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The 51-Day Pricing Mistake Santa Clarita Sellers Make · Connor with Honor: AI, Real Estate and Real Life

• 0:00
  Good morning, Santa Clarita. Here's the number I want every homeowner thinking about today.
• 0:04
  That's 51 days. So in the most recent 180-day CRMLS outcome study I pulled a few minutes ago, homes that eventually required a price cut. spent a median of 64 days that closed without cutti spent a median caused every extra day because real estate doesn't work like a laboratory. location access insurance, photography, presentation, timing, and the buyer pool, they all matter. But it does tell us something sellers cannot afford to ignore. Almost right is not a harmless place to be.
• 0:45
  Almost right can become seven weekends of carrying costs, cleaning before showings arrive. Raging dogs, moving cars, keeping children from turning the family room into a Lego minefield.
• 0:57
  God, have you ever stepped on one of those?
• 0:59
  Oh, and wondering whether the market has changed when the market may have answered the first question during the first 10 days.
• 1:06
  Pricing a home by looking backward is like trying to merge onto the 405 freeway. while staring at the rearview mirror.
• 1:14
  The mirror is useful, but the opening is happening in front of it.
• 1:17
  I pull that live CRMLS back data through Santa Clarita Open Houses.com at 521-922-8000.
• 1:24
  This morning, August 29th, 2026.
• 1:26
  Now there were 818 active residential properties across the nine sections.
• 1:30
  And we Clarita Valley labels that we tracked.
• 1:34
  124 inactive under contract or backup status.
• 1:37
  You got 181 pending. 18 coming soon.
• 1:40
  That gives us 305 properties sitting between active and contract.
• 1:43
  closed. But the important part is not memorizing 305.
• 1:47
  The important part is understanding that those homes are evidence of buyer decisions already having been made. They tell us what buyer decisions buyers accepted, what financing reached escrow, what pricing got a response, and where the next problem may appear before closing.
• 2:01
  Inventory worked out to about 3.8 months.
• 2:04
  That's based on the current pace of absorption or sales.
• 2:08
  And that's not a market where every seller controls every term.
• 2:11
  And it's not a market where buyers can casually order.
• 2:14
  It's not market where% discount with a side of fries.
• 2:17
  It's a selective market. The White House can still move.
• 2:21
  The Almanac can become wallpaper on day price change ledger. recorded reductions of 13 234 of the 818 active pr That's 29% of the active field.
• 2:44
  Those are not three numbers to throw into a screen that Admire like gauges in their p line c******. There seller second, a price buyer's memory.
• 2:58
  And It means the prior contract did not reach the finish line.
• 3:06
  And the reason has to be investigated rather than investigated.
• 3:08
  A lender can change the outcome.
• 3:11
  Insurance can change circumstances.
• 3:14
  A request is overnight. An inspection issue can change things as well.
• 3:18
  A seller can decide not to agree to a request.
• 3:20
  The status tells us what happened to the transaction.
• 3:23
  It doesn't tell us why. A status label is a road sign.
• 3:27
  But it's not the accident report. It's also where consumers get confused online.
• 3:31
  A hallmarked, active, or on one portal may already be active under contract in the MLS. Another site may call it confirmed.
• 3:39
  Another may still show it besides fully available homes while the data is catching up. That does not always work. Automatically mean anyone is trying to fool you. Syndication systems update on a different schedule and translate.
• 3:51
  MLS will catch vocabulary into their own labels.
• 3:54
  But it doesn't mean a seller should not build a pricing plan from a screenshot taken on a portal without verifying the live status.
• 4:01
  If ten homes appear to be competing with yours, but four are pending and two are taking back.
• 4:05
  You don't have ten equal competitors.
• 4:09
  You have four active competitors. You have six pieces.
• 4:12
  It's a market evidence and a much better question to ask.
• 4:16
  What did those six properties do that caused buyers to act on them?
• 4:21
  Active under contract or accepting backup offers deserves some credit.
• 4:24
  Special attention because the label sounds more available than the house often feels.
• 4:29
  The status is real. The backup offer can matter, escrows do fail, and this week we have verified back-on-market events.
