The hardest decision in real estate isn't negotiating offers or hosting open houses. It's deciding whether to take on a listing you know is overpriced—because sometimes saying yes costs you far more than saying no.
After 13 years in the real estate business, I still struggle with this decision. Do I accept a listing at a price I don't believe in just to win the client? Or do I walk away and watch another agent take the hit, hoping the seller will eventually return to me?
There's no black-and-white answer, but there are patterns that tell you exactly what you're dealing with. Understanding these patterns—and knowing when to walk away—separates successful realtors from those who waste time, money, and sanity on doomed listings.
If you're selling a home in Greater Victoria, understanding this dynamic will help you avoid costly mistakes and work with an agent who has your best interests in mind.
The first question I ask myself before accepting an overpriced listing is simple: Is this seller loyal, or are they price shopping?
There's a fundamental difference:
Loyal sellers are past clients who trust your expertise. They value your guidance and will listen when you recommend pricing strategy based on market data.
Price shoppers are waiting for whichever realtor agrees with their number. They're interviewing multiple agents, collecting the highest listing price opinion, and will hire whoever tells them what they want to hear.
Here's the critical insight: if sellers don't trust your expertise upfront, they won't trust it later when the market doesn't respond.
A price shopper who forced you to take an overpriced listing will blame you when showings don't materialize and offers don't come in. They'll assume it's a marketing problem, not a pricing problem. Then they'll fire you and hire another agent.
Look for these warning signs during the listing consultation:
If you're seeing these patterns, you're likely dealing with a price shopper, not a loyal client. Proceed with extreme caution.
Before accepting any listing, I always dig into the property's history on the MLS and research the individual owner. Specific questions I ask:
That last one is a massive red flag.
I've seen many listings that stayed active for a year or more, cycled through multiple agents at different prices, and sometimes—bizarrely—increased in price after a re-listing. This pattern tells you everything: the property was overpriced, the market rejected it, and instead of accepting market reality, the seller just listed it again with a new agent and a different (often higher) price.
This is a seller who doesn't listen to reason. Taking this listing is high-risk.
Sellers with this history are likely to repeat the pattern with you. They'll blame the market, blame you, cycle through agents, and ultimately drop the price precipitously once they finally accept market reality—but only after months of frustration and zero activity.
If you decide to accept an overpriced listing despite your reservations, here are the two most probable outcomes:
This is the most common outcome. The property sits on the market with minimal showings. Buyers recognize the overpricing and don't bother viewing. Months pass. The seller becomes frustrated.
And then they blame you.
I had a property years ago in North Saanich where I was literally the fifth agent on that file. The sixth agent sold it—after the seller finally dropped the price by $150,000.
The property wasn't broken. The price was.
Think about what those five agents experienced: months of listing with no traction, seller frustration and blame, negative comments like "Why isn't this selling?" and ultimately, being fired. Then the sixth agent swoops in, the seller accepts reality, and the property sells quickly. The sixth agent looks like a hero. The first five agents wasted thousands in marketing spend and countless man-hours.
If you're the first or second agent on an overpriced listing, you're taking on all the downside with none of the upside.
Sometimes sellers listen. They realize the market isn't what they thought. They become motivated. They're willing to adjust the price with you—and when they do, the property sells quickly.
I've had listings where I was the second, third, or even fourth agent on the file. I noticed the seller was getting more motivated with each failed listing attempt. I had tough conversations about getting the price down to a realistic level. And when they finally listened, the property sold within the first week.
In this scenario, all those agents before me wasted thousands of dollars and countless man-hours. My decision to take the listing after they'd already adjusted expectations paid off hugely.
But here's the catch: this scenario only works if the seller is willing to adapt eventually. If they're not, you're back to Scenario 1—a listing that bleeds time and resources.
Over 13 years, I've learned that seller behavior is one of the best predictors of how a listing will perform. More predictive, sometimes, than the property itself.
I had a single-family home in James Bay that perfectly illustrates this. The sellers hired me, and two weeks later they fired me. A few days after that, they dropped the price by $200,000. The property instantly sold.
Why? The sellers were anxious, emotionally overwhelmed, and very challenging to work with. They often stayed home during showings. Buyers reported feeling uncomfortable. The energy in the room was off.
