Sarah Ingles, REALTOR® SRES® · Fathom Realty
Pricing your home correctly is the single most important decision you make when selling in the Des Moines metro. Overpricing kills momentum in the first two weeks when 70% of qualified buyers see a new listing; underpricing leaves tens of thousands of dollars on the table. Here is the actual pricing process I use with every Des Moines metro seller.
Comparable sales (comps) from the last 90 days in your specific neighborhood are the foundation of any price. Ignore listings older than 6 months and ignore anything more than a mile away in a different school district. For Des Moines metro pricing I pull comps from the MLS with strict filters on square footage, bedroom count, year built, and lot size.
A true comparable sale is rare. Every comp needs adjustments for:
This is where most FSBO sellers and most Zestimates get it wrong — they ignore the adjustments.
The biggest mistake I see Des Moines sellers make is "let's just try a higher price for two weeks." That strategy was viable in 2021-2022. In the current market it kills the listing. Price at the top of the comp range, not above. Overpriced homes sit, and sitting homes sell for less than they would have if priced right.
Ask: who is the buyer for this house? A 3-bedroom ranch in Beaverdale has a completely different buyer pool than a 5-bedroom colonial in West Des Moines. Price to the monthly payment that buyer pool can actually qualify for at current rates, not to what the house would have sold for at 3% rates.
Online impressions, saves, showings, and offers in the first 14 days tell you whether the price is right. My rule of thumb:
If the signal is clear, make the price adjustment in week 3, not week 8. Every week you wait is a week of lost momentum.
1. Pricing based on what you owe or what you need to net, not what the house is worth 2. Pricing based on what a neighbor got 12 months ago 3. Ignoring adjustments for condition 4. Using round numbers like $400,000 instead of psychologically-tuned prices like $399,900 5. Refusing to adjust price after 30 days of no offers
Q: Should I use Zillow's Zestimate to price my Des Moines home? A: No. The Zestimate is an algorithm that does not see inside your home, does not know about your updates, and does not account for neighborhood-specific adjustments. It is useful as a starting point but not as a pricing decision.
Q: How much should I price below what I want to get? A: Nothing. Price at the top of the realistic range. Pricing "below what you want" is the same as pricing too high — both assume buyers will negotiate, which is only true in a strong seller's market.
Q: What is the right price for a Des Moines fixer-upper? A: Fixer-uppers price at comparable move-in-ready sold comps minus the cost of the repairs minus a 15-20% risk/profit margin for the buyer. See the fixer upper pricing guide for details.
Q: Should I price my Des Moines home to attract a bidding war? A: Sometimes. Pricing 3-5% below top comps can create urgency and competing offers in a strong seller's market, but only with neighborhood-specific data supporting it. Done wrong, it leaves money on the table.
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