"List it high — someone will offer less anyway" used to work. It doesn't anymore. Today's buyers have instant access to comparable sales data and know within minutes whether a listing is priced correctly. Pricing too high doesn't lead to a higher final offer — it results in silence, a stale listing, and a sale price below what the home was worth on day one. A real example: a London home priced at $795,000, expired after 90 days, relisted twice with reductions to $775,000 then $765,000, and finally sold for $737,000 — even though comparable sales fully justified $755,000 from the start. Ty Lacroix, Broker at The Envelope Real Estate Group, has spent 24 years watching exactly how this pattern costs sellers real money.
Does pricing a London, Ontario home slightly high and lowering it later actually work? I hear this constantly from sellers: "Let's list it high — someone will offer us less anyway."
That logic worked years ago. In today's market, it doesn't, and it can cost you significantly. Buyers now have instant access to the same comparable sales data agents do. If you list a home above its real value, buyers know within minutes — and instead of submitting a lower offer, they simply move on to the next listing.
The Trap Sellers Fall Into
When interviewing realtors, it's easy to get swept up in the appeal of a higher number. A higher list price feels like more financial opportunity. Unfortunately, many sellers choose the agent who promises the highest price, or the lowest commission, without asking whether either promise is grounded in reality. This is, by far, the most expensive mistake a home seller can make.
What Actually Establishes Value
Here's the truth: it doesn't matter what a seller believes their home is worth. The only opinions that matter are those of the buyer who makes the offer and the appraiser who confirms the lender's valuation. Pricing a home is part science, part judgment — comparing recent sales of similar homes, adjusting for differences in condition and features, tracking market movement, and reading current inventory levels. This is the same method professional appraisers use. No two appraisals land on exactly the same number, but they're generally close. There's no single formula that produces one perfect price — but there is a defensible range, and staying within it matters enormously.
Is the Price Too Low?
Homes sell at the price a buyer is willing to pay, and a seller is willing to accept. If a home is priced slightly below its true value, the seller should expect multiple offers — and can use that competition to drive the final price up to or above market value. There's relatively little risk in pricing modestly below value when you have a clear strategy. The real risk is pricing too high and watching the home sit for weeks, then months.
How It Goes Wrong — A Real Example
A seller didn't interview more than one agent. They chose the first one they found, drawn in by a low commission rate or a friend's recommendation. That agent priced the home at $795,000.
Ninety days later, the listing expired. No sale.
The seller hired a new agent, who relisted at $775,000. A few weeks passed with no offers. The price dropped again, to $765,000. A handful of people looked. No serious buyers came forward.
By now, the seller was exhausted. The home was repriced one final time, to $737,000 — and it sold quickly.
Here's the painful part: comparable sales in the neighbourhood fully justified a price of $755,000 from the very beginning. The home had simply been on the market too long at the wrong price, and by the time it was priced correctly, the broader market had also slowed. The seller didn't just lose the gap between $755,000 and $737,000. They lost months of carrying costs, the energy of keeping a home show-ready for half a year, and the negotiating leverage that comes with a fresh, well-priced listing.
What an Expired Listing Actually Costs You
The real cost of an overpriced, expired listing goes well beyond the extra mortgage payments and the hassle of keeping a home spotless for months on end. It changes what a buyer is ultimately willing to pay, because the listing is no longer fresh. It's now stale — a home that buyers and their agents recognize as having been overpriced for too long, and they price their offer accordingly.
Protect Yourself
Don't let this happen to you. Don't become the seller whose listing expires and has to start over from a weaker position.
Hire someone who will price your home correctly from the very first day — based on real comparable data, not a number designed to win the listing appointment. If you're getting ready to sell in London and want a defensible, data-backed read on what your home is actually worth before you commit to a number, that's exactly the conversation to have first.
Don't be the next expired listing story. Reach out for a private conversation and let's price your home correctly from day one. No pressure, no pitch.
