The Funnel - Why You Can and Why You Cannot Decide
Article 2: Your Agent Can Help but Only If they Are Serving and not Trying to Make a check
The Funnel — Or Why Real Buyers Don’t Need to See 74 Homes
There’s a natural limit to how many homes the human brain can process before decision-making breaks down. Psychologists call it decision fatigue: the more choices we are asked to evaluate, the harder it becomes to distinguish meaningful differences.
Barry Schwartz’s well-known research in The Paradox of Choice demonstrated that more options often lead to paralysis rather than satisfaction. Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper’s “jam study” (2000) showed the same: consumers confronted with 24 varieties of jam were far less likely to make a purchase than those presented with only six. In real estate, the lesson is obvious. Every additional showing beyond a buyer’s point of clarity reduces, rather than increases, the likelihood of a confident decision.
But here’s the deeper question: How do you get down to six choices of jam in the first place?
You don’t just throw jars on the table. You ask questions. You probe. You learn whether someone is really a blueberry person or a strawberry person.
Real estate works the same way. Buyers say “four bedrooms” or “2,500 square feet,” but if you listen closely, what they’re describing is not just square footage — it’s a daily life they want to feel. A certain rhythm, a certain lifestyle, a certain way of living. The job of a professional agent is to translate numbers into meaning.
🚫 The Wrong Agent: Endless Touring
Becomes an Uber driver for houses.
Shows ten homes on Day One, another ten on Day Two, and hopes something “sticks.”
Confuses activity with effectiveness.
What happens in practice is predictable: after 15 or 20 homes, buyers can’t remember which kitchen belonged to which property. Research from Stanford University on decision fatigue shows that when people face too many sequential decisions, the quality of those decisions declines sharply. In housing, this means homes blur together, confidence wanes, and urgency fades.
✔️ The Pro Agent: Funnel Discipline
Uses the funnel to refine choices as the process unfolds.
Draws from all sources: MLS, off-market, new construction, and FSBOs.
Translates vague wants into actionable criteria.
The funnel is not just a search tool; it’s a framework for interpretation.
“I want a big backyard.”
→ Could mean a smaller yard backing onto a golf course fairway that provides openness and views without the maintenance burden.“I need four bedrooms.”
→ Often really means three bedrooms plus an office that fits the buyer’s actual lifestyle better.
This is why listening matters. Numbers rarely tell the whole story. What the buyer communicates in “metrics” often hides what they really want in “meaning.”
🌧️ A Real-World Example
I’ll never forget one showing. The clients had given me precise requirements: a certain square footage, a specific number of bedrooms, and close enough to the beach to walk there.
We were touring a home in the community they thought they wanted when the skies opened up and rain trapped us on the porch. We couldn’t rush off to the next showing, so we sat and talked. And that’s when she said it:
“You know, I really just want to be as close to the beach as possible.”
That one sentence reframed the entire search.
As it happened, my team partner and I had just been handed a private listing — our very next stop. A 750-square-foot, one-bedroom, one-bunk, two-bath cottage sitting about 100 feet from the sand in one of the most desired areas.
And that was it. We were done.
Way different from the metrics — but perfectly aligned with the heart.
🎯 The Lesson
✔️ Pro Agent: Runs a funnel, listens deeply, translates numbers into meaning, and guides buyers toward what they really want.
🚫 Wrong Agent: Runs buyers in circles, mistaking motion for momentum.
The truth is simple: more homes don’t equal better service. They equal more confusion, slower action, and often no decision at all.
A professional doesn’t just show homes. They interpret, clarify, and sometimes wait out the rain long enough to hear the truth.
👉 Next up in this series: How Close Are You to a 10? Why Pros Ask What Amateurs Don’t.