Fortes Seller’s Minute: Zestimate vs Reality

Words I like: Algorithms suggest. Buyers decide.

Zestimates are fine for curiosity, not for pricing strategy. They lag, can’t see your upgrades or condition, and don’t account for buyer search brackets. Price just above a bracket and you disappear from a huge slice of saved searches.

Here’s the play I run with clients:

Roadmap (do this this week)

1. 30-day demand snapshot: pull under-contract comps, showings, saves, and list-to-sale ratio.

2. Bracket pricing: set Event Based/Market/Aspirational. Aim for Market to straddle two buyer filters (e.g., $499,900 vs $500,000).

3. Mid-week launch: go live Thursday; compress showings into 3–4 days to stack demand.

4. Day-7 rule: weak signals → move to Event Based price; strong signals → hold and set an offer deadline.

Common mistake: Listing at $499k instead of $500,000 can cut out everyone capped at $500k—fewer eyeballs, weaker terms.

Home-Selling Tip: “We price to capture the two largest buyer brackets using the closest comps. If the market says adjust, we adjust by Day 7.”

As promised, value in under a minute (ish).

Want a quick, personalized plan? Reply SELL.

PS - If you find value in this and you feel compelled, please share this newsletter if you know of anyone thinking of selling that this could help.