How To Select The Right Marketing Price For Your Property

Leo Edwards • February 25, 2020

You will know if you have got it right because the market will show up and put offers on your property.

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When putting your home on the market, it's easy to get caught up in choosing the sales price for your home. After all, more money means more choices, perhaps it would mean you could afford a more expensive home or neighborhood, buy a new car, take a family trip to Europe or become debt free. Uninformed sellers often choose the agent who suggests the highest listing price, which can be the worst mistake a seller can make.
The truth is it doesn't really matter how much money you think your home is worth. Nor does it really matter what your agent or five others just like them think. The only person whose opinion matters is the buyers making offers (The Market). Pricing a home should always be a statistical exercise involving comparing similar recent sales, making adjustments for the differences among them, tracking market movements and monitoring local current inventory - all to come up with a range and opinion of value. 

While no two appraisals are exactly the same, they are generally close to each other, it's an educated guess but it's ALWAYS the market that will dictate the price.

Pricing For The Optimum Result

How do you know when your ASKING PRICE is about right? Lets look at the below example of a property with a $550,000 MARKET PRICE
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Pick A Time Or Pick A Price

Homes sell at a price a buyer is willing to pay and a seller is willing to accept. If a home is priced too low (priced under competing properties) the seller should receive multiple offers to drive up the price to market value. So there is little danger in pricing a home too low. The real danger lies in pricing it too high and selecting your agent solely on opinion of value.
A graph showing a market value of $ 560,000
As an example, if your house market value is $560,000 and you were to put it on the market for:

$530,000 - sale might take 24 hours
$550,000 - sale might take 24 days
$580,000 - sale might take 24 weeks
$650,000 - sale might take 2-5 years

Start where YOU are comfortable

Set a starting price high enough to protect the property's value but still appealing enough to attract the best buyers.

Getting the price right in the first few weeks is critical as this will mean your house will be on the market for a shorter time but you will achieve on or above market value.

Advantages Of Proper Pricing

A diagram showing the market value of an agent and buyer
1. Faster sale
2. Less inconvenience
3. Increased salesperson response
4. Means more money to sellers
5. Better response from advertising & sign calls
6. Finance gets approved
7. Attracts higher offers

Why Do Sellers Overprice? Lots of reasons:


  • They feel entitled to make a profit
  • They feel their home is superior to other similar homes
  • They want a return on improvements and repairs
  • They need to buy in another suburb, which is far more expensive
  • They want to buy a bigger, more expensive home
  • They want to pay off loans, credit cards etc
  • They want funds for retirement or some other financial goal
  • They think buyers want to negotiate
  • They think real estate agents can get it sold for more if they just work harder
  • They don’t understand the ageless fundamental principle in that; in over 95% of cases, the best price is obtained when the property is first on the market.


Did you notice that not a single one of those reasons has anything to do with the current market value of the home?


Remember:


The opinion of the market may not be kind, but it is never wrong. You will know if you have got it right because the market will show up and put offers on your property.


How to Ensure You Achieve The Best Market Price

GET INSTANT PROPERTY VALUE

Frequently asked

The questions every Inverloch home seller asks before listing

If one of these is not in your head right now, it will be by next week. Here are the honest answers.

Who is actually the best real estate agent in Inverloch?

Leo Edwards of Inverloch 3996 at realty is the two-time RateMyAgent Agent of the Year for Inverloch, winning in both 2024 and 2025. He holds Certified Price Expert status, maintains 91.9 percent list-to-sale price accuracy across his 2024 to 2025 sold listings, and sells homes in 63 days on average compared to the Inverloch suburb average of 118 days.

How long does it actually take to sell a home in Inverloch right now?

As at April 2026, the Inverloch suburb average sits at 118 days. Leo Edwards averages 63 days across his 2024 to 2025 sold listings. 43 Inverloch properties have been listed for more than a year at time of publishing. The gap between agents is measurable, not marketing spin.

Do I really need an agent with a shopfront in Inverloch?

No. Approximately 96 percent of buyers research property online before purchasing. Not one of the case studies on this page was sold because a buyer walked into an office window display. A digital-first agency with a dedicated local audience and in-house production consistently outperforms the shopfront model in Bass Coast markets.

Are paid portal upgrades worth the extra thousands?

Paid portal upgrades compete for position against other listings on the same portal. They do not generate new buyer demand. In the 7 Morey Street campaign, 87 of 88 enquiries came from social media, not portals. Upgraded portal spend alone is not a marketing strategy.

Another agent quoted me a much higher price. Why shouldn't I go with them?

Because the public data is unambiguous. 21 Pier Road was listed at $1.87 million and sold for $1.14 million after 622 days. 19 Cuttriss Street was listed at $1.295 million and sold for $928,000 after 435 days. Winning the listing with the highest quoted price is an old playbook. The vendor always pays for it.

