Allison Mireau of Real Connect Group explaining the hidden costs of overpricing a Staten Island home

The Real Cost of Overpricing Your Home

Home Selling
April 23, 2026•3 min read

Thinking your home is worth a little more than the comps suggest?

Most sellers do.

And I get it. You know what you put into it. The renovations. The memories. The weekends spent on the yard. That number in your head feels fair.

Here is the hard part. The market does not price on sentiment. It prices on what a buyer will actually pay this week.

I am Allison Mireau with Real Connect Group. Let me walk you through what overpricing really costs.

The myth of "we can always come down"

This is the most common logic I hear.

List high. See what happens. Drop the price later if it does not sell.

It sounds safe. It is not.

Here is why.

What actually happens when you overprice

A listing has a window. The first two to three weeks are when buyer interest is highest.

Fresh listings get emailed out, pushed to saved searches, and shared by agents. Your home is new. Buyers are paying attention.

Price it wrong, and you burn that window.

  • Serious buyers skip it. They have filters. Your home does not show up in the right searches, or it does and they assume it is out of their range.

  • Agents stop showing it. If it does not comp out, buyer agents move on to homes that will appraise.

  • The home goes stale. After 30, 45, 60 days, buyers wonder what is wrong with it. They start lowballing.

  • Price cuts get noticed. One reduction is fine. Two or three and buyers smell blood. Now you are negotiating from weakness.

The seller who "tested" a high price often ends up selling for less than if they had priced it right from day one.

The real math

Let me be direct.

A home sitting for 90 days is not just losing buyer interest. It is costing you money.

  • Carrying costs. Mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities. Every month the home sits, you are paying to own it.

  • Market drift. If rates move or inventory grows, today's buyer pool shrinks tomorrow.

  • Negotiation leverage. A home on the market for two weeks negotiates from strength. A home on the market for three months negotiates from pressure.

I have seen sellers lose $15,000 to $40,000 chasing a number the market was never going to pay.

Staten Island is not immune

Some sellers think SI is different.

It is not.

Homes in Tottenville, New Dorp, Westerleigh, and everywhere in between are all subject to the same rule. Buyers compare. Buyers walk. Buyers wait.

The difference between a home that sells in 21 days and one that sits for 90 is almost always the opening price.

Pricing right is not underpricing

Let me clear this up.

Pricing right does not mean leaving money on the table. It means listing at a number that creates real demand, draws real offers, and often produces real competition.

A well-priced home in Staten Island, marketed properly, frequently sells at or above asking.

That is the goal.

What I will not pretend to do

I am not a CPA, attorney, or financial advisor. If pricing decisions tie into tax, legal, or estate questions, loop in the right professional. I can point you to trusted ones.

All of our work follows the Fair Housing Act, RESPA, the NAR Code of Ethics, and the real estate commission guidelines for New York and New Jersey.

Before you list

Get a real pricing conversation. Not a Zillow estimate. Not what your neighbor sold for last year.

A walkthrough. Recent comps. An honest strategy.

That is what I offer.

Have questions about selling your home or relocating? Reach out to Allison today.

Call: 646.266.0188 Email: [email protected] Website: www.rconnectrealty.com

Contact Allison today to sell your home in SI.

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Bringing extensive knowledge and experience of the Real Estate market, Allison offers her clients an outstanding level of service. Honesty and integrity are two characteristics that have helped Allison build a business of repeat clients and referrals. She has been selling Real Estate since 2014 and became a Top Producer in 2016. Allison's hard work and dedication to her clients have consistently Tripled her amount of Business every year. She specializes in helping people making a local move, selling their current home and purchasing another, but likes working with first time buyers as well since she can relate to them! While the process can be stressful, Allison focuses on making the transition as smooth and stress free as possible by getting to know her clients and meeting their needs. She always works with one goal in mind: to better serve her clients using the latest technology & marketing strategies, but without forgetting that "old-fashioned" values like professionalism and morals still matter to people, a lot. During a transaction as emotionally and financially important as buying or selling a home, the person who holds your hand during the process needs to be an expert, but also genuinely care about their client's and their families best interest. When Allison is not selling Real Estate, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She also Volunteer's at local charities and fundraisers.

Allison Mireau

Bringing extensive knowledge and experience of the Real Estate market, Allison offers her clients an outstanding level of service. Honesty and integrity are two characteristics that have helped Allison build a business of repeat clients and referrals. She has been selling Real Estate since 2014 and became a Top Producer in 2016. Allison's hard work and dedication to her clients have consistently Tripled her amount of Business every year. She specializes in helping people making a local move, selling their current home and purchasing another, but likes working with first time buyers as well since she can relate to them! While the process can be stressful, Allison focuses on making the transition as smooth and stress free as possible by getting to know her clients and meeting their needs. She always works with one goal in mind: to better serve her clients using the latest technology & marketing strategies, but without forgetting that "old-fashioned" values like professionalism and morals still matter to people, a lot. During a transaction as emotionally and financially important as buying or selling a home, the person who holds your hand during the process needs to be an expert, but also genuinely care about their client's and their families best interest. When Allison is not selling Real Estate, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She also Volunteer's at local charities and fundraisers.

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