Pricing without an agent

Price is the one decision that can't be out-hustled. Get it right and everything downstream gets easier; get it wrong and no amount of marketing rescues it. Here's how to do the work like a professional.

Start with sold, not asking

The most common FSBO pricing mistake is anchoring to what neighbors are asking. An asking price is an opinion; a closed sale is a fact. Pull the last six months of settled sales within roughly a mile (tighter in dense neighborhoods), and treat anything still on the market as competition to beat — not evidence of value.

Compare like an appraiser

A comparable is a home a buyer would genuinely have considered instead of yours. Match on the things buyers actually shop by:

• Location factors — school assignment, water access, busy road vs. quiet street. A sale across a district line is not your comp.
• Size and layout — within about 20% of your square footage, similar bed/bath count, similar lot.
• Condition and era — a renovated kitchen against an original one is a five-figure adjustment, not a rounding error.
• Recency — the market six months ago is not the market today. Weight the newest sales heaviest.

Then adjust in dollars, line by line, from the comp toward your home: add for what you have that it lacked, subtract for what it had that you lack. Three or four comps adjusted this way will converge on a range. That range is your truth.

About the online estimates

Automated estimates are a fine starting curiosity and a poor pricing tool — they can't see your kitchen, your lot, or your street. Use them to sanity-check your range, never to set it. If your number and the algorithm disagree, the comps win.

The first two weeks decide it

Your listing gets its maximum attention the week it debuts. If showings are happening but offers aren't, the market is voting on price — quickly and honestly. Plan your response before you list: decide in advance what signal (say, fifteen showings and no offer) triggers what adjustment. Sellers who pre-commit adjust in days; sellers who don't adjust in months, and the market notices the difference.