21 ways to get the price you want

 

Seller's Guide · Denver Metro

By Cody Walker, REALTOR® · Source Home Group | eXp Realty · November 2026

You probably have a number in your head.

Maybe it's what you need to buy the next place. Maybe it's what the house two doors down sold for in 2022. Maybe it's what an online estimate told you last spring.

And lately, most of what you read about selling a house in Denver says you won't get it.

Here's the reality. The market did shift. Across the Denver metro, pending sales in October were down more than 20% from a year earlier, and 65% of the homes that sold came with some kind of seller concession. Nationally, about one in five active listings has had a price cut, near the highest share in Redfin's records.

But that's only half the picture. Homes are still selling, and some are still selling fast. Earlier this year, about one in four Denver homes went under contract within a week, and more than half of those sold above asking.

20%+ Drop in Denver-metro pending sales vs. a year ago (Oct 2026)

65% Share of Denver-metro sales with a seller concession (Oct 2026)

51% Fast-selling Denver homes that sold above asking (Feb 2026)

Sources: DMAR October 2026 Market Trends Report, as reported by the Denver Gazette; Zillow, February 2026 data.

So what separates the home that sells from the home that sits? In my experience, it comes down to one thing most sellers never think about: the size of their buyer pool.

The big idea

Selling a House in Denver Starts With Your Buyer Pool

Your buyer pool is every buyer who could realistically buy your home.

Most sellers think about price from the inside out: what they paid, what they put into the kitchen, what they need for the next move. Buyers work from the outside in. They scroll, filter, compare, and cross homes off the list, usually in a few seconds each.

So if you want your price, you have to stop thinking like the owner and start thinking like the buyer. And that starts with how many of them are actually looking at your home.

Here's the simple math. Say 10 buyers see your home the first week and one makes an offer. That buyer is negotiating against you. Now say 30 buyers see it and three make offers. Those buyers are negotiating against each other.

10 buyers · 1 offer ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● That buyer is negotiating against you.

30 buyers · 3 offers ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Those buyers are negotiating against each other.

● made an offer   ● saw the home. Same house, same price, very different conversation.

More buyers means more showings. More showings means more offers. More offers means more leverage.

The catch is that your pool shrinks at every step. Some buyers never find your home. Some find it and never book a showing. Some tour it and can't picture themselves there. Some want it and can't make the numbers work. And some make an offer and walk.

Find your home

Book a showing

Picture living there

Make the numbers work

Make it to closing

Illustration of how buyers drop out from first search to closing. Not data.

Right now, the pool is already smaller than usual. With Denver-area pending sales down more than 20% from last year, there are simply fewer active buyers to go around. So the job is simple, even if it isn't easy: keep as many buyers in your pool as you can, at every step.

Below are 21 things that grow or shrink your buyer pool. Some pull buyers in. Some push them out. And one is a move most sellers have never heard of. We'll start with the one that matters most: price.

The list

21 ways to grow your buyer pool, in 5 steps

1	Get found	Tips #1 to 3
2	Get the showing	Tips #4 to 8
3	Win them over	Tips #9 to 12
4	Make it easy to say yes	Tips #13 to 16
5	Keep them at the table	Tips #17 to 21

Step 1 · Tips 1 to 3

Get Found

1. Price against today's competition

Buyers don't judge your home in a vacuum. They judge it next to every other home in their price range that's for sale that same week.

This is the uncomfortable part. Buyers pay what homes like yours are selling for right now, not what you spent on the kitchen. And an online estimate is an algorithm's guess, made before a single buyer has walked through your door.

If that stings a little, you're not alone. Most Denver-area owners watched their value climb for years. But buyers can only pay what the homes around you support today.

The sellers who get their price usually make peace with this early. They stop pricing off the 2022 peak or the neighbor's sale from three years ago, and they price for the market they're actually selling in. If you've owned for a while, there's a good chance you're still walking away with real equity.

The opposite is the most common mistake sellers make. In a HomeLight survey, 77% of agents said overpricing is the number one mistake sellers make.

So ask your agent for two lists: homes like yours that sold in the last 60 to 90 days, and homes like yours for sale right now. Then pick a price that makes sense next to both.

Source: HomeLight agent survey

2. Price inside the range buyers search

Most buyers search with a max price, and they almost always pick a round number: $600,000, $650,000, $700,000. Land just above one of those numbers and a whole group of buyers may never see your home. On paper, $705,000 and $699,000 look almost the same. In a search filter, they're two different audiences.

Ask your agent which price bands buyers in your area actually search, and make sure you land inside the right one.

3. Get the widest possible exposure

The more places your home shows up, the bigger your pool. Zillow looked at sales from 2023 to 2025 and found that sellers who skipped the MLS typically sold for 1.3% less than sellers who listed publicly. On a $650,000 home, that's about $8,450.

Some brokerages argue their private pre-marketing does better. Either way, ask your agent exactly where your home will appear and how many buyers will see it.

Source: Zillow, May 2026

Getting found is step one. Next, buyers have to want to see it in person.