• 4:36
  But human behavior matter too. Once many sellers accept an offer, they do not wait. Many buyers of new visitors walking through their house. Many buyers do not want to fall in love with a property where they're staying. under contract.
• 4:51
  A capable watch without turning the airport standby list. The agent checks with the listing site.
• 5:00
  Have inspections occurred? Are contingencies still in Is the buyer performing?
• 5:04
  Has the appraisal been completed and how does it look?
• 5:08
  Is the seller actively inviting backup offers?
• 5:11
  Or is the status simply preserving an opinion and trying to get you more leads? Follow-up is useful to the seller because a prepared listing agent should know whether backup exposure is meaningful. How it's going to be handled, what the plan is, if the first contract breaks, so on and so forth. All of that.
• 5:29
  So picture a Santa Clarita homeowner preparing to sell.
• 5:33
  and sees a dozen homes that and the way that they structure it on those sites to get you to do something. It's brilliant. Now, another.
• 5:46
  Return to market after being an escrow. That one has an open house this afternoon.
• 5:52
  People show pieces of that story, but it's not always the same pieces at the same moment. She types in the neighborhood. Or the question into the Mac box at CENTC3 to openhouses.com.
• 6:04
  And the system. The system uses the live CRMOS feed and the display rules attached to it to separate active coming soon.
• 6:11
  Active under contract, pending, recently sold, and permitted price history information.
• 6:17
  It can service open houses, market statistics, neighborhood and tract guidance, Melaroos resources, and a series saved search option without making her decode five different websites.
• 6:28
  That doesn't replace professional data. God does it give the judgment a clean starting point. It's the difference between laying every tool on the garage.
• 6:37
  Floor and having that right socket in your hand.
• 6:40
  So before you crawl under the car, of course, now let's get to what the closed data says because asking price is a promise and closing price is actually the receipt.
• 6:50
  The seller outcomes report had 201 closed records in the fields needed for the current 30-day comparison. Of those, 29.9% closed above the finalist price.
• 7:00
  21.9% closed at the it.
• 7:03
  48.3% closed below it.
• 7:08
  The median gas price for the below list group was $19,000.
• 7:12
  Homes that closed closed above the final list group had a median of 18 days on the market. Homes that closed below final list had a median of 37 days. Again, that's not association, not a magic formula, a luxury property, a condo, a rural home, and a tract house do not count.
• 7:27
  They not share one identical buyer pool, but the broad seller lesson is very strong.
• 7:33
  Exposure time in the green. Negotiation outcome are related to how accurately the property enters the market, how it's presented, how quickly the strategy responds to evidence.
• 7:43
  The 180-day view makes it sharper.
• 7:46
  There were 1,398. 445 eligible closings.
• 7:50
  Of those, 457 had reduced from the original finalist price, or the original finalist price, that's 34%.
• 7:56
  The median reduction was $30,000, or 4%, the price cut group.
• 8:01
  Eventually closed at a median of 99.3% of the finalist price, which sounds terrific until you compare that result to,,with the original launch. Against the original list price, the median was 94.9%.
• 8:14
  The result reduction did its job of finding a market-clearing level, but it could not rewind the calendar or erase it.
• 8:21
  And this is why I do not like congratulating a seller, merely because a home sold, could close to its reduced price.
• 8:29
  That's like missing the freeway exit, driving 12 miles, turning around, and celebrating. And because of the final parking, job was straight. Yeah, the cars parked.
• 8:38
  We still need to account for the detour. A seller should therefore ask four questions before choosing a launch price.
• 8:45
  What are the truly active alternatives? It is today, which homes are already have earned a contract and what can we learn from them?
• 8:52
  Which recent closings are actually comparable in property type, condition, location, lot, or buyer profile?
• 8:58
  What is the response plan if the first 7 to 10 listings 7 to 10 days produce traffic but no offer, no traffic at all, or offers to share the same objection.
• 9:09
  Those are different signals. Heavy traffic with no offer can mean the online promise and the inbound and person experience do not match.
• 9:15
  No traffic can mean the property is outside the buyer's search ban.
• 9:19
  The presentation, presentation's weak. Access is difficult to the launch- minced.
