anyone who went quiet in the last 90 days.
2. ⏰ Block 45 minutes on your calendar and treat it like an appointment.
3. 📞 Call with no pitch. Ask how the house is treating them, or what's changed since you last talked.
4. 📝 Log who you reached and one next step for each, so the second touch actually happens.

🔎 Proof from this week's feeds

We didn't run a study. We tracked what kept repeating on our daily shortlists:

• ✅ Tuesday: 91% of leads with no human contact in 90 days, and Mike Ferry on protecting call time
• ✅ Wednesday: Tom Ferry on AI and the follow-up system, and Inman on what predicts agent moves
• ✅ Friday: HousingWire on lead response speed
• ✅ Saturday: call 10 past clients, and Q4 closings that start with a returned call

Those are field signals, not guarantees.

🤝 Two ways in

🏢 Brokerage leadership: If follow-up and coverage slip when your agents get busy, start at reagentgigs.com/for-brokerages. You get a clear look at how showing coverage can fit your ops, with no recruiting pitch.

🏡 Agents: Slammed this week? Visit reagentgigs.com/for-agents to post a gig like showings, an open house or follow-up, and a licensed agent covers it. Got an open calendar instead? Pick up gigs near you.

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Thanks for reading. If those ten calls turn up something good this week, reply and tell us. We read every note.

Ronnie and Mark, REAgentGigs