When Katrina called me, she sounded exhausted. Her home had just expired on the market for the second time, and she wasn’t sure whether to re-list, rent, or just give up altogether. “I don’t understand,” she said. “We did two price reductions… shouldn’t that have helped?” Katrina invited me over, and I shared with her something most homeowners don’t hear until it’s too late. A bad price adjustment can hurt you more than no adjustment at all. Katrina had been given the most common advice in real estate: “Just drop the price,” but no one had explained how to make adjustments strategically, when to adjust, or why.
Hesitant reductions attract the wrong buyers. The truth is, if you didn’t feel the adjustment, neither did any of the buyers you are marketing to. Tiny reductions make a listing look desperate, and major reductions shock the market and make buyers wonder "What’s wrong with the property". Katrina’s home didn’t fail because it was overpriced… it was merely a victim of chaotic pricing.
Rather than play the price reduction game, chasing the market downward, we reset the entire strategy. We analyzed the competing homes, studied the buyer traffic data, reviewed the listing history, and positioned her home exactly where it needed to be — not too high, not too low, but in the price bracket that creates urgency and competition. Not guessing, but looking at where Actives are low and Pending(s) are high. No fear-based cuts. No random adjustments that confuse buyers. Within three days, Katrina had 18 showings and two solid offers. What changed? Not the home. Not the market. Just the strategy.
Your second listing deserves a smarter plan — not another blind price drop. In the event you need to make a correction, survey the market as if you are Listing for the first time that day. Survey your competition and price your home where it is the obvious choice as buyers enter the marketplace. If your home didn’t sell the first time, it wasn’t because the market rejected you. It is because the strategy didn’t match the reality of today’s Buyer. When you approach your pricing with intention, data, and confidence, you give your home a fresh start instead of a third chance.
It doesn’t have to feel like a race to the bottom.
If you’re tired of price adjustments that don’t work, or you’re re-listing and want your home sold this time, not next time, I’d love to walk you through the strategy that actually moves homes.