• 9:25
  Launch- minced. Several similar offers may be the market measuring the home more clearly than one ambitious opinion.
• 9:32
  You do not react to each showing like a smoke alarm going off because somebody burned toast. You build a response threshold before.
• 9:39
  launch, so emotion does not become the pricing department.
• 9:42
  Sellers are also asking whether a lower price, appraisal can damage a sale. It can affect a finance transaction because the lender is evaluating the collateral, not voting for whether the buyer loves the kitchen.
• 9:54
  The question is not will an appraisal ruin my deal.
• 9:57
  The useful questions are what comparable evidence supports the contract price, what improvements can be documented, where there are concessions, where there are unusual terms in the comparable sales.
• 10:07
  Is every permitted area represented accurately?
• 10:11
  And of course, what opinions does the contract give each party if the value comes in below the agreement? Although appraisal is not automatically a verdict that the home is bad, it's a financing event with a contract.
• 10:23
  The seller's preparation should include a clean improvement record.
• 10:28
  Permits were available. Relevant comparable evidence, access for the appraiser, and a plan for the possible gap.
• 10:36
  Having the appraisal cannot happen is not confidence.
• 10:38
  It's leaving the spare tire at home because the freeway looks smooth from the driver. Mortgage rates remain part The average 30-year fixed rate at 6.66 percent.
• 10:52
  Hate that number. And the 15-year fixed at 5.98.
• 10:56
  Those are national averages, not a quote for any particular buyer.
• 11:00
  Credit loan structure, points, property occupancy, etc. And lender all influence that actual rate for all of you.
• 11:06
  Now for a seller, the practical point is that buyers are still measuring monthly payment. Closely now a price adjustment, a seller credit towards allowable buyer closing costs or rate by down can have different effects. Payment and net proceeds.
• 11:21
  Closing costs are not assigned by one permanent rule.
• 11:24
  The contract allocates them. Local customs shapes expectations and market leverage influences negotiation.
• 11:31
  Ordinary seller expenses are not. The same thing as a seller credit towards a buyer's cost and neither is the same thing as a separate seller agreement concerning buyer's cost. Put each item on a net sheet.
• 11:43
  Don't throw them into one grocery bag labelled fees and hopefully hope that the total behaves you. Our finance report also knocks down a myth that can cost a seller a qualified buyer.
• 11:53
  That's $2,565 verified Santa Clarita Valley closings in the trailing year conventional finance accounting accounted for 59.6% FHA 12.3% that's that 3.5% download for the majority and then cash of course that came in at 10.7% cash-to-new-loan 7.1% VA veterans offers 5.4% or deals and other financing 4.8% a useful comparison.
• 12:21
  VA finance closings had a median of 27 days on market.
• 12:25
  And a median sales to list price.
• 12:30
  Excuse me. Missed that.
• 12:34
  Conventional, I'm sorry. V.A.
• 12:36
  Finance Closings had a median of 27 days on market, median sales-to-list ratio of 100%.
• 12:42
  Conventional closings had a median of 29 days on market, and the same 100% median sale-to-list ratio.
• 12:49
  That does not mean every VA owner. offer is equal to every conventional offer.
• 12:52
  It means the local closed record does not support automatically treating VA as slow as which is a lot of the word out there on the street.
• 13:01
  This proves that's not the case.
• 13:04
  Compare the actual buyer, lender, approval, funds, contingencies, appraisal, exposure, closing schedule. Requirements. Requested credits and ability to perform.
• 13:13
  Rejecting a financing label before reading the offer is like refusing to let a, a firefighter into the station because you don't like the color of the engine.
• 13:21
  Read the equipment, check the operator, then make the decision.
• 13:24
  Now, what about concessions?
• 13:27
  The current CRMLS seller outcomes route successfully reached the 4 full-field tier, including the concession fields, but the eligible records return no populated concessions, amounts or flags. That means I'm not going to give you a concession percentage this morning. Zero reported in the return field is not proof that no seller gave a credit because there's a lot of those given.
• 13:49
  It's just not publicly available. It can mean the field was not populated in the records. This distinction matters.
• 13:56
  still a bad number.
• 13:58
  If contract settlement information, permitted MLS fields, and the people handling the closing.
