As mortgage interest rates crept back up to the 7 percent range and the commission lawsuits have dramatically altered how buyer compensation takes place, the National Association of Realtors is predicting about only 4 million transactions will close in 2026.
In the midst of this chaos, the industry is engaged in a knock-down, drag-out fight over private listings and who controls them.
Spencer Johnson’s book, Who Moved My Cheese? provides the perfect metaphor to describe this situation — the cheese (where the transactions are actually taking place) has moved. To find the “cheese,” savvy agents will “sniff” it out in places most have never considered looking.
The cheese has already moved
If you are still conducting your business by searching for the type of buyers you had even five years ago or using the same scripts and advertising, your business may be on its way to a slow death. To see if this is the case for your business, answer the following questions with “true” or “false.”
- I have a written plan for generating and converting leads that does not depend on one portal, platform or source.
- I respond to every serious inquiry the same day, usually within minutes rather than hours.
- I publish useful content (video, email, social) on a consistent schedule.
- I track appointments, signed clients, closings and conversion rates, not just the number of leads I receive.
- My unique selling proposition (USP) shows all the tools and strategies that I bring to the transaction to help my client obtain the best possible price for the property they’re buying or selling.
- My listing and buyer consultation reflect current compensation practices, marketing choices and brokerage requirements.
- I can explain the pros and cons of private listings in plain language to my clients.
- I know which types of client groups and services produce the greatest profit for my business.
- I regularly ask past clients for honest feedback on my service.
- I have a dependable system for staying in contact with past clients and the people most likely to refer me.
The more “false” answers you have, the closer you are to the slow death. Below you’ll find concrete steps to help you “sniff out” where the cheese has moved today.
How to break the habits that keep you locked in the ‘rat maze’
Agents develop habits that can be hard to break, especially for someone who believes, “This is how I’ve always done it.” A simple question that can help to free yourself from the rat maze is, “What activities do I need to complete this week that will create a better outcome now and in the future?”
Rather than blaming the market, the portals or the lawsuits, agents who are willing to experiment with new approaches, track results and experience short-term discomfort in exchange for long-term survival are the ones who will succeed. They are focused on what’s best for each of their clients based on their clients’ needs, not on what worked for them in the past.
Where has the cheese moved to?
Janet Choynowski, the founder of Immobel, recently shared a startling statistic with me. She told me that the most any person can hope to reach in one language is 33 percent. In support of this point, according to the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, there were over 1 million new Hispanic households formed in 2025, constituting 92.6 percent of all current household formation.
Now you may be thinking you don’t speak Spanish or any of the other languages in your local area. All the major AI platforms do speak multiple languages fluently. You can reach these audiences in their native language.
This market, along with Boomers who still dominate the listing and buyer inventory, single women who own over 20 million properties, and one- to four-unit investors who are doing over 90 percent of their purchases outside the traditional MLS, are also great niches to consider.
The cheese keeps moving
Market conditions and mortgage rates constantly shift; most agents are fighting over the crumbs of cheese in the “old market.” In contrast, there is ample opportunity in the market outlined above.
The question is, will you keep searching for your cheese in the old empty corners, or are you prepared to explore new corners of opportunity that you never considered before? Agents who embrace change are the ones who will not only survive, but thrive.
Bernice Ross is president and CEO of BrokerageUP and RealEstateCoach.com, the founder of Profit.RealEstate and a national speaker, author and trainer with over 1,500 published articles.
