Selling a home in the United States has settled into a slower, more deliberate rhythm than the one sellers grew used to during the pandemic rush.
Buyers now have more listings to weigh and far less urgency, and many study a home’s finishes closely before they commit. A property that asks too much or shows poorly can sit for weeks, then need price reductions and closing-cost help to reach the closing table. Some seasoned sellers plan for that outcome before a sign ever goes in the yard, building an offer around a sale price that already assumes two price cuts, a $10,000 closing-cost concession, and two extra months of holding.
That kind of math came up on Wednesday’s episode of the BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast, where two active house flippers walked through how they set a listing price when a quick, certain sale matters more than squeezing out the final dollar. Both had arrived at the same read on the current market.
“Money now is way better than potential money later,” Dominique Gunderson, a New Orleans-based real estate investor who runs 10 to 12 house flips a year, said on Wednesday’s episode.
Why homes are sitting and buyers stopped settling
The shift both flippers described starts with the buyer. With more homes to consider and time to consider them, buyers have grown selective about condition, layout, and finish quality. A listing that once would have drawn quick offers can now stall if it misses on price or presentation, and pulling it back on track tends to mean price reductions plus help with a buyer’s closing costs.
“Buyers are just getting so, so picky,” Gunderson said. “So you have to be just as picky when you’re looking at the comps.”
Her response is to underwrite conservatively. Rather than anchor to the highest sale a neighborhood has ever produced, she prices toward the middle of recent comparable sales and assumes the deal will still take cuts and concessions to close. The sale price she builds her offer around already carries two reductions, a $10,000 closing-cost concession, and extra hold time before a buyer signs.
More home-selling and housing market:
- Zillow sees change in housing market, home values
- New home-selling strategy poses threat to buyers
- Goldman Sachs issues major prediction for U.S. housing market
Henry Washington, one of the podcast’s co-hosts, said on Wednesday’s episode that he has landed in the same place after years in the business. He does 10 to 20 flips a year, and his instinct now runs against holding out for the highest possible number.
“I’d rather sell my house fast for less money than shoot for the stars and try to get the most money,” Washington said.
For anyone listing a home, that leaves a fork that felt far less sharp when demand outran supply. The choice is whether to price for a fast, near-certain sale or hold firm and wait for a buyer willing to pay top dollar.
The case for taking less money now
The case for taking less comes down to attention. Pricing a home beneath the best comparable in the area, both flippers said, pulls in every buyer already shopping that neighborhood and forces a decision while interest runs high. The cost is real, since a lower list price can leave money on the table. The payoff is a sale that actually closes.
Washington pointed to a recent deal to show how far he will go.
“The last time we did this, we went under contract in 24 hours, but I listed it $25,000 less than what I planned to list it for when I underwrote the deal,” Washington said.
The reasoning is that a below-market price does the marketing on its own. When a home is the clear value in its area on both price and condition, it becomes the one buyers feel they have to walk through.
“I want to ensure that if a buyer is shopping for a house in a neighborhood my house is listed in, that they have absolutely no reason not to go see mine,” Washington added.
Set against that speed is a tradeoff Washington laid out: a bigger payday that, by his own reckoning, might not arrive for another six months, and that could shrink toward the same figure once holding costs and further concessions are counted. Gunderson landed on the same instinct in plainer terms, favoring a sure payment now over one that only might materialize.
A confirmed sale at a discount carries none of that doubt. For a homeowner, the decision turns on how much that certainty is worth and how long they can afford to carry a home while waiting for a stronger offer.
Key takeaways on the 2026 seller pricing decision
- Buyer selectivity has raised the price of aiming too high: Gunderson said buyers have gotten “so, so picky,” so a home that misses on price or finish can sit and then need cuts and concessions before it sells.
- Seasoned sellers price to the middle of recent comps, not the record: Gunderson builds her offer around a sale price that already assumes two price cuts, a $10,000 closing-cost concession, and two extra months of holding rather than the top sale ever recorded.
- A below-market list price can produce a near-instant sale: Washington said he listed one property $25,000 under his intended price and had it under contract within a day, using the low number to draw every buyer in the neighborhood.
- The core question is certainty versus upside: A confirmed sale at a discount competes against a larger payout that Washington said may take another six months and could end up similar once holding costs are counted; Gunderson put the same instinct more bluntly, favoring a sure payment over a possible one.
- The tactics come from full-time flippers, not a rule for every homeowner: Gunderson runs 10 to 12 flips a year and Washington does 10 to 20, and both were describing how they price investment properties; any seller’s right price still depends on their own timeline and local comparable sales.
