What Your Home Is Worth vs. What It Means to You

Sellers who price based on what their home means to them almost always sit longer than sellers who price based on what the market says it is worth.

That gap between attachment and data is the most expensive mistake a seller can make right now in the Phoenix metro. Pricing over the comps costs you days on market, negotiating leverage, and equity.

What I Actually See

The cleanest, fastest-selling homes are the ones priced inside the same band as the three or four most recent comparable closings. Not at the top of that band. Inside it.

Buyers in this market are studying the same data their agents are studying. They know what just closed two streets over. They know what the listing across the cul-de-sac took to actually move. If your price sits a step above that data, they wait. If your price sits inside that data, they show up with offers.

A Few Common Mistakes

Treating the original list price as a floor. It is not. The market does not remember what you asked for in week one. It remembers what is sitting unsold in week five. Adjustments early, while the listing still has freshness and buyer attention, recover better than adjustments late.

Letting the home you raised your kids in argue with the home a buyer is shopping for. They are not the same home. The buyer is comparing your kitchen against the renovated kitchen at the next showing. The buyer is not paying for the years you spent there. They are paying for the next ten years they hope to spend there.

The Useful Conversation

None of this is a reason to be cynical about pricing. It is a reason to be honest about it. The best outcome for a seller is the one where the home moves cleanly, at a number the data supports, with leverage intact for the negotiation. That outcome almost never comes from starting high and hoping. It comes from starting accurate and letting the market do the rest.

If you are sitting on a home you are thinking about selling this summer, the most useful thing I can do is walk through the comps with you and tell you what I am actually seeing in the showings, not what feels good to hear. If that is helpful, let me know.

Jon Hegreness, REALTOR / Associate Broker, Howe Realty
(623) 826-0888 · JonHegreness@gmail.com · License BR540940000
9059 W Lake Pleasant Pkwy, B-200, Peoria, AZ 85382
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