Your Home Gets One Chance to Be the New Listing. Don’t Waste It.

There’s a pricing strategy some Denver homeowners still believe makes sense:

“Let’s start a little high. We can always reduce the price later.”

It sounds safe.

It feels like you’re protecting your equity.

The latest Denver Metro numbers suggest it could do exactly the opposite.

A new analysis of 3,414 Denver Metro home sales looked beyond ordinary price reductions. It measured the total amount sellers gave back between their original asking price, final sales price, and seller-paid concessions.

Here’s what happened:

Under contract in the first 7 days: $2,950 median giveback.

8–14 days: $12,715.

15–30 days: $20,000.

31–60 days: $35,550.

90+ days: $65,000.

Read those numbers again.

The difference between a home going under contract during its first week and one taking 90+ days was more than $62,000 in median giveback.

The Market Is Usually Loudest When Your Listing Is New

Here’s what many sellers don’t realize.

Your house will never have more attention than when it first hits the market.

Buyers get listing alerts.

Agents send it to their clients.

Buyers who have been waiting weeks or months for the right property suddenly see something new.

Photos get clicked.

Showings get scheduled.

People start talking.

You have something every older listing wants:

Attention.

And then something begins to happen.

The listing gets older.

Buyers have already seen it online.

The most motivated buyers may have already toured it.

New listings enter the market and compete against it.

And eventually buyers begin asking a dangerous question:

“Why hasn’t this house sold?”

That’s when the conversation can shift.

Instead of:

“How do we get this house?”

buyers may start thinking:

“How much will the seller take?”

That’s a completely different negotiating position.

The First Weekend May Be Worth More Than the Price Reduction You Make Later

Here’s one of the most important numbers in the entire report.

Of the homes that secured a contract within their first seven days, 71.9% ultimately closed at or above their original list price.

Across all August sales?

Only 30.8% did.

That’s why Bruce doesn’t view the first two weeks as a time to “see what happens.”

There is the launch.

The photography.

The presentation.

The marketing.

The positioning.

And especially the price all need to work together from Day One.

Because you only get one Day One.

“But Can’t We Just Reduce the Price Later?”

Of course you can.

But that’s not the same as starting over.

And the numbers here are hard to ignore.

The 1,569 sellers who reduced their asking price took a median 63 days to sell and eventually closed at 93.2% of their original list price.

The 1,845 sellers who didn’t reduce took a median nine days and closed at 100% of original list price.

And here’s where it gets even more painful.

62.7% of sellers who reduced their price still paid a buyer concession.

The median concession?

$10,000.

Think about that.

The seller didn’t necessarily give up money once.

They potentially gave it up twice.

Price reduction.

Then…

Buyer concession.

That’s not the negotiating position most homeowners imagined when they said:

“Let’s just start a little high.”

Getting the Price Right Doesn’t Mean Giving Your House Away

This is where sellers sometimes misunderstand the conversation.

Bruce isn’t advocating underpricing homes.

He’s advocating strategically positioning them.

There’s a big difference.

The question isn’t:

“What’s the highest price we can put in the MLS?”

Anyone can give you a high number.

The better question is:

“At what price will today’s buyers see enough value to act?”

That requires understanding your competition, recent sales, current inventory, condition, location, price range and—most importantly—what buyers are doing right now.

The objective isn’t merely getting your home on the market.

It’s positioning the property to win the market.

Here’s the $600,000 Example Every Seller Should See

The report calculated that during the first two months on the market, each additional week correlated with roughly 0.8% of original list price in additional seller giveback.

On a $600,000 home?

That’s approximately:

$4,700 PER WEEK.

And remember—that’s not simply a price reduction.

It’s the combined effect of the difference from original list price plus seller concessions.

Suddenly “let’s wait another couple of weeks” sounds very different.

Your Home Doesn’t Need the Highest Asking Price.

It Needs the Strongest Launch.

That’s the conversation Bruce believes every seller should have before the sign goes in the yard.

What are buyers comparing your home against?

How much inventory exists in your exact price range?

What’s selling quickly?

What’s sitting?

Where are the price reductions occurring?

What concessions are buyers receiving?

And most importantly:

What would make a buyer choose your home instead of the five others they can see this weekend?

Answer those questions first.

Then determine the price.

Because the report’s data doesn’t prove that time itself causes a seller to lose money. Overpriced homes, condition issues and softer market segments are more likely to sit longer. The report specifically acknowledges that limitation.

But that’s exactly the point.

If the market is telling you something, waiting doesn’t make the message disappear.

Thinking About Selling? Do This Before You Pick a Price.

Don’t ask Bruce:

“What can you list my house for?”

Ask:

“What would it take to make my house one of the homes buyers want during the first two weeks?”

That’s the conversation that matters.

Bruce will prepare a Seller Launch Strategy showing how your home stacks up against the competition, where buyers are responding today, and how price, presentation and Active Marketing can work together to give your home the strongest possible opening.

No obligation. No inflated number designed to win the listing. Just the numbers, the competition and a strategy.

Before you put your home on the market, give Bruce 30 minutes.

Because you can always change the price later.

You can’t get your first two weeks back.

Bruce McQuiston | Coldwell Banker Realty
YOUR Personal Real Estate Coach