Let’s talk about the most expensive sentence in real estate:
“Let’s price it high.
We can always negotiate down.”
That line sounds great at the kitchen table.
It feels strategic.
It feels safe.
It feels like control.
Fast forward 87 days… and suddenly it feels like confusion, frustration, and a lot of “What’s the market doing right now?”
Here’s the truth no one likes to hear:
You can’t negotiate with silence.
You can’t anchor buyers who never show up.
And “room to negotiate” doesn’t matter if the price scared off the only leverage you had.
Now let’s talk about what “testing the market” actually does to your home.
It trains buyers to wait. Buyers are smart. When a home sits, they assume a price drop is coming. Urgency disappears, and leverage goes with it.
It makes your house look flawed. Buyers don’t think, “They’re just testing.” They think, “Why hasn’t this sold?” Even great homes start to feel suspicious when they linger online.
It burns your best window. The first two weeks matter more than any other time. Roughly 80 percent of serious buyer activity happens right out of the gate. Miss that window and you don’t get a do-over.
It costs you money every single day. Mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance. That “let’s just see” approach quietly drains your wallet while nothing happens.
It helps your competition. Buyers compare everything. If your home is overpriced, it doesn’t win. It makes the other listings look like better deals, even when they’re not.
Here’s the part no one likes to talk about.
Every week a home sits typically costs you:
About 10 percent of your buyer pool
Over $3,000 in carrying costs
Most of your negotiating leverage
Algorithmic visibility on Zillow, Realtor, and Google
Yes, the algorithms notice. And no, they don’t care about your pricing strategy meeting.
This is why strategy matters. And it’s why who you hire matters even more.
At The Agency, we don’t just throw a sign in the yard and hope. We leverage a global network of more than 3,000 agents, international exposure, aggressive digital marketing, and real-time data to position homes correctly from day one. Pricing isn’t a guess. It’s a calculated decision backed by experience, market behavior, and global reach.
Funny how overpriced listings always turn into a “market problem” later.
But it almost always starts as a pricing decision early.
And no one loves admitting who made it.
Price it like you want it sold. Not like you’re experimenting.
Wyatt Poindexter
Managing Partner, The Agency
405-417-5466
[email protected]
www.WyattPoindexter.com
www.TheAgencyRE.com
