Selling Your Houston Home as the Market Changes

It’s been a while since we’ve read headlines like CNBC’s “Home sellers are lowering their prices at the fastest clip since 2019.” Seller’s market conditions have made “bidding wars” a more common topic—and for the most part, there remains a seller-friendly, below-average supply of homes for sale throughout the nation. Still, reports that the upward movement of sale prices has begun to flatten are increasingly evident.
For local homeowners who are thinking of selling their Houston homes, the topic of just what is a fair price to set is the question of the hour. One approach is to look back to less seller-friendly eras to revisit the guidance being offered at that time.
Back then, Inman News was offering tips to buyers with articles like “Solving the Mystery of Fair Market Value.” The best way to determine FMV—”the holy grail of real estate mysteries”— for any home meant scouring the landscape for the lowest legitimate offer that had been tendered for truly comparable properties. It wouldn’t necessarily be the listing price (although it might be). Ideally, it would be the publicly available recent sale prices paid for three such comparable homes. But additionally, “the listing prices of homes that have not been sold can be informative.”
In the same timeframe, House logic went all-in on that detail with “6 Reasons to Reduce Your Home Price.” Absent the safety zone of seller’s market conditions, they offered homeowners half a dozen signs that it might be best to lower their original asking prices. The six were not subtle: “no lookers,” “lots of lookers but no offers,” “no offers despite similar homes having been sold,” etc.
Number 6 was the reddest of red flags: “new listings have been added”—but at lower prices.
The notion that homeowners now thinking about selling their own Houston homes should entertain the possibility of lowering an asking price before they’ve even established one might seem to be unduly pessimistic—but that could be a pessimistic way to look at it. Real estate journalist Meera Pal recently observed a verity that often holds true in buyers’ and sellers’ markets (and everything in between): “Even though it is counterintuitive, pricing your home slightly under market value can sometimes land you the highest sale price.”
The “price low, sell high” strategy isn’t universally the best pricing solution—every property is different. Arriving at that calls for an experienced Realtor’s research and expertise—and I would be delighted to offer mine! Call Rinnovare Realty, LLC at (832) 445-4957 or visit us at www.rinnovarerealty.com .