How the recommended range is built
Pricing starts with sold comparables — ideally the same subdivision, similar square footage and age, sold within the last three to six months. Each one is adjusted for the differences that buyers actually pay for: lot, updates, condition, and layout.
Then we look at what you'd be competing against right now. Buyers don't compare your home to what sold in March; they compare it to the three homes they toured last Saturday. Active and pending inventory sets the ceiling.
Why overpricing is expensive
Overpriced listings follow a predictable pattern: light traffic for two weeks, a reduction, more light traffic, another reduction. By the time the price is right, the listing carries days-on-market baggage and buyers assume something is wrong with the house.
Sellers in that pattern typically net less than if they had launched at the correct number — and it takes longer. The market gives you one launch. There's no way to be new twice.
Search bands and psychology
Buyers search in round increments. A home listed at $505,000 is invisible to every buyer whose filter stops at $500,000 — often a large share of the qualified pool. Moving that same home to $499,000 costs six thousand in theoretical price and can add dozens of buyers to the pool.
The same logic applies at every $25,000 boundary. Where your home lands relative to those lines is part of the pricing conversation, not an afterthought.
When and how to adjust
We review traffic weekly: online views, saves, showings, and feedback. Strong online interest with few showings points to photos or curb appeal. Strong showings with no offers points to price or condition.
If an adjustment is warranted, it should be meaningful and early — a token reduction reads as weakness and buys nothing. One decisive move, made in the first three to four weeks, resets the listing far better than three small ones over three months.
