The price is the first number anyone will see on your property — and at the same time the only one that decides whether your phone rings or the listing sits there for months with no interest. Getting it right is half the battle. And it can be done without a crystal ball, if you know where to look.
Why asking prices in listings lie
When you open a property portal and start comparing "what's selling for how much", you're making the first mistake: you're looking at asking prices, not the prices things actually sold for. Those are two different numbers, and the gap between them is easily 10–20%.
The asking price is the seller's wish. The sale price is the market's reality. Look at the date the listing was posted. A listing that's been hanging there for six months at a "dream" figure tells you nothing — except that it isn't selling at that much. And the ones that actually sold? They're long gone from the listings.
Never set your price by the most expensive listing in your building or street. It's almost always a flat that isn't selling precisely because it's overpriced. You'd be copying someone else's mistake.
What actually makes up the price
The price isn't square metres multiplied by a "price per metre off the internet". It's made up of several things that pull against each other:
- Location. The same layout in Žabovřesky (a sought-after Brno district) and in an outlying village can differ by a third. And the micro-location decides too — the specific street, the view, noise, amenities within walking distance.
- Condition. Renovated, pre-renovation, or "move-in ready, but it'll want money in five years"? The buyer will price up the repairs — and mentally deduct them from the price, usually with a generous margin for themselves.
- Floor and layout. The ground floor and a top floor without a lift drag the price down. So does a badly laid-out flat where the family can't find each other or keeps tripping over one another. A loggia, a cellar or parking, on the other hand, add to it.
- Legal status. Easements, unresolved ownership or missing legal documents can eat more out of the price than you'd expect — and in the worse case block the sale entirely. A mortgage lien, by contrast, is not a problem.
Write down everything about the property that's above-standard and below-average, before you set the price. That honest inventory will give you a more realistic number than any online calculator.
Three mistakes that overshoot the price
- "I'll add a margin for haggling." Logical, but counterproductive. An overshot price puts off exactly the serious buyers who know the market and are looking right now. What's left are bargain hunters — and with them you'll haggle your way lower than if you'd started at a realistic price.
- "The neighbours sold for this much, so I want at least the same." You don't know the condition of their flat, or whether that number is an asking price or a real one. Someone else's price without context is just a rumour. And when a neighbour brags at the pub about what he sold for, half the time he's bragging nonsense. Luckily it can be checked simply for a few crowns — the land registry records actual sale prices — so we'll look together and see whether he's making it up. The few crowns are on me.
- "I'm pricing in my memories too." I understand this better than you'd think. But the buyer pays for parameters, condition and location — not for the fact that you raised your children here or grew up here yourself. Leave the emotions at the door; they make you prone to mistakes.
Price maps versus reality
Price maps and online estimates are a good springboard, not the final word. The free versions are completely useless; the paid ones at least work with real data, but they run on averages and lagging figures. They can't account for your building having a new lift, a freshly renovated bathroom — or windows onto a busy junction.
A real valuation only comes about when the numbers from the map are confronted with actually completed sales of comparable properties and with what you specifically have to offer. That's the work I do on every sale — and it's why my numbers usually differ from the machine's.
When to reduce the price and how
Even a well-set price sometimes needs a correction — the market moves, the season plays its part, competition appears overnight. Stick to two rules:
- Watch the signals, not the calendar. Lots of listing views in two weeks but zero viewings? Price. People coming to viewings but nobody making an offer? More likely condition, presentation or expectations. The diagnosis decides the treatment.
- Cut decisively and once, not a thousand crowns at a time. Ten small discounts look desperate and signal that "something's wrong" with the property. One clear correction puts the listing back among the new arrivals and pulls in a fresh wave of buyers.
A price can be set well. It just takes looking at the right numbers, being honest with yourself about the condition and not being led astray by other people's listings. And if you're not sure, get advice rather than advertising at the wrong number for three months — because the first two weeks on the market are the most valuable, and you don't get them back.