Every few months, like clockwork, a real estate agent trots out the magic phrase:
“PRICED BELOW APPRAISAL!”
It’s meant to grab attention. It’s meant to create urgency. It’s meant to trick buyers into believing they’ve stumbled on some kind of instant equity jackpot.
But let’s slow down and ask a very basic question:
Why on earth would you price your listing below what you claim it's worth?
If It’s Really Worth That, Why Are You Discounting It?
If you truly believe an appraisal is accurate (spoiler: you probably shouldn’t), then pricing below it means one thing:
�� You’re intentionally giving money away.
No rational seller does that.
No strategic agent advises that.
No buyer believes that.
So what’s going on?
Appraisals Are Not Market Value—They’re Homework Assignments
An appraisal is a snapshot, not a sale. It’s a regulated, lender-driven opinion of value based on past sales, not present demand.
The appraisal could be:
Done before updates
Done after updates
Done by someone who’s never been inside the house
Done using incomparable comps
Done 18 months ago during a different market
But what it is NOT is:
✔ A prediction of what buyers will actually pay
✔ A guarantee of value
✔ A marketing tool for stale listings
And yet, here we are—agents plastering “Below Appraisal” on listings like it’s alphabet soup that magically fixes everything.
If It’s So Amazing, Where Is Everyone?
Here’s the real giveaway:
If your listing has been sitting for 142 days with little interest, it’s not undervalued. It’s overpriced.
You can say “below appraisal”
You can say “seller motivated”
You can say “won’t last long”
You can say “bring all offers”
…but the market speaks louder than any tagline.
And the market is saying:
“We’re not impressed.”
Buyers aren’t stupid. They’re not falling for inflated appraisals or gimmicky slogans. They’re watching days-on-market climb like a thermometer in July while the seller slowly bleeds leverage.
At day 30, you have a pricing problem.
At day 60, you have a strategy problem.
At day 142?
You’re in denial.
The Real Problem Isn’t the Price—It’s the Method
Lazy pricing strategies lead to lazy results.
The traditional list-and-wait method absolutely punishes stale listings.
Every day on the market is another day the property loses perceived value.
Auctions flip that upside down.
With an auction:
There is no arbitrary “list price”
Buyers compete instead of wait
Urgency is built into the process
Transparency drives confidence
Market value is discovered in real time, not guessed from an appraisal
Days on market? A fraction.
Seller leverage? Maximized.
Appraisals don’t sell houses. Demand sells houses.
And demand is created through process—not wishful thinking.
Imagine hearing this from your agent:
“Good news! We priced your home $20,000 below the appraisal that no buyer on earth believes. Also, no one has looked at it for 142 days, so your discount is clearly working!”
OR…
You could benefit from a clear and transparent proposal:
“Let’s stop guessing and start competing. Let’s expose your property to a time-defined, transparent, competitive bidding event and let the market tell us exactly what it’s worth—now, not 142 days ago.”
Final Thought
If your agent to shout “below appraisal” to get attention, you don’t have a pricing advantage—you have a credibility problem.
The market isn’t fooled. Buyers aren’t fooled.
And sellers shouldn’t be fooled either.
There’s a better way.
There’s a smarter way.
There’s an auction way.
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