— Ted Greenspeare

When listing your home, the goal is always the same: price it correctly from the start so it sells as quickly as possible, for the highest possible price and on the best possible terms.

But let’s be real. You can do everything right, and sometimes the market simply doesn’t cooperate for a multitude of reasons beyond your control.

I know I’ve written about this before, but two recent listings reminded me how important it is to handle these situations with tact and patience.

Ironically, the two properties couldn’t have been more different from each other. One was a high-end detached home, the other a townhome. One took just over 40 days to sell; the other more than 100.

In both cases, we made a small price adjustment early on because the initial response wasn’t quite what I’d hoped. After that, however, I recommended holding firm—even though both sellers were willing to reduce the price again.

Why?

Because the price wasn’t the problem.

The market was.

Sometimes a property simply comes onto the market at the wrong time, when the right buyers just aren’t there. No amount of price cutting can create buyers who don’t exist. In those situations, lowering the price often accomplishes little more than giving away equity.

So what did we do?

We waited.

More importantly, I kept my clients informed every step of the way, explaining exactly what I was seeing and why I believed patience—not panic—was the right strategy.

In the end, both properties sold on reasonable terms and very close to their asking prices.

So how did I know that holding firm was the right decision?

Experience.

The easiest thing any Realtor can do is recommend another price reduction. Keep lowering the price long enough, and eventually almost anything will sell.

The hard part is knowing when not to.

Real estate isn’t an exact science. You can’t dump the numbers into a spreadsheet and have it tell you whether patience or a price reduction is the better strategy. Every property, every market, and every buyer pool is different. Sometimes the data points one way while experience tells you something entirely different.

When I had been in the business for five years, I didn’t have that judgment. After ten years, I still didn’t.

After more than 20 years and over 1,000 successful transactions, I’ve developed an instinct that’s difficult to explain but incredibly valuable. It’s the product of experience, market knowledge, pattern recognition, and an unwavering commitment to doing what’s best for my clients—not what’s easiest.

Ironically, this incredibly important point is one of the hardest things to communicate in a listing presentation because it sounds like I’m just marketing myself. I’m not. It’s simply the result of decades spent watching thousands of buyers and sellers make decisions.

Of course, there are plenty of times when I recommend an immediate price reduction. Sometimes that’s absolutely the right move.

The key is knowing the difference.

I’ve always promised my clients one thing: I’ll tell them exactly what I believe, whether it’s what they want to hear or not. The clients who trust that advice consistently put themselves in the best position to achieve the best result the market will allow. It may not always be the result we hoped for, but it will be the best result that was realistically available.

And that’s the job.

Happy Stampede, y’all!