• 14:07
  We don't turn an MLS. We turn empty database column into a cocktail party statistic. Insurance belongs near the beginning of every sentence.
• 14:15
  Now, not three weeks into escrow, a buyer should investigate availability of costs before removing costs. The contingencies that protect the buyer, a seller, they should understand the home's current carrier.
• 14:28
  Claims history when relevant and properly obtain roof condition, electrical panels, vegetation, access.
• 14:35
  And anything else likely to affect underwriting a seller.
• 14:39
  Current policy does not need to guarantee the next.
• 14:41
  Next owner can obtain a new policy from the same company.
• 14:44
  The buyer's quote is not transferable from a neighbor's house.
• 14:48
  Insurance has become large enough in some cases to change qualification monthly pay. can close, used to feel like calling for a pizza.
• 14:58
  Now it can feel like applying for permission. Permission to operate a small airport, pictures, inspections, records, vegetation, underwriting, call out.
• 15:06
  What can all enter that conversation? The zone zero development makes that preparation more current. On August 19th, the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection approved that final draft of the state's You Zone Zero defensible space regulations approved by the board is a major step, and it's not the same as saying every existing homeowner woke up under fully effective final enforcement the next morning. The package still goes through review by the Office of Administrative Law and official approval and publication by the Secretary of State.
• 15:39
  The approval policy applies in state responsibility areas and very high fire hazard severity.
• 15:45
  zones and local responsibility areas.
• 15:48
  Ugh, so much. New construction is expected to complete.
• 15:52
  Apply upon office or official approval.
• 15:55
  Existing structure have a phased schedule.
• 15:57
  The initial, Actions during the first three years and additional items within five.
• 16:02
  That difference between approved, elected, and applicable and phased is exactly why homeowners should use the source and their local authority instead of a headline. The practical zone zero work begins the first five feet. of a structure. The approved approach addresses combustible materials such as firewood, dead leaves, branches, wood chips, bark, mulch, along. with gutter cleaning, dead or dying plants, certain vegetation clearances, fishing, fencing, gates, sheds, and the area under eaves.
• 16:35
  That also allows some maintained vegetation under conditions.
• 16:38
  So this is not a command to bulldoze every living thing around every California home. by lunchtime today.
• 16:45
  For a seller, it's a reason to map the property.
• 16:48
  Check whether the location falls within the covered hazard area, photograph current conditions, gather insurance information, and obtain qualified guidance. before promising compliance or ripping out landscaping.
• 16:59
  The first five feet can now influence a buyer's perception.
• 17:02
  and an insurer's question.
• 17:05
  Inspection and Discussions in the Seller Preparation Schedule.
• 17:08
  A popular, A flooded plant is not going to leap off the porch and file a lawsuit, but a pile of dry leaves under a deck is not no longer a cute autumn collection.
• 17:17
  Another question showing up right now concerns possession after closing.
• 17:20
  A seller wants 10 days or 30 days to remain on the property after the buyer becomes the owner. Sometimes that arranges.
• 17:26
  Solves a real moving problem.
• 17:29
  It can also create questions about insurance deposits, daily charges, damage, utilities. access, holdover keys, and what happens if the seller cannot leave on time. The answer is not a handicap. and shake and a promise that everybody seems nice. The answer is a clear written agreement reviewed in the transaction.
• 17:47
  Seller in possession or something else with the parties understanding who owns the property, who occupies it, when in charge.
• 17:53
  Insurance is enforced and the contract and what the contract says.
• 17:57
  Sellers should raise that need early.
• 18:00
  Possession, Surprise, Delivered After After Acceptance lands like a refrigerator rolling loose in the back of a pickup. It may stay upright, but nobody in the next lane wants to bet on it.
• 18:10
  The same preparation applies to active under contract.
• 18:12
  status. Sellers should know what must happen between acceptance and closing. Deposit delivered.
• 18:20
  Disclosures completed. Insurance investigated.
• 18:24
  Inspection started. Repair or credit request answered.
• 18:28
  Now appraisal completed. When required, loan conditions cleared.
• 18:31
  Contingencies removed according to the agreement.
