Buyers are changing their minds, and deals are falling apart. Here's what sellers need to handle before the sign goes in the yard.
It’s July 2026, and it’s the wild, wild west out there. I’ve seen a lot of crazy markets over the years, and this one is up there. There’s activity, but things are sporadic. Buyers are changing their minds. Buyers are losing their financing. Sellers go pending, then land back on the market. When you’re pending on a transaction right now, you may not stay pending.
I’ll do a separate video on how to bulletproof a transaction. Today, I want to focus on what you need to do as a seller in this market, because the decisions you make before the sign goes in the yard are the ones that determine how the rest of it goes.
1. Talk to your agent much earlier. This is the first thing, and it’s the one most people underestimate. Things take a lot longer to prep than you think. Between emptying the property, cleaning it, doing some basic ROI-type enhancements, and possibly staging it, there’s real time between when you make the decision and when we actually go on the market.
2. You can’t cut corners on presentation. Every home has to look the best it possibly can. Staging, cleaning, presentation, they all matter, and they matter more when buyers have options. If you think you have plenty of time, or you actually don’t have much time and you want to slam it together quickly, the market will recognize that. It will possibly not reward you, which looks like your home sitting, no offers, and honestly, not even getting showings.
3. Price is critical for everything. You cannot take pricing casually in today’s market. We have to be deliberate about where the comps are, what will attract our buyer, and what the difference is between the price range that gets showings and the price range that tells a buyer they’ll watch this one. and see if the seller drops. That’s a real distinction, and it’s the difference between activity and silence.
The work continues after the listing. Here’s the honest part: we can get on the market thinking we did everything right. So we’re constantly evaluating feedback and refreshing the listing, repositioning photos, adjusting language, and tweaking things along the way to attract the buyer for your property. That ongoing attention is part of the job, not a sign that something went wrong. It’s also part of why some homes sit on the market longer than others.
It’s difficult out there, and I don’t want to scare you. It’s just that now more than ever, it matters to have a trusted professional who’s experienced and can partner with you to get the job done.
If you’re thinking about selling at all, whether that means getting to work immediately or planning for a few months from now, let’s have that strategy session today. Let’s figure out what needs to be done and put together a plan. Call or text me at 503.522.0090, email me at sarita@asksarita.com, or visit blog.asksarita.com for all your real estate questions and more. I’m here to help.
