Pinpoint Pricing

The Pricing Shark is the overpriced listing. An agent promises a high number to win the listing, the home sits, and the only move left is a price-reduced sign, the surest signal of desperation in real estate. An expert marketer does not even own one.

The vast majority of qualified, motivated buyers see a home in its first two weeks. Price it wrong out of the gate and you lose them, and the home settles below its real value.

I teach agents to price within three percent of market value, where offers come inside thirty days, and to price from the right data. Most agents use the settled date of a comp, which reflects a deal struck two or three months earlier. The pending date is the real meeting of the minds, and the true value is what a buyer was willing to pay last weekend.

Then you test. The Coming Soon period and the website stats tell you if you are priced right, a little low, or too high, with specific adjustment bands, before the home is ever live. The goal is a price so accurate you never need a reduction.

• Price within three percentThat is the band where motivated buyers submit offers inside thirty days.
• Use pending data, not settledThe settled date reflects a deal struck months ago. The pending date is the real market.
• Test before you go liveComing Soon demand and website stats confirm the price before it is ever in the MLS.
• Win the first two weeksMost qualified buyers see the home early. A price that is right from day one captures them.