Step 2 · Tips 4 to 8

Get the Showing

4. Photos decide who books a showing

Almost every buyer meets your home on a phone first. Your photos are the first showing, and most buyers decide in a few seconds whether they'll ever book the second one.

That means professional photos, bright natural light, and a lead image that shows your best room or best angle, not just the front door. In Colorado, include the things that make a home here feel like Colorado: the deck, the yard, the view toward the foothills if you have one.

5. Curb appeal

Researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington found that homes with strong curb appeal sell for about 7% more than comparable homes in the same neighborhood, and the premium was even larger during the 2008 downturn, when buyers had more choices.

Mow. Trim. Paint or refinish the front door. Clean the entry. In fall and winter, clear the walk, rake the leaves, and turn on the porch light for evening showings. It gets dark early here this time of year.

Source: University of Texas at Arlington, 2025

6. Put your best feature front and center

Some of the most valuable things about a home never make it into the listing. A two-car garage on a street where parking is tight. A finished basement nobody photographed. A mountain view hidden behind heavy curtains. A backyard that backs to open space.

If buyers don't know it's there, they can't pay for it.

Ask yourself what you'd brag about to a friend. Think about the features that make a buyer stop scrolling: a garage, extra storage, a dedicated office, a finished basement, usable outdoor space. Then make sure yours is in the photos, the first line of the listing description, and every post about the home.

7. A floor plan and 3D tour

A floor plan helps buyers picture their furniture, and their life, in your home. A 3D tour lets busy buyers walk through before they schedule a showing. For buyers relocating to Colorado, it's often how they build their short list before they ever fly in.

8. A launch that's ready on day one

Your pool is never bigger than on day one. That's when every serious buyer with a saved search in your area gets the alert at the same time. Redfin's listing-views research found that homes get about 3.4 times more online views the day they're listed than the day they get a price drop, and views fall by roughly half by day two.

Here's the twist. Plenty of sellers go live at a "let's see what happens" price and plan to lower it later. But Redfin found the bump from a price cut lasts about one day. Then views fall right back.

Meanwhile, Zillow found that homes that went under contract within a week were 2.6 times as likely to sell above asking. In Denver, the gap was even wider:

Denver homes under contract within 7 days that sold above asking	51%
All Denver homes that sold above asking	18%

Source: Zillow, February 2026 data. Nationally, the split was 44% vs. 17%.

So don't go live until the price, the photos, and the house itself are all ready. Day one is too valuable to use as a test.

Source: Redfin listing-views study; Zillow

Now buyers are walking through the front door. The next question is whether they can picture living there.

Step 3 · Tips 9 to 12

Win Them Over

9. Move-in ready condition

In HomeLight's agent survey, 76% of agents said move-in ready condition is the top selling point for buyers right now. The reasoning is simple. Buyers stretched by today's rates usually don't have extra cash for projects after closing.

And if you've lived with that cracked tile or sticky slider for years, you've probably stopped seeing it. Buyers won't.

Source: HomeLight agent survey

10. Fresh paint and small fixes

You don't need a remodel. You need the home to look cared for. Neutral paint, fresh caulk, working light bulbs, tightened hardware, a screen door that closes. These are small costs that take the "what else is wrong?" question out of a buyer's head.

11. Staging and decluttering

In NAR's 2025 Profile of Home Staging, 29% of agents said staging increased the dollar value of offers by 1% to 10%, and 49% of sellers' agents said it reduced time on market.

Here's the part nobody likes to hear. Most of us stop noticing how our own home smells. Buyers notice it the second they walk in. And the bold wallpaper you love fits only the buyers who love it too.

Source: National Association of REALTORS®, 2025 Profile of Home Staging

12. Easy showings

Every showing you decline is a buyer who may not come back. If you're still living in the home, say yes to as many showing requests as you reasonably can, keep a 15-minute quick-clean routine, and have a plan for pets. Vacant homes are easy to show, which is part of why they tend to move quickly.

Now a buyer wants your home. Wanting it and buying it are two different things.

Step 4 · Tips 13 to 16

Make It Easy to Say Yes

13. Help with buyer costs

Concessions are now the norm, not the exception. Nationally, sellers gave buyers money toward costs in 44.7% of sales in August. In the Denver metro it's even more common: 65% of October sales included a seller concession, averaging $12,557.

Denver-metro sales with a seller concession (Oct 2026)	65%
U.S. sales with a seller concession (Aug 2026)	44.7%
U.S. sales with a concession and a price cut (Aug 2026)	15.8%

Sources: DMAR via Denver Gazette; Redfin via Inman and Fortune.

A credit toward closing costs or a rate buydown can make the monthly payment work for a buyer who's stretched. Timing matters, though. Builders advertise their incentives up front, as a reason to choose their home, and new construction is real competition around the metro. Many resale sellers wait until a buyer asks, and then it just becomes part of the haggling. Nationally, 15.8% of August sales included both a concession and a price cut. Those sellers paid twice.

