Price
The vendor thinks the market has stabilised — the buyers don't
Rates have held, headlines sound calmer, and the vendor has taken that as permission to hold their price. Buyers are pricing in what might happen next.
Do this now — in this order
- 1Separate two different markets in the vendor's mind: what sellers hope and what buyers can borrow.
- 2Explain borrowing capacity as the real ceiling — buyers do not bid what they think it's worth, they bid what they are approved for.
- 3Show the actual sold evidence in the last 30–60 days, not listed prices.
- 4Show what has NOT sold and how long it has been sitting.
- 5Ask the vendor what they will do if the next three months look like the last three.
- 6Quantify the cost of waiting for them in dollars, not in feelings.
- 7Avoid predicting rates. Talk about buyer behaviour, which you can observe.
What to say
Borrowing capacity
"The buyers aren't arguing about what your home is worth. They're telling me what their bank will let them pay. That's the number we're actually negotiating with."
The cost of waiting
"If we're still here in three months, what does that cost you — in interest, in holding costs, and in the discount a buyer applies to a listing that's been around a while?"
Why it works
Vendors track sentiment; buyers track affordability. Making that distinction explicit takes the argument off 'who is right about the market' and puts it onto something the vendor can actually act on.