The three pricing mistakes I see Naperville sellers make every spring

After 480+ transactions, I can tell you the pricing conversation is where sales are won or lost — usually before the sign is in the yard.

Mistake one: anchoring to the wrong comp

“The Hendersons got $610K in 2021” is not a comp. The market that matters is the last ninety days, at your school boundary, at your condition level. When I run a Pricing Strategy Advisor analysis, roughly a third of the comps sellers bring me get excluded — wrong boundary, wrong condition, wrong market entirely.

Mistake two: pricing high “to leave room to negotiate”

The data is brutal on this one. Homes that launch above the defensible range don’t generate lowball offers to negotiate with — they generate silence, then a price cut, then offers below what a correct launch price would have brought. Buyers negotiate hardest against stale listings, not fresh ones.

Mistake three: ignoring the first-weekend signal

Showings and saves in the first seventy-two hours predict your outcome better than any pre-list opinion, including mine. If the first weekend is quiet, the market has spoken — and the sellers who act on that signal in week one consistently out-earn the ones who wait a month to “see what happens.”

Thinking about a move this year? I’ll run the real analysis on your home — no commitment, and you’ll know your defensible range either way.