How to price a property so it actually sells

The first three weeks

A newly listed property gets more attention in its first three weeks than in the following three months. Everyone watching that block sees it at once. Price it right and you are negotiating with several interested parties; price it high and you spend that attention proving you are expensive.

Why "leaving room to negotiate" backfires

The logic feels sound: ask more, settle lower. What happens instead is that the buyers who would have paid your real number never view it, because it was filtered out of their search before they saw a photograph.

By the time you reduce, the property is no longer new. It is the one that has been up for a while, and buyers price that in.

Price to achieved, not to asking

The properties listed around you at high prices are, by definition, the ones that have not sold. They are not comparable evidence. Ask your adviser for what completed in your block in the last six months, and price against that.

The presentation multiplier

• Photograph in daylight, with the lights on
• Fix the things a viewer will notice in the first thirty seconds
• Be honest about what is wrong — it will be found at survey, and finding it late costs more than the repair

When to reduce

If three weeks have produced viewings but no offers, the price is close and the property has a specific problem. If three weeks have produced no viewings, the price is the problem. Those two situations need opposite responses, which is why counting viewings matters more than counting days.