Here's what I learned: seller behavior was killing the sale, not the property.
Anxious and reactive sellers create problems that no amount of marketing can solve:
If you detect these warning signs in your initial consultation, buckle up—you're in for a rollercoaster ride.
Before accepting a listing, honestly assess:
If you're seeing multiple red flags here, the risk of taking that listing just increased significantly.
I'm not always rigid about pricing—there's room for flexibility. If a property is unique with few comparables, I'll be more lenient about testing the market. A heritage home, an architecturally distinctive property, or a home with unusual features might justify pushing boundaries on pricing.
But for standard properties? Condos? Typical 1940s World War II homes? There's no excuse for overshooting the listing price by 10–15% when the segment is so data-driven.
You have extensive comparables. You have sold data. You have active listings to compare against. The market is transparent. Overpricing a standard home isn't strategic—it's lazy analysis masquerading as optimism.
In today's Greater Victoria market, with inventory at a 15-year high, precision pricing matters more than ever. The listings priced just below market are getting the best traffic, the strongest offers, and the cleanest deals.
This one drives me absolutely nuts, and I hear it constantly in listing presentations.
Sellers cling to BC assessment values like they're gospel truth. "Well, the assessment says $1.2 million, so let's list at $1.25 million."
Stop. Assessment values are tax tools, not market indicators.
I've seen countless properties assessed at $1 million sell for $1.3 or $1.4 million. I've also seen properties assessed at $1.2 million that sit forever because their actual market value is closer to $950,000.
The market decides value, not the tax roll. Assessments are updated on a three-year cycle and use different methodologies than real estate appraisals. They're useful for property tax calculation. They're useless for pricing your home for sale.
When a seller mentions the assessment value in your listing presentation, politely but firmly redirect: "The assessment is helpful context, but the market is what determines your home's value. Let's focus on what similar properties are actually selling for."
I hear this constantly, and while it sounds logical on the surface, it's actually one of the most damaging pricing strategies.
Sellers say: "Dustin, let's start a little higher. You can always go down, but you can't go up, right?"
Here's why this thinking is flawed:
Overpriced homes teach the market what they're not worth.
When a home sits on the market at an inflated price, every potential buyer who considers and passes on it is essentially voting "no" on that price point. The longer it sits, the more the market signals rejection. By the time you drop the price, you've poisoned the well with negative market messaging.
Yes, I see sellers raise prices after firing agents and re-listing. It happens. But it's rare and usually only works if enough time has passed that the market forgets the previous listing.
Here's what matters right now in Greater Victoria:
Pricing your property reasonably is what makes it stand out. When you price fairly, you attract buyer traffic immediately. Buyers recognize value. They compete. You get multiple offers. You end up with over-asking results that every seller dreams about.
You don't need to outsmart the market. You just need to respect it.
From a realtor's perspective, overpriced listings are often a gamble with negative expected value:
Sometimes overpriced listings work out. Sometimes they eat your time, your budget, and most importantly, your sanity.
Before accepting an overpriced listing, run through this checklist:
✅ Green Lights (Take the Listing):
🚨 Red Lights (Walk Away):
When in doubt, ask yourself: Would I buy this listing at this price if I were a buyer? If the answer is no, don't take it. Don't outsmart the market. Respect it.
Sometimes the smartest thing you can do as a realtor is walk away.
Yes, every listing feels like an opportunity. Yes, you might lose market share to a competitor willing to take the risk. Yes, the seller might eventually come back to you after firing three other agents.
But your time, your reputation, and your sanity have value. Taking an overpriced listing you don't believe in isn't aggressive business development—it's strategic weakness disguised as optimism.
The realtors who succeed long-term aren't the ones who take every listing. They're the ones who take the right listings, price them correctly, and deliver results that build lasting client relationships and referral networks.
If you're a seller in Greater Victoria wondering if your realtor is guiding you toward realistic pricing or gambling with overpriced strategy, that's your answer. The best realtors will have honest conversations about market data and sometimes tell you "no" when it's in your best interest.
And if you're looking for that kind of guidance—someone who respects the market and will fight for your interests rather than chase every listing—that's exactly what professional real estate counsel should be.
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