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Home Prices

Why the asking price tells you almost nothing, and what to look at instead.

4 min read · Guide
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The number on the listing is a marketing decision, not a valuation. In this market it can mean any of three different things, and telling them apart is most of the skill in reading a listing.

Three kinds of asking price

Priced to sell

Set at or slightly above what the seller expects. Common for condos, and in slower stretches of the year. Usually negotiable downward.

Priced to attract offers

Set deliberately below market with an offer date a week out, to generate competition. The list price is bait, not a target. Ignore it entirely and work from comparables.

The third is a price set by a seller who hasn't accepted what the market is telling them. These sit. A property that's been listed for ninety days at the same number is telling you something specific.

What to look at instead

01

Sold comparables, not active listings. What similar properties actually closed at in the last 60–90 days. Asking prices tell you what sellers hope for; sold prices tell you what buyers did.

02

Days on market: and whether the listing has been cancelled and relisted to reset the clock. That's visible if you know where to look.

03

Sale-to-list ratio in that specific pocket. Neighbourhood averages hide a lot; two streets can behave very differently.

04

What's coming. Inventory arriving in the next three weeks changes your leverage more than anything already listed.

Quick tip

Ask me for the sold comparables before you decide what to offer, not after you've fallen for a place. It's a five-minute conversation and it's the single most useful thing I do for buyers.

Not sure where to start? Fifteen minutes on the phone will tell you.

Call or text (647) 448-4857

Thinking about buying?

Tell me roughly where you are in the process. If the answer to most of these is "I don't know yet", that's a perfectly normal place to start.

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Usually the same day, and always within one business day. If it's urgent, call or text (647) 448-4857.