You've been thinking about it for a while. The garage is full. The dining table turned into an office a long time ago. You catch yourself scrolling homes with a third car garage late at night.
So you finally ask what your house is worth. Somebody gives you a number, and it's a big one. Bigger than you expected. For a minute, the next house feels close enough to touch.
Now the part nobody likes to say out loud. Your house is probably not worth what you hope it is, and the agent who told you that big number may have known it. A high number is an easy way for an agent to win your listing, and it can cost you months on the market.
If this were the last thing I ever wrote about selling your first house and buying the next one, it would be this: price your house right from day one. This one decision quietly controls everything that comes after it. Your equity, your timing, and whether you move once or twice all ride on that first number.
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Why "leave room to negotiate" backfires
So many of us grew up hearing the same advice: list it high, leave room to negotiate, and let the offers come down to where you wanted to be anyway. That's old-school thinking, and in today's market it works against you.
Watch what happens to a house priced too high:
- Fewer showings. People shopping online filter by price. If your house sits above what the same house down the street costs, a lot of them scroll right past it.
- Fewer offers. Fewer people through the door means fewer chances for someone to fall in love with it.
- Days on market pile up. Everyone can see how long a house has been listed. The longer it sits, the more people wonder what's wrong with it.
- Low offers show up. The offers that do come in tend to come in low, because the person writing them can see it's been sitting.
- The price drop. Now you lower the price, and you're a step behind the market, chasing it instead of leading it.
Meanwhile, the house you wanted next goes under contract with someone else. When you're selling one house and buying another, that's the part that stings the most.
The room you left to negotiate usually ends up as extra weeks, extra mortgage payments and a lower final price than you'd have gotten by pricing it right at the start.
The market doesn't pay you back for what you put in
This is the hardest one to hear. The new windows, the fresh paint, the backyard you spent three summers working on. Those stories live with you, and whoever walks through your front door never hears them.
What they see is the work they'd have to do to make it their home. A dated bathroom. A garage full of somebody else's stuff. Paint colors they'd change the first weekend. That's the math running in their head while they tour, and it shapes the number they're willing to write.
To be fair, you did the exact same thing when you bought your house.
Updates still matter. They help your house stand out, show better in photos and sell faster. They just don't add dollar for dollar to the price. A $20,000 kitchen doesn't make your house worth $20,000 more than the one down the street.
What sets your price:
- Homes like yours that sold nearby in the last few months
- Homes like yours that are listed right now (your competition)
- Homes that have been sitting, and the price they're sitting at
- Condition, layout, lot and location compared to all of the above
Leave these out of the math:
- What you paid for it
- What you've spent on it
- What you need to walk away with to buy the next house
- Your neighbor's asking price
How agents get paid, and why a big number should make you nervous
Most listing agents get paid a percentage of what your house sells for. So yes, your agent wants a high price. Every agent does.
Pay attention to the last two words of that sentence, though: sells for. A list price on its own pays nobody, and neither does a house that never sells.
That's why some agents will tell you a number that's higher than the market will pay. It's an easy way to win the listing. The plan is often to get the sign in the yard, then come back in a few weeks and talk about a price reduction. By then you've lost your best weeks on the market, the ones when your house is new and everyone looking is paying attention.
A house that's priced too high and just sits frustrates everyone. You're keeping it show ready, leaving every time someone wants to tour, and watching nothing happen. Your agent's time, energy and marketing money are going into it too. Nobody wins when a house sits.
How to tell if a price is real:
- Request the homes that actually closed nearby. An honest price is built on those.
- Find out which homes like yours are sitting right now, and why.
- Have them walk you through the plan if there are no offers in the first two weeks.
- Be careful with any number far above everyone else's, and look for the sales that back it up.
Your price decides whether your neighbor's house sells or sits
Your house doesn't go on the market in a bubble. Every home for sale around you is your competition, and the person touring yours has probably toured three others that same weekend.
Picture two houses on the same street. About the same size, with the same kind of updates. Yours is listed a little higher. Why would anyone pay more for yours when the one down the street costs less?
They won't. And now your price is helping sell your neighbor's house.
When I price a home, the first thing I look at is what's selling nearby and what's sitting. The sitting ones tell you a lot. They show you a price people have already said no to. Pricing above a house that's already sitting just puts yours in line behind it.
So price it so yours is the one that sells.
What happens when a house sits (and why 2021 isn't coming back)
A house that sits costs you in ways that don't show up on the listing.
- Money. Another month of mortgage, utilities, insurance and yard care on a house you're trying to leave.
- Leverage. Once the days on market climb, the person making an offer knows you're tired of waiting.
- Your life. Keeping a house show ready with a full calendar is exhausting. Every tour means making beds, hiding the laundry and finding somewhere to be.
