Every seller wants the same two things: the highest price and the shortest time on market. The good news is that they are not in conflict. The best price almost always comes from the first two weeks, when a listing is new, visible and competitive.
Start with the data, not the dream
We begin every valuation with the three most recent comparable sales within half a mile, adjusted for size, condition and lot. Then we look at what is currently for sale — your real competition — and at what failed to sell. That last set is the most instructive: it tells you where the ceiling is.
Price to create competition
A home priced at the market, or just under it, attracts several buyers at once. Several buyers means offers, and offers mean leverage. A home priced 5% over the market attracts none of them, and after three weeks buyers start to wonder what is wrong with it.
“The market does not care what you paid, what you spent on the kitchen or what your neighbour got in 2022. It only cares what a buyer will pay today.”
The two-week window
Listings get most of their views in the first fourteen days. Portals push new listings; agents flag them to their buyers; the weekend open house is full. Miss that window with the wrong price and you will spend the next two months chasing the market down with reductions — and every reduction is a signal.
What we do differently
- We stage and photograph before the listing goes live, never after.
- We launch on a Thursday so the first weekend is the busiest.
- We review showing feedback with you after seven days and act on it.
If you are thinking of selling this year, ask for a free valuation. We will show you the comparables, the competition and the number — and we will tell you honestly if now is not the time.
This matches what happened to us last spring. We listed 6% over the comparables because a neighbour told us to, sat for five weeks, then sold under asking after two reductions. The first two weeks really are everything.
Thank you for sharing that, Marta — it is the most common story we hear. The good news is that a reduction in week two costs far less than a reduction in week six.
Do you still recommend launching on a Thursday if the property is a rural one with fewer weekend viewings?
For rural listings we usually launch on a Tuesday and run viewings across two weekends instead of one. The principle is the same: be new when the most buyers are looking.
Would love a follow-up post on how you handle appraisals when a home sells above the comparables.