Coaching Home Sellers Through a Price Adjustment

Learn how to guide sellers through price reductions and turn a tough conversation into a strategy that gets the home sold.

By Melissa Dittmann Tracey

Price reductions on listings reportedly are becoming more common in today’s housing market, and real estate pros are finding that how you frame the conversation with sellers can make all the difference in pricing the home to sell.

Here are a few tips when needing to have price adjustment talks with clients:

Shift their mindset. Help clients see reductions as a strategy—not a failure—in keeping the conversation productive. Price reductions aren’t about losing value—they’re about staying competitive. The right adjustment, made at the right time, can re-energize a listing and bring the offers sellers want, says Ryan Melvin, a real estate pro with Huntington & Ellis, A Real Estate Agency, in Las Vegas.

Use the right data. Educate and don’t sugarcoat about the realities of today’s housing market, Melvin says. Sellers need a clear view of today’s market conditions, not last year’s data. Show them the latest data and explain why an adjustment will put their property in front of more buyers. Melvin highlights the following data to his clients:

• Pending sales over closed sales: Pending contracts show what buyers are paying right now and are the best guide for setting or adjusting price, Melvin says.
• Days on market and price history: Show sellers how similar listings are performing so they understand where their home could stand.
• Inventory shifts: More competition with higher inventory on the market means pricing aggressively is key.

Set competitive expectations from the start. Overpricing a home from the get-go can lead to stale listings. “The difference between a $375,000 house and a $390,000 house might be the difference between zero showings and multiple showings,” Melvin says.

When it’s time to reduce—make it count. Knowing when to adjust your listing price can make all the difference in reigniting interest in a listing. Sellers who do agree to a price change often hesitate, thinking a small move won’t matter. But timing and strategy are key, Melvin says. He’s found that reductions between 2%–5% often spark renewed buyer interest, generating more showings and offers. And when it comes to timing, a midweek adjustment—say, on a Wednesday—can put your listing back on agents’ and buyers’ radar just in time for weekend tours, he says.

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