- The next house. The one you had your eye on doesn't wait for your sale.
Now, can we talk about 2021 for a second? Houses were getting $10,000, $15,000, even $20,000 over list price. People were lined up down the street to get inside. A lot of us still have that in the back of our minds, thinking if we wait long enough, rates will drop and the frenzy will come back.
That market was not normal, and we will likely never see it again. Rates and inventory both look different now, so the person touring your house has a lot more to choose from. Pricing for 2021 in today's market is one of the fastest ways to end up sitting.
Pricing right from day one works in any market. A buyer's market, a seller's market, or somewhere in between, a house priced right gets attention and gets sold.
When you're selling one house to buy the next, pricing matters even more
When you've outgrown your first house, the sale is what pays for the next one. Your list price sets up everything after it: how fast you sell, how much equity you walk away with, and whether the house you want is still there when you're ready.
Mike and I have bought, sold and moved four times. We outgrew our first Texas house, decided to sell first, and then started looking. We priced it right, it went under contract quickly, and we found equity we honestly didn't know we had. That equity is what let us move on to the next house.
There are a few ways to line up a sale and a purchase so you only move once:
- Sell first, then buy. You know exactly what you have to spend. You may need a short-term plan for where you'll live.
- Buy with a sale contingency. Your offer depends on your house selling. It can work, but it makes your offer less attractive, so your own house needs to be priced to sell fast.
- Sell with a lease-back. You close on your sale and rent the house back for a short time while you close on the next one.
Every one of these works better when your house is priced right. An overpriced house puts every option on hold.
If you're trying to figure out which order makes sense for you, start here: Selling Your First Home and Buying the Next One.
Common questions
How do I know what my house is really worth in North Fort Worth? Look at homes like yours that sold nearby in the last few months, then compare them with what's listed now and what's been sitting. Size, condition, layout and lot all matter. A local agent can pull this from the MLS and walk you through each home line by line.
Should I price my house high to leave room to negotiate? No. An overpriced house gets fewer showings and fewer offers, and the offers that come in tend to be low. Most houses priced high end up with a price drop and sell for less than they would have if they'd been priced right at the start.
Are online home value estimates accurate? They're a starting point. Online estimates can't walk through your house, so they can't see your updates, your layout or what needs work. Treat them as a rough range and get a price built on actual nearby sales.
Do upgrades raise my home's value? They help your house show better and sell faster, but they rarely add their full cost to the price. Whoever buys your house sets their offer by comparing it with other homes for sale.
What if one agent tells me my house is worth a lot more than the others? Ask them to show you the closed sales that support that number. A price far above everyone else's is often a way to win the listing, followed by a price reduction a few weeks later.
Why isn't my house getting showings? Price is the most common reason. When your house costs more than similar homes nearby, people shopping online scroll past it. Photos, condition and how easy it is to tour matter too.
When should I lower my asking price? If you've had little or no showing activity in the first couple of weeks, or showings but no offers, the market is telling you something. Talk with your agent about what's sold and what's still sitting before you decide how much to adjust.
Does a price drop hurt my house? It can. A price drop shows up on the listing, and the person looking may wonder what's wrong or assume you'll take less. One well-timed adjustment is better than several small ones, but pricing right from the start is the best way to avoid it.
Should I list at $449,900 or $450,000? A round number like $450,000 is usually smarter. A house at $450,000 shows up for anyone searching up to $450,000 and for anyone whose search starts at $450,000. List it at $449,900 and that second group never sees it.
Will the market go back to how it was in 2021? Most likely not. Houses selling $10,000 to $20,000 over list price was not normal. Rates and inventory look different now, so the people touring your house have more to choose from.
Can I sell my house and buy another one at the same time? Yes. Common ways are selling first, buying with a sale contingency, or selling with a short lease-back. The right order depends on your equity, your loan approval and how much risk you're comfortable with. Pricing your house right makes every option easier.
How do I avoid moving twice? Line up both closings so they happen close together, or use a lease-back after your sale so you can stay put until the next house closes. A house that sells quickly at the right price gives you the most control over that timing.
Let your first house do its job
If you remember nothing else, remember these three things:
- Stop leaving room to negotiate. It costs you showings, time and usually money.
- Price it where you want to sell it, from day one. Use what's actually sold near you recently and what's been sitting, in the same size and condition. Leave out your neighbor's asking price and the number you're hoping for.
- Let 2021 go. Price for the market you're in.
Your first house did its job. Priced right, it can carry you to the next one.
Wondering what your house would actually sell for, or which order makes sense for selling and buying? Let's talk it through.
Grab the free Home Buying & Selling Toolkit: dfwlifestyleteam.myflodesk.com/guide
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