The listing finally moved after a price cut. The assumption that killed the margin was set four months earlier.
A property listed at 429k on a street where the last three comps closed between 388 and 401 sat for 112 days. The listing agent's original CMA landed at 427k, citing a remodel premium, and the seller accepted that number without asking which comp carried the most weight. The comp doing the most work was a corner lot with a garage conversion that added 400 square feet of finished space. The subject property had neither. When the price finally dropped to 399k on day 97, an offer came in at 391k within ten days and closed at 394k. Net to seller after carrying costs, two price reduction marketing pushes, and the extended days on market discount buyers extracted was about 23k below what a 409k list price on day one would likely have produced, even assuming a slower first two weeks. The remodel premium was real, just smaller than quoted, and the agent either did not stress test the corner lot comp or did not push back when the seller wanted to hear the higher number. Those are two different problems with the same result.
What the seller paid for in that listing agreement was market knowledge and the courage to use it. The agent delivered one and not the other. When your own CMA and the agent's diverge by more than roughly five percent on a property under 500k, which specific comp is driving their number and why they weighted it that way is the only question that resolves it. Did your listing agent walk you through the comp adjustments line by line, or just hand you a range?
