If your home isn’t selling, you’re not alone. One of the most common questions homeowners ask is whether they should lower the price, hold steady, or take the home off the market and relist.
The answer depends on far more than the number of days your home has been listed. Showing activity, buyer feedback, market conditions, and pricing strategy all provide valuable clues about the best next step. Before making a decision, it’s important to understand what the market is actually telling you.
Why Your Home Isn’t Selling: Start With Your Showing Activity
Before you adjust the price, look at your activity over the past three weeks. In most cases, your showing history will point you toward the right strategy.
Few or No Showings
If buyers aren’t scheduling showings, your asking price is usually the biggest obstacle. Buyers are filtering your home out before they ever walk through the front door. If your property isn’t appearing in the price range where buyers are searching, they won’t have the opportunity to appreciate its features.
Plenty of Showings, But No Offers
If buyers are touring the home but nobody is making an offer, your price may be close. However, something else is causing buyers to choose another property. That could be condition, outdated finishes, photography, staging, or simply how your home compares with the other homes they viewed the same day.
Low Offers
If you’re consistently receiving offers well below your asking price, the market is giving you valuable feedback. The question becomes whether you’re willing to adjust your expectations or continue waiting for a buyer willing to pay your current price.
Why Days on Market Matter
If your home isn’t selling after about 45 days, buyers begin looking at it differently.
Early in a listing, buyers ask themselves, “What do I think of this house?” As the days on market increase, the conversation changes to “I wonder what the seller would actually take?”
Time itself becomes leverage for buyers. Every additional week without meaningful changes can weaken your negotiating position and increase the discount buyers expect to receive.
When Should You Lower the Price?
A price reduction makes sense when showing activity is low and your direct competition is attracting buyers.
However, a price reduction only works if it’s meaningful.
For example, reducing a $1.4 million listing by $25,000 rarely changes buyer behavior. It doesn’t move your home into a new online search bracket or trigger a meaningful wave of new listing alerts. Instead, it often signals to buyers that additional reductions may be coming.
In many situations, a strategic reduction of 3–5%, or enough to reach the next common search price, generates far more attention than a series of small cuts.
When Should You Relist Your Home?
Sometimes your home isn’t selling because the listing has become stale rather than because the property itself is undesirable.
If showing activity has slowed dramatically, you’ve completed improvements, updated the staging, or changed your pricing strategy, removing the home from the market and relaunching it may be the better option.
In Arizona, a home must remain in Canceled or Expired status for more than 45 consecutive days before it can be relisted as a new MLS listing. Beginning on the 46th day, both Agent Days on Market (ADOM) and Cumulative Days on Market (CDOM) reset to zero.
A successful relaunch is more than simply resetting the days on market. Use the time to:
- Invest in new professional photography
- Complete deferred maintenance and repairs
- Improve staging and curb appeal
- Reevaluate your pricing strategy
- Build a fresh marketing campaign
When those improvements accompany a new listing, they can generate renewed buyer interest and create a stronger first impression.
When Does It Make Sense to Hold?
Holding your price isn’t always the wrong decision.
If your home is truly unique, patience can be a legitimate strategy.
Luxury estates, custom homes, architecturally distinctive properties, or homes on large lots often appeal to a much smaller buyer pool. These properties naturally require more time to find the right buyer.
If your property doesn’t fit neatly into a group of comparable sales, waiting may produce a better outcome than reducing the price too quickly as long as your carrying costs and timeline allow for it.
Quick Decision Guide
| If you’re experiencing… | Consider… |
|---|---|
| Very few showings | Review your pricing strategy. |
| Lots of showings but no offers | Improve presentation, photography, staging, or pricing. |
| Repeated low offers | Reevaluate your asking price based on market feedback. |
| A stale listing with declining activity | Consider relisting after improving the home’s presentation. |
| A unique luxury property | Holding may be the best strategy if your timeline allows. |
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should I lower the price to attract buyers?
The goal is to reach an entirely new group of buyers.
In many cases, that means lowering the price by 3–5% or enough to move into the next major online search bracket. Smaller reductions often fail to generate meaningful new activity.
Does taking my home off the market reset days on market in Arizona?
Yes, but only after the listing has remained in Canceled or Expired status for more than 45 consecutive days. Once relisted on or after the 46th day, both ADOM and CDOM reset to zero. Time spent in Coming Soon or Temporarily Off Market status does not count toward that requirement.
Is it better to lower the price or offer buyer concessions?
If buyers are interested but struggling with affordability, seller-paid closing costs or a mortgage rate buy-down can sometimes cost less than an equivalent price reduction while preserving your recorded sales price.
However, concessions won’t solve the problem if buyers aren’t scheduling showings in the first place.
Should I wait until winter or spring to sell my Scottsdale home?
Sometimes.
Luxury buyer activity often increases between January and May, but inventory also tends to increase. If your property is unique and you’re comfortable carrying it longer, waiting may be worthwhile. If you’re selling on a deadline, adjusting your strategy today is usually the better decision.
How long is too long for a home to stay on the market?
It depends on price point, location, and seasonality. However, once a listing passes roughly 45 days, many buyer agents begin viewing it as negotiable. By 90 days, buyers often assume the seller is unwilling to adjust unless something changes.
Ready to Decide Your Next Move?
If your home isn’t selling, the answer usually isn’t found in a generic rule. It’s found in your own data—showing activity, buyer feedback, recent comparable sales, and current market conditions.
If you’re selling in Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Arcadia, or the greater Phoenix area, I’d be happy to review your property’s performance and help you determine whether lowering the price, holding, or relisting is the smartest strategy.
You can also learn more about capital gains taxes when selling a home before making your decision, as understanding your potential tax exposure is an important part of evaluating your overall net proceeds.
Schedule a consultation at kristabecka.com/contact, and I’ll walk you through the numbers so you can move forward with confidence.
About Krista Becka
Krista Becka is a Broker Associate with Real Broker who helps buyers and sellers throughout Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Arcadia, Phoenix, and surrounding communities make informed real estate decisions. With nearly two decades of experience, she specializes in luxury homes, relocation, move-up buyers and sellers, and strategic pricing. As a Certified Luxury Home Specialist (CLHMS), REAL Luxury member, and Certified Negotiation Expert (CNE), Krista combines data-driven analysis with concierge-level service to help clients maximize their results.
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