By Callie Kelley’s estimate, home sales in Boise, Idaho, dropped by 20% annually in October 2022 when mortgage rates had doubled from their post-pandemic low points.
“In May 2022, we had a 60% annual gain and that was the peak. And then we lost 20% of that five months later, and the market has kind of just piffled along from January 2023 to January 2025,” said Kelley, the broker-owner of Marathon Realty of Idaho.
Despite these challenging conditions, Kelley recorded her best year ever in 2023 and surpassed it in 2024. She said that despite continued slow market conditions, 2025 is also shaping up to be great.
“A lot of agents have had some really rough years, but every year my business is growing,” Kelley said.
Digging for new business
During the height of the COVID-19 housing market in May 2022, the 90-day average median list price in the Boise metro area rose to nearly $650,000 — up more than $250,000 from May 2019, according to HousingWire Data.
Additionally, its market action index score was above 60 for nearly 18 months from early August 2020 through late May 2022. HousingWire Data considers any market action index score above 30 to be indicative of a seller’s market.
“To be successful during the pandemic you just had to have a pulse,” Kelley said. “You got a license, and if you were a member of the PTA or involved in your church or anything in your community, you were suddenly getting all of these referrals.
“But when that referral valve shut off, they realized that they didn’t know how to get business other than having it handed to them. You need to be consistent with your marketing and advertising if you want to maintain and grow your business.”
For Kelley, this involves a deep commitment to marketing through Zillow’s Premier Agent program, which has been her main source of business for the past eight years. After generating more than $500,000 in income during the first few years of her career, Kelley wanted to push herself even further and aimed for a seven-figure salary.
“I was working really hard, and I thought that I would have to work twice as hard or have this massive team in order to earn $1 million. But then I understood that I had to spend money to make money and I decided to go all in on Zillow,” she said.
In 2023, this strategy led her to close 71 transaction sides for $39.8 million in sales volume, according to the 2024 RealTrends Verified Rankings. As the housing market in Boise slowed (its market action index score is now hovering at 40), Kelley said she has not changed her business strategy. But she acknowledges that getting cold leads from Zillow is not for everyone.
“You have to be very tenacious and you have to want to convert that business. … I have not lost steam or energy for it,” she said said.
Sphere of influence
Holly Maloney has a different strategy centered on going back to the basics and building strong relationships with clients.
Maloney’s home market of Cincinnati is currently plagued by low housing inventory. As of April 18, 2025, there was a 90-day average of 2,239 active single-family listings. That was up from a post-pandemic low of about 1,400 in May 2022 but well below the figure of 4,100 in April 2019, according to HousingWire Data.
According to Maloney, these low inventory conditions — combined with the mortgage rate environment and the fallout from the commission lawsuits — has created “pandemonium” among buyers and sellers.
“We have leaned into this challenge and see it as an opportunity to be more visible to our prospective buyers and sellers, and we have made sure that we are being proactive and not reactive by preparing them for what the current market looks like,” said Maloney, an agent with eXp Realty.
Given how confusing things have been for consumers, Maloney said she has “doubled down” on client communication and education, especially within her sphere of influence. By staying top of mind with people who “love and trust us,” as Maloney put it, she has been able to generate a steady stream of referral business.
Like Kelley, Maloney also deals with her fair share of cold leads. These mainly come from open houses and first-time homebuyer education events she co-hosts with local lenders, she said.
“A lot of buyers and sellers are confused by the commission lawsuit settlement and the mandatory buyer representation agreements,” Maloney said. “So we are seeing both buyers and sellers walk into our open houses just looking for information on the business practice changes.
“If you are proactive and are able to educate them and answer their questions, we’ve been able to generate an abundance of business that way.”
Her strategies have paid off as she earned a top 10 ranking in Ohio after closing 94 sides in 2023, according to RealTrends.
‘Lean into your experience’
Up in Boston, Coldwell Banker Realty agent Rich Hornblower has taken a similar approach to generating business.
Similar to Cincinnati, Boston is also dealing with constrained inventory, with just over 2,000 active single-family listings in the Greater Boston area as of mid-April. In comparison, there were nearly 6,000 active listings in April 2019.
“To get listings, you have to be consistent, and make sure that you show your value proposition and lean into your experience,” Hornblower said. “With buyers, you have to educate them on what to expect from the market, which may differ depending on the time of year, and just make sure they are putting in strong offers, so you need to know the market.”
Hornblower said he does his best to make sure his clients have a positive experience working with him, which has helped him create a strong referral pipeline. He has also leaned into social media as a way to keep in touch with past clients, ensuring that he stays top of mind.
These strategies are paying off for Hornblower, who was the No. 2 ranked agent in Massachusetts in 2024 by transaction side count. He closed 105 sides for $33.7 million in sales volume in 2023, according to RealTrends data.
Further down the East Coast, Kamil Andrukiewicz — a New Britain, Connecticut-based agent for New Haus Group — is also dealing with tight inventory.
Like Hornblower, he has focused on making sure prospective clients are well informed about what to expect in the current housing market. But with inventory being so tight, it has required him to be more creative in helping sellers find places to move, if they haven’t found a new home before their current one sells.
“We are finding them rentals, doing home sale contingencies on offers and even doing leasebacks as part of the contract,” Andrukiewicz said.
As much as Andrukiewicz remains focused on current clients, he said he does his best to stay in touch with past clients and keep his lead pipeline flowing.
“I feel like the No. 1 mistake that every agent makes is they’re very oriented on the transaction that they have currently and they forget about their past clients,” Andrukiewicz said. “Studies have shown that five or six years down the road, buyers forget who sold them their house unless their agent has stayed in touch.”
In addition, as inventory has become tighter, Andrukiewicz said he hasn’t been afraid to branch out of his core market if a client is looking to buy something further away. His willingness to log extra miles helped him close 81 sides in 2023, good for sixth place in Connecticut, according to RealTrends.
“I’ll go to other parts of the state if I have a client that’s looking for an investment property. I had a lot of clients look for lake houses last year, so I was driving all over the state,” he said.
Keep it simple
In contrast to having a willingness to travel, Blair White has concentrated his business solely to downtown Naples, Florida.
After a pandemic-era boom, the housing market in Naples has cooled drastically, with inventory back up to 2019 levels and the median list price down to 2022 levels. Despite these challenges, White said his business has remained strong.
“I have business partners that cover other parts of the metro area who I trust to serve those clients well, but I’ve found that not spreading myself too thin and just being a true expert in my market has done wonders for my business,” said White, an agent with John R. Wood Properties Christies International Real Estate.
“Knowledge is power and having that knowledge of my area not only builds my confidence, but it also builds my clients’ trust in me,” he said.
Like top agents in other markets, White said he focuses on treating his clients well and making sure they’re properly educated.
“It sounds cliche, but it is really as simple as treating people the way you would want to be treated and being as transparent as possible,” White said.
White’s straightforward strategy led him to the No. 6 rank by transaction side count in Naples, after he recorded 36 sides and $35.5 million in sales volume in 2023. And while his strategy may differ from others, he too believes there is no single key to an agent’s success.
“It really is about keeping it simple and doing what you do best,” White said.
First Time Home Buyer FAQs - Via HousingWire.com
