The 2026 Squeeze Is Coming: Three Things Buyer Agents Better Get Right

Welcome to 2026. The forecasts say modest rebound, not a boom. More transactions than 2025, but still payment-constrained buyers, stubborn sellers, and an industry that spent all of 2025 rewriting the rulebook—only to face whispers that some of those commission settlements might get overturned this year.

That’s the squeeze. And it’s going to separate the agents who work from the agents who wait.

Most of your competition is still in holiday mode. Here are three things you better tighten up this week if you want to close deals instead of just “staying busy.”

1. Attracting Buyers: If They Don’t Know You Exist, You’ve Already Lost

Let me be blunt: if your lead generation strategy is “hope someone calls me” or “buy leads from Zillow,” you’re renting your business from someone else. And landlords raise rent.

Here’s what actually works in 2026:

Show up consistently where buyers are looking for help

• Two short videos per week (45 seconds each): “Here’s what’s happening with rates this week” or “Three things first-time buyers are doing right now”
• Two helpful posts: one myth-buster, one “how-to”
• Stop trying to go viral. Start trying to be the agent people remember when they’re ready to buy.

Make it dead simple for people to contact you
Every piece of content should have one clear next step: “DM me for a payment breakdown” or “Text me at [number] if you want to see what you qualify for.”

Work your database like you actually care
Past clients, sphere, people who ghosted you six months ago—they all know someone thinking about buying. Send two personal messages per week. Not “checking in,” not automated drip campaigns. Actual messages to actual people.

If you’re not doing this minimum, you’re hoping for business, not attracting it.

2. Qualifying Buyers: Stop Showing Houses to People Who Aren’t Buying

Mortgage rates might ease into the low-6% range this year, but that’s still high enough that most buyers are sweating the monthly payment, not the granite countertops. And you’re going to have more lookers in 2026 because inventory is improving.

Your job is to figure out who’s ready and who’s wasting your Saturday.

Payment-first consult (15 minutes, no exceptions)

Before you show anything, get three numbers:

• Max monthly payment (not max price—price doesn’t matter if they can’t afford the payment)
• Cash to close comfort zone
• Must-have timeline (90 days or “someday”?)

If they won’t give you those numbers, they’re not serious. Next.

Build a Yes List and a Not Yet List

• Yes List: pre-approved, motivated, timeline-backed. These people get your time.
• Not Yet List: curious, not committed, needs nurturing over time. These people get automated updates until they’re ready to work.

Give serious buyers an affordability menu

Every qualified buyer gets a one-page menu with options:

• Rate buydown scenarios
• Seller credit strategies
• Expand search radius by 5-10 miles
• Adjust property type (condo, townhouse, fixer)

Script for buyers who want to “wait for rates to fall”:

“Totally fair. Let’s not gamble, though. Let’s run two tracks. Track A is buying now if we can solve the payment problem with strategy. Track B is watching rates, but we’re also watching inventory and competition. If rates drop, more buyers jump in. We’re not just waiting—we’re preparing.”

Stop being a tour guide. Start being a strategist.

3. Commission Structuring: If You Can’t Get Sellers to Pay, Your Buyers Will Have to Pay

Here’s the reality California agents are living with in 2026: buyers are now obligated to pay the buy-side commission unless the seller agrees to cover it. The seller COULD pay it, but they’re not required to.

Which means if you can’t structure offers that get sellers to pay your commission, your buyer is writing you a check at closing. And most buyers don’t want to do that.

So your offer-writing and negotiation skills better be sharp. This isn’t about “presenting the buyer broker agreement without being awkward.” This is about being so good at structuring offers that sellers say yes to covering your commission.

What that actually looks like:

Build commission into the offer strategy from the start
Don’t wait until the 11th hour to figure out how to get paid. Every offer you write should include a clear plan for how the seller covers the buyer agent commission—whether it’s in the initial terms, built into repair credits, or negotiated as part of the deal structure.

Know when to ask for it upfront vs. negotiate it later
Clean offers on hot listings? Ask for seller-paid commission upfront. Multiple-offer situations? You might need to structure it differently. Fixer properties or longer days on market? You have more negotiating room.

Use language that makes it easy for listing agents to say yes
“We’re structuring this offer to include seller-paid buyer agent compensation at X%” sounds a hell of a lot better than “Can the seller maybe cover my commission?”

If you can’t do this, you’ll lose buyers fast
Buyers will work with agents who can get sellers to pay. If you’re the agent who keeps telling buyers “you’ll need to pay me out of pocket,” they’ll find someone who doesn’t make them do that.

This is a skill gap that will separate working agents from struggling agents in 2026. Get better at it.

The 2026 Squeeze Is Coming

The squeeze is real, but it’s also a filter. Most agents won’t do this work in early January. They’re still recovering from the holidays, or waiting for the market to “get better,” or hoping something changes.

You don’t need the market to change. You need to get better at attracting buyers, qualifying them fast, and structuring offers that get you paid without your buyers writing checks.

Your competition is asleep. That’s your window.

“For things to get better for you, you have to get better” Jim Rohn