Should I put a price on my house or not?

What an advertised price does

A price filters. Buyers searching within a budget see the property. Buyers well above and well below it do not. That works when the property is straightforward to value: an ordinary title, a street with recent sales of similar homes, condition that is easy to read.

A price also anchors. Once a number is published it becomes the reference point in every conversation that follows. That is an advantage when the number is right and a problem when it is not.

What no price does

Auction and deadline sale run without an advertised price. Buyers work out their own number, and where more than one of them wants the property, they are bidding against each other rather than against your figure.

The cost is friction. Some buyers will not engage with a listing that has no price, and every enquiry needs the agent to explain the likely range rather than point at a number.

What it depends on for your house

• Comparable sales. Under rule 10.2 of the Client Care Rules an agent's appraisal must be in writing, must realistically reflect current market conditions, and must be supported by comparable information on sales of similar land in similar locations. Where no directly comparable or semi comparable sales exist, rule 10.3 says the agent must explain that to you in writing. Thin evidence is a reason to let the market price it.
• How many buyers are likely. A price is fine where buyers arrive steadily one at a time. Where several buyers want the same house in the same fortnight, a price sets the reference point they all negotiate against, and a method without a published price leaves them working out their own number instead.
• Your timing and certainty. A no price campaign has a date at the end of it. A priced campaign runs until someone offers.
• Your bottom line. If there is a number below which you will not sell, a priced campaign lets you say so publicly and stop wasting everyone's time.

If you do advertise a price

Advertise a number you would genuinely accept, taken from the written appraisal and the sales behind it, not from what you need the sale to produce. A price set above the evidence puts the house in front of the buyers shopping at that money, who compare it against everything else in the same band, while the buyers it would suit are searching below it.