What Sellers Need to Know in a Shifting Market
The market is shifting and buyers are gaining leverage. While you can still sell your home for great equity, the playbook has changed. Multiple offers and sales on the first weekend are much harder to come by than just a couple of months ago. If you want to successfully close without watching your days on market accumulate, here is what you need to keep in mind:
1. Buyers Have More Leverage
Inventory is up, demand has cooled, and today’s buyers have options. They are picky, cautious, and willing to walk away if a deal doesn't feel right.
What this means for you: Expect negotiations. Buyers are back to asking for seller concessions, repair credits, and interest rate buydowns. The sellers who win in this market are the ones who drop the ego, ditch the rigidity, and work with buyers instead of assuming they hold all the cards.
2. Get Out in Front of the Market
One of the costliest mistakes sellers make right now is relying on closed sales from 4-6 months ago. In a shifting market, those numbers represent a completely different economic reality.
Your true competition is the active listings buyers are touring today and the pending properties currently moving under contract. Active comps show what you are competing against, while pendings reveal where buyers are actually writing offers.
What this means for you: Don't go chasing a ball down a hill - get out in front of it. If you price based on six-month-old peak prices, you’ll constantly be lowering your price after the market has already dropped further. Position your price ahead of the trend from day one.
3. Days on Market Will Be Longer
"Instant sales" were a symptom of an overheated market, not the historical standard. As inventory rises, the pace of transactions slows down. Expect your home to take longer to sell than your neighbor's did last year.
What this means for you: Patience is essential, but watching your days on market (DOM) climb without a plan is dangerous. The first 14 days are your golden window of buyer engagement. If you pass that mark with no showings or offers, the market is giving you direct feedback, and the faster you react the better.
4. Present in the Top 10%, Price in the Bottom 50%
This is the formula for a successful sale today. Because buyers have choices, they are drawn to homes that look turnkey, but they compare prices relentlessly.
Present like the Top 10%: Professional staging, high-end photography, curb appeal, and fixing minor defects before hitting the market are non-negotiable. If your home looks dated or worn compared to competing listings, buyers will skip it.
Price in the Bottom 50%: Pricing based on where the market used to be will lead to your home sitting. By positioning your asking price in the lower half of active, comparable options, you create clear value.
When a home looks better than the competition but costs less than expected, you create immediate urgency. That’s how you motivate buyers to act, even in a shifting market.
The Bottom Line
A shifting market isn’t a bad market - it’s just a normal one. Homes are still selling every day, but success requires strategic preparation, forward-looking pricing, and active collaboration. Let's make a plan to make your property shine and get ahead of the market from day one.
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