So decide what you'd be willing to offer before you list, and talk with your agent about putting it in the marketing. Loan programs cap how much a seller can contribute, so confirm the limit before you promise a number.

14. An inspection before you list

Deals often fall apart after the buyer's inspection, when problems nobody knew about come to light. Getting your own inspection first lets you fix things, or price for them, before a buyer finds them. In Colorado, that usually means checking the roof for hail damage, scoping the sewer line, and testing for radon before the buyer does.

15. Flexible terms

Price isn't the only thing buyers care about. A closing date that fits their move, or a short rent-back so you're not moving twice, can make your home the easier yes. And if you need more time yourself, a longer closing can be part of the deal too.

16. Know your walk-away number

Many sellers think the deal is done once they sign an offer. Then the inspection comes back with requests for repairs or credits. So decide ahead of time what you're willing to give.

When you know that number before you list, a repair request isn't a shock. It's already in your plan.

Now the clock is running. The rest of the list is about keeping buyers at the table, and this is where most of the money is won or lost.

Step 5 · Tips 17 to 21

Keep Them at the Table

17. Decide your price move before you list

Here's how it usually goes. The first week is busy. Then showings slow down. You wait a few more weeks, hoping the right buyer shows up. Then you finally lower the price.

Waiting feels safe. It usually costs more. By the time a home has sat long enough for the seller to finally cut, the cut tends to be a big one. First American Title's recent Denver-area data showed that homes that went under contract after a reduction were cut an average of 7.7% from their original list price, about $58,000.

So agree on one sentence with your agent before you list. I call it the week-two rule:

18. One meaningful cut

If you do lower the price, make it count. A small cut usually does very little unless it moves your home into a new search band (see tip #2). And small cuts every few weeks teach buyers to wait for the next one.

19. A real counter to every offer

With fewer homes going under contract, any offer matters. Even a low one tells you someone wants your home.

But make the counter real. Coming down a sliver from your asking price can feel like a big step to you. Buyers rarely read it that way. They see a seller who isn't moving, and they move on.

A counter that barely moves tells a buyer the same thing silence does. And watch the pattern. One low offer is a buyer testing you. Five low offers is the market telling you something.

20. A reverse offer

Here's the move most sellers have never heard of. Instead of waiting for an offer, you send one. Your agent writes up terms you'd accept, you sign them, and they go to buyers who already toured the home or came back for a second look, with a short deadline.

It works best when buyers are interested but stuck on the fence. A signed offer with a clear deadline gives them something concrete to decide on. Your agent will confirm the right Colorado contract forms and process before anything goes out.

21. A weekly look at your competition

Your competition changes every week. New listings hit, prices get cut, homes go under contract. Ask your agent for a quick update each week so you're reacting to the market you're actually in, not the one from the day you listed.

Your homework

How to Size Up Your Competition

Every home for sale near you is fishing in the same buyer pool. So look at it the way a buyer would. Ask your agent for four lists of homes like yours:

1	For sale now. This is who you're competing against today.
2	Under contract. This shows what buyers are choosing right now.
3	Sold in the last 60 to 90 days. This shows what buyers actually paid.
4	Expired or withdrawn. The one most sellers skip, and maybe the most useful. These homes show you exactly where buyers said no.

Then ask one question: if I were a buyer with this budget, which home would I pick? If the answer isn't yours, you know what to work on.

Short on time

If You Only Do Three Things

Twenty-one is a lot. If you're short on time, start here, in this order:

1	Price against today's competition (#1). It decides whether buyers enter your pool at all.
2	Launch ready on day one (#8). It's your biggest pool, and you only get it once.
3	Write your week-two rule (#17). It lets you adjust while your pool is still big.

Check your home

What Grows Your Buyer Pool vs. What Shrinks It

✓ Grows your pool	✕ Shrinks your pool
Priced against current comps	Priced off the 2022 peak or an online estimate
Priced inside a search band	Priced just over a round number
On the MLS and every major site	Off-market or limited exposure
Bright, professional photos	Phone photos and dark rooms
Clean entry, tidy yard	Overgrown yard, dark entry
Best feature in the first photo	Best feature hidden
Floor plan and 3D tour	Photos only
Ready on day one	"Let's test the price" launch
Move-in ready	Visible projects
Neutral and decluttered	Strong personal decor or odors
Yes to showings	Declined showings
Concession planned up front	Concessions only when asked
Pre-listing inspection	Inspection surprises
Flexible closing	Rigid timing
Week-two rule in writing	Waiting and hoping
Real counters	Counters that barely move

If you're getting ready to sell, get as many things in the left column as you can.

The homes that sit and the homes that sell are in the same Denver market. The difference is the size of their buyer pool, and that's something you can control.

We use data, not panic. The market sets the price. You set the plan.

Whether you're in Littleton, Lakewood, Green Mountain, or anywhere else in Jefferson County, reach out when you're ready to talk numbers and I'll walk you through what your buyer pool looks like today. 📍 Cody Walker – Your local real estate expert for Lakewood, Littleton, and Green Mountain.