Price Reduction Calculator

Holding out for the asking price is not free. Every month a property stays unsold costs the mortgage, taxes, insurance and upkeep, and that cost is invisible because it is spread across bills you were paying anyway.

The comparison is simple once both sides are on the same scale: a reduction costs a fixed amount once, and waiting costs a smaller amount every month. This works out how many months of waiting a given reduction is worth.

The comparison

A reduction costs the amount cut, less the commission you no longer pay on it. Waiting costs the monthly holding cost. Divide one by the other and you get the number of months of waiting the reduction is worth.

Worked example

On a 400,000 asking price, a 5% cut is 20,000. At 5% commission you save 1,000 of fees, so the reduction really costs 19,000. If holding the property costs 1,800 a month, the reduction pays for itself provided it sells the property about 11 months sooner. If you believe the cut brings a buyer within three months, waiting was the more expensive choice.

One meaningful cut beats several small ones

Portals highlight reductions, and a sequence of small drops signals to buyers that more will follow, which encourages them to wait rather than offer. A single decisive move back into the bracket where buyers are actually searching does more than three token ones.

Frequently asked questions