I've been with my current agent for months without results. Isn't it too late to switch?

No. 26 Beacon Court had been on the market for 172 days without a confirmed sale. After switching to Leo Edwards, it sold in 27 days with 121 enquiries and 7 formal offers at $860,000. Switching agents mid-campaign is not just possible. In many cases, it is the only thing left that actually changes the outcome.

What if my home is unique? Does the same approach even apply?

Every property listed with Inverloch 3996 at realty runs through the same five-phase campaign system. What changes is the execution inside each phase. Premium coastal, inland acreage, subdivisions, new builds, deceased estates — the framework adapts. The principles of accurate pricing, strong visual production, real distribution, transparent negotiation and principal-level oversight apply to all of them.

I want to bring this to Leo, but my spouse is sceptical. What should I show them?

Share this page. It was written for exactly that conversation. The numbers, the published case studies, the methodology, and the 30-page Bass Coast vendor intelligence report available at the strategy call are structured to give both parties enough evidence to make an informed decision together.

It feels awkward to switch agents mid-campaign. How do I even do that?

Most listing agreements include a defined termination or review period. A short, written notice to your current agent is usually sufficient. Leo can walk you through the specific wording during the strategy call and provide a sample notice if helpful. Many vendors find the switch less difficult than the months they've already spent waiting.

What does list-to-sale price accuracy actually mean?

It measures how close an agent's listed price sits to the eventual sale price. A high ratio signals honest pricing. Leo Edwards sits at 91.9 percent across his 2024 to 2025 sold listings. Methodology available on request.

What is Openn Offers and why use it?

Openn Offers is a transparent online sales platform that lets every qualified buyer see competing offers in real time. Transparent competition lifts sale prices in coastal markets where buyers are dispersed across Melbourne, interstate, and local. Leo was one of the earliest Victorian adopters.

Why do homes sell faster with Inverloch 3996 at realty?

Three reasons. Accurate pricing from day one using CoreLogic and Pricefinder Pro. Distribution to a dedicated 30,000 plus weekly audience through Inverloch3996. In-house production through 3996Studio delivering a $1,875 prestige package at no extra cost.

What if Leo is too busy to take my listing?

The cap is approximately 20 active listings. Some months the waitlist is real. If Leo cannot take your campaign personally at the right moment, he will tell you at the first conversation. The alternative is not a junior handover. The alternative is an honest referral.

How many listings does Leo take at one time?

Approximately 20, capped deliberately. Not a capacity issue. A structural choice. Every vendor receives principal-level attention, a bespoke 3996Studio campaign, and strategic oversight through to settlement.

Which suburbs does Leo Edwards service?

Inverloch, Cape Paterson, Wonthaggi, Venus Bay, Tarwin Lower, Meeniyan, and the broader Bass Coast and South Gippsland region.

How do I choose between two Inverloch agents I'm interviewing?

Three questions cut through the noise. First, ask each agent for their list-to-sale price accuracy percentage. Second, ask for their average days on market against the suburb benchmark. Third, ask who produces their photography, video, and social campaigns. If any answer is vague or defensive, keep looking.

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"Your feature on our property was stunning and instrumental in the outcome we achieved. It's really nice to see such a fresh approach to selling properties"
Nic Griffiths
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“The reach of their digital marketing saw us have a buyer from outside the community make a special trip to see our house and it was sold within a week of the pictures being posted”
Karen Milkins-Hendry
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“We both would like to show our appreciation and gratitude for all your hard work and effort in helping to sell our property which had previously been on the market for 5 months.”
Tegan & Trent May

POWERFUL SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING

Reach potential buyers where they spend most of their time, social media. The largest real estate advertising audience is on social media which has the ability to reach active or passive buyers with an audience of 17 million on Facebook and 5 million on Instagram.

WHY SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING?

  • Advertise your property to thousands of relevant potential buyers, investors and tenants who you’d otherwise miss.
  • Create the best possible conditions for a great price and short sales process.
  • Advanced, smart property targeting shows your ads to people identified as:
ACTIVE BUYERS: Interested in a property like yours, actively looking right now
PASSIVE BUYERS: Interested in a property like yours, not actively looking right now
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By Leo Edwards April 24, 2026
Thinking about downsizing to the Bass Coast? Leo Edwards explores why Inverloch and surrounds are attracting a wave of down-sizers, and what the numbers actually look like when you do the maths.
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By Leo Edwards April 23, 2026
REA Group just published data proving that serious buyers devour images and spend extraordinary time on a single listing. Then you look at what their platform actually allows you to show. If your current agent's answer to that gap is a shrug, it is worth reading on.
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By Leo Edwards April 15, 2026
After 172 days listed with another Inverloch agency and not a single offer, these vendors switched to Leo Edwards. Twenty-seven days later: 121 enquiries, seven offers, and sold at $860,000.