• 18:33
  Final verification handled. Funds and documents delivered.
• 18:37
  Possession transferred. A listing is not finished.
• 18:40
  Finish merely because the status changed color on a screen.
• 18:43
  The period between accepted and closed is where status can become large leverage points. That's why transaction management is not clear enough.
• 18:52
  It's a risk control.
• 18:58
  I don't practice dual agency, and I do not take a buyer referral fee or favor.
• 19:04
  connected my, to my own specific listings.
• 19:08
  My responsibility as the listing agent is not to bring over.
• 19:11
  Certainly buyers I represent, it is to expose the property to all qualified buyers and protect the seller side of the transaction. Buyer behavior remains essential seller intelligence. I study active, I study pending, failed, and closed transactions. I review financial and concessions when the data supports it. I talk with the agents and escrow and title professionals.
• 19:31
  Who see where transactions bend or break.
• 19:34
  I also build AI systems for real estate businesses.
• 19:37
  I'm watching how information moves, where it stalls, and where a seller can be hurt by a delayed answer.
• 19:43
  Knowledge of the buyer side doesn't require collecting buyer side commissions.
• 19:48
  It requires studying the whole system. California permits dual agency when property properly disclosed, but legal permission does not create undivided loyalty.
• 19:58
  Think about one, hiring one attorney for both sites.
• 20:02
  Think about one, hiring one attorney for both sites. Doesn't erase the tension.
• 20:09
  The same person cannot push 100% for the highest seller outcome and 100% for the lowest buyer. at the same moment.
• 20:17
  The paperwork explaining dual agency is long because of the lines, all those lines require some type of explanation.
• 20:24
  My choice is simpler. The buyer has the right to independent representation.
• 20:28
  The seller receives a listing agent who, whose work stays on the seller's side.
• 20:34
  My background is on training LAPD officers and life or death scenarios taught me something that translates cleanly into real estate.
• 20:41
  is not predicting one present future.
• 20:44
  It's identifying the likely branches before the pressure arrives.
• 20:48
  If this happens, who acts?
• 20:50
  If that fails, what's that next safe move?
• 20:54
  What fact do we need before we commit? In real estate, the stakes are financial, rather than the stakes I dealt with in police trials.
• 21:00
  Trading, but the discipline is similar. We study patterns, consequences, timing, and the point where a manageable budget is a problem becomes an emergency. A seller plan should address pricing, response, access, insurance.
• 21:12
  Currents, appraisal, inspections, credits, financing, possession, backup, interest, and communication before the property hits the market.
• 21:19
  I use Frank, a locally installed AI system I built, as a narrow analytical advantage when sensitive information doesn't exist.
• 21:25
  It doesn't need to enter a public chatbot.
• 21:28
  It helps process permitted data, compares patterns, surface questions, warnings, etc. It's worth checking. It doesn't make the final judgment, doesn't turn unavailable facts or fields into facts.
• 21:39
  The machine can sort 1,345 closing records without needing coffee.
• 21:43
  It still can't walk into your house, no. Notice the room everybody avoids discussing and understand why your moving date matters or assume responsibility for a date.
• 21:51
  A.I. should function like a very fast evidence technician.
• 21:56
  It organizes what's the date. There, a human still decides what it means, what's missing, and what should happen next.
• 22:02
  So here's today's practical example. Do not ask only, what should I list my home for? Ask what current evidence, would make us change the strategy.
• 22:12
  How quickly we would recognize it, and what we will do next. Very quickly. Verify which competing homes are truly active. Separate backup and pending properties from available inventory properties.
• 22:22
  And watch reductions and back-on-market events without inventing causes.
• 22:26
  Prepare insurance. Zone in. Zone zero questions, appraisal report, possession needs, and offer comparison rules before purchasing.
• 22:34
  Before pressure arrives. The market doesn't punish a seller for lacking a crystal ball.
• 22:38
  It can punish a seller for refusing to read the dashboard.
• 22:41
  Your goal is not to be almost right eventually.
• 22:45
  Your goal is to make the best support possible. the best buyers are still I'm connor with honor sel CleanOpenHouses.com.
• 22:55
  We'll see you in the next one. Thanks for watching.