Write three numbers before you list
Write the list price, the net you hope for, and the net that would make you walk away.
Before you talk with an agent or a buyer, write three numbers on one page. The first is a price you might list. The second is the net you hope to clear at that price. The third is the net where you would rather stay put. Those numbers are yours. A conversation is easier when the page already exists.
Use the proceeds calculator with figures you choose. Run it at the price you might list, and run it again at a lower price you would still consider. Write both nets under the prices. Include the payoff and the costs you already know. If you do not know a cost, leave a blank and go find it. A blank is more honest than a zero you typed to make the page look finished.
The walk-away net is the useful one. It is not a wish and it is not a dare. It is the line under which you stop and rethink the sale. Circle it. If a later offer, after credits, lands above that line and on a date you can meet, you have a real decision. If it lands below, you are not required to talk yourself into it because the headline price looked familiar.
Keep the page with your offer notes, not in a message thread. After any pricing talk, add a line: the price discussed, the net you calculated, and what you agreed to do next. If a later conversation drifts, you can read what you already decided. Update the three numbers when a real bid or a real payoff changes them. Do not update them because a conversation was enthusiastic.
What to do
- Run the calculator at two prices you might list.
- Write the net you hope for and the net where you would stop.
- Leave a blank for any cost you do not know yet.
- Keep that page with your offer notes and update it when a real number changes.