How to Price Your Home Right the First Time

I've listed and sold over 100 homes across Maryland, DC, and Virginia. And if there's one mistake I see sellers make more than any other, it's overpricing.

It feels counterintuitive. You want the most money for your home. Shouldn't you aim high and negotiate down? No. Here's why.

The First 14 Days Are Everything

When a home hits the market, it gets a surge of attention from buyers who've been waiting for the right property. These are your best, most motivated buyers. They're watching the market closely, and they'll see your listing within hours of it going live.

If your price is right, those buyers tour, compete, and you often get above asking price.

If your price is too high, those buyers skip you. They've done their homework and they know the market. They'll come back when you drop the price — but by then, the urgency is gone. They're wondering what's wrong with it.

The "Sitting" Stigma

Every day your home sits on the market, buyer perception erodes. They start asking: "Why hasn't it sold? Is something wrong with it?"

In a strong market, a well-priced home shouldn't take more than 2–3 weeks to get an offer. If it's been sitting for 6 weeks, you've almost certainly priced it too high — and the solution is a price reduction, which almost always results in a lower final sale price than if you'd priced it right from day one.

How I Price a Home

My pricing process involves three things:

1. Comparable sales (comps) I pull every similar home sold within the last 3–6 months in your area. Same size, same condition, same neighborhood. This is the foundation.

2. Active competition What else is for sale right now? Your competition isn't just past sales — it's everything else buyers can choose from today.

3. Market momentum Is the market heating up or cooling off? Spring 2025 is active — that tells me something about where to price relative to recent comps.

The Right Price Is Where Buyers Compete

The goal isn't to leave money on the table. The goal is to create competition. A home priced slightly below or right at market value often gets multiple offers and sells above asking. A home priced above market gets one tour and then crickets.

What I Won't Do

I won't tell you what you want to hear just to get the listing. Some agents will promise you the sky to get you to sign a listing agreement, then pound you with price reduction requests two weeks later. That's not how I work.

I'll give you an honest number, explain the reasoning, and we'll price it to sell — not to sit.

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Thinking about selling? Get a free home valuation — reach out here or call (301) 381-5300.