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The Art of the Pivot: How to Save a Stale Listing

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By Godwin

In chess, there is a concept called Zugzwang. It describes a situation where a player is put at a disadvantage because they must make a move, but every available move makes their position worse.

Many sellers feel this way after their property has sat on the market for three, four, or five months.

They feel stuck. If they lower the price, they feel they are "losing" money. If they keep the price the same, the property continues to gather dust, becoming what I call a "stale listing."

But here is the truth: You are not in Zugzwang. You are just afraid to pivot.

In my last article, we discussed how overpricing causes you to lose the market. Today, let’s talk about how to get it back.

The Sunk Cost Fallacy

The biggest enemy of a stale listing is not the market conditions; it is the seller’s ego. We tell ourselves, "But I’ve already waited this long, surely the right buyer is just around the corner."

This is the Sunk Cost Fallacy. It’s a refusal to change course because of the time or effort already invested. But the market does not care about how long you have waited. The market only cares about value.

When a house sits, the market is speaking to you. It is saying, "Not this." To save the sale, you must stop hoping and start pivoting.

1. The Price Pivot (The Band-Aid Rip)

The most painful pivot is the price. Sellers often want to chip away at it—dropping it by $1k or $2k, hoping to trigger a search alert. This is death by a thousand cuts. It looks desperate, not strategic.

If you are going to re-price, you must do it decisively. You need to drop to a bracket that exposes the property to a completely new set of buyers. A decisive adjustment says, "We are serious." A small adjustment says, "We are worried."

2. The Presentation Pivot (The Re-Dress)

Sometimes, the price is fair, but the "packaging" has become invisible. Buyers have scrolled past your listing photo ten times. They don't even see it anymore.

We need to change the lens.

 * New Hero Image: If the main photo was the exterior, swap it for the stunning kitchen.

 * New Description: Rewrite the copy. Stop listing features ("4 beds, 2 baths") and start selling the lifestyle ("Coffee on the east-facing veranda").

 So when I phone you as your agent with your best interests speaking about the need to readjust the price do listen. Let’s pivot together

3. The Access Pivot

I often ask sellers of stale listings: "How easy is it to buy your house?"

If you require 24-hour notice, no weekend viewings, and "pre-qualification letters" before a buyer even steps inside, you are building walls around a house you are trying to sell.

A stale listing needs oxygen. Open the windows. Make it incredibly easy for people to see it. Friction kills deals.

The Comeback

A pivot is not a failure. It is a strategy.

Staying the course when the course is wrong is failure. Realizing that the market has shifted and shifting with it? That is business.

If your property has been sitting, do not let it become a permanent question mark. Change the price, change the look, or change the strategy. But do not just sit there.

It’s your move.

 

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