The pricing conversation isn’t about convincing sellers you’re right, coach Darryl Davis writes. It’s about coaching them to make the best decision with their own eyes.
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Here’s a question that will reveal everything about how an agent approaches pricing: When you sit down with a seller and open your CMA, are you there to sell them on a number — or to coach them toward a decision?
If the answer is the first one, you’ve already lost. Not the listing, necessarily. You might win the listing by telling the seller exactly what they want to hear. But you’ve lost something more important: the opportunity to build the kind of trust that leads to a smooth transaction, a realistic timeline and a client who refers you for the next 20 years.
Start with the right mentality
Before you ever pull a single comp, you need to get your mindset right. You are not walking into a living room to sell a homeowner on your price. You are walking in as a coach. An advisor. A consultant whose job is to present the best available information and help the homeowner make an informed decision.
This is one of the core principles we teach our agents, and it starts with language. I’d go as far as saying to the homeowner:
“When it comes to pricing, you decide — because you’re the boss. My responsibility is marketing. But you decide on the price. Now, my job is to give you my professional opinion along with an educated assessment based on my years of experience. But ultimately, this is your decision.”
Read that again. Notice what it does. It removes the adversarial dynamic and positions you as a trusted resource rather than a pushy salesperson. It gives the homeowner ownership of the decision — which makes them far more likely to trust your guidance, and it takes the pressure off of you.
Method 1: The appraiser’s eye
The first technique we teach is walking the homeowner through the comparable sales one by one, in full printout form, as if they were a bank appraiser reviewing the file.
Here’s the setup. You explain how financing works from the buyer’s side: When a buyer seeks a mortgage, the bank sends out an appraiser whose job is to be conservative enough to make the loan a good investment. That appraiser isn’t committed to appraising for the highest possible price. They’re committed to the safest price — because if the buyer defaults and the bank has to foreclose, they need to recover their money.
Then you say:
“What I’m about to show you are the exact comps that a bank appraiser is going to use when your buyer’s lender orders the appraisal.”
Now you lay out the comps one by one. Not a spreadsheet they can’t read. Not a one-page summary that glosses over the details. Full printouts — each property with photos, square footage, lot size, condition, days on market and sold price. Walk them through each one, pointing out the similarities and differences to their home. Let them absorb the data.
After you’ve laid them all out, you ask one powerful question:
“Now, if you were the bank appraiser — being conservative, looking at these numbers — what price would you come up with for this house?”
This is the magic of the approach. You haven’t told them what their home is worth. You’ve given them the same data a professional appraiser will use and asked them to arrive at the number themselves. Nine times out of 10, the number they come up with is realistic — because the data doesn’t lie. And because they arrived at the conclusion on their own, they own it.
Method 2: The competition window
The second technique — which you can use alongside the appraiser method — is showing the homeowner what their competition looks like at their desired price point.
The principle is simple and universal: Buyers shop in categories. Someone shopping for shoes in the $300 range isn’t looking at $1,000 shoes. Someone shopping for a $40,000 car isn’t browsing the $100,000 lot. Buyers set a price range and compare everything within it.
Real estate works exactly the same way. When a seller chooses their list price, they’re placing their home into a specific competitive category. Every buyer searching in that range will see their home alongside every other listing in that bracket.
Pull up the active listings in their desired price range and lay them side by side. Then ask:
“When a buyer sees your home next to these homes at this price point, does yours stand out as the best value? Is it the shiny penny in this category — the one with more bang for the buck?”
If the answer is yes, you’re in the right range. If the answer is no — if the competition at that price point has newer kitchens, bigger lots or better locations — then the seller can see with their own eyes why the price needs to be adjusted. You didn’t have to argue. The market made the case for you.
Combine both for maximum impact
The most effective CMA presentation uses both methods together. Walk through the comps so the homeowner understands where the market says value exists. Then show them the competitive landscape at their preferred price point so they can see where their home fits among active listings.
One method anchors them in sold data. The other shows them the reality of what they’re up against today.
Together, these techniques create a pricing conversation that feels collaborative rather than confrontational. The homeowner doesn’t feel pressured. They feel informed. And an informed seller is a realistic seller — which means fewer price reductions, fewer days on market, and a smoother transaction for everyone.
Coach, don’t convince
At the end of the day, the CMA isn’t about being right. It’s about being useful. The agent who walks in determined to convince the seller of a number is working against human nature — nobody likes being told what to do. The agent who walks in as a coach, armed with clear data and the right questions, lets the seller arrive at reality on their own terms.
That’s the difference between winning a listing and winning a client. One gets you a sign in the yard. The other gets you a career built on trust, referrals and the kind of reputation no amount of marketing can manufacture.
Darryl Davis is the CEO of Darryl Davis Seminars. Connect with him on Facebook or YouTube.
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