Craig Johnston Personal Real Estate Corporation · Brokerage: Royal LePage Elite West
Coquitlam · Pricing strategy
Pricing is the single highest-leverage decision a Coquitlam seller makes. Price right and you give your home its best chance of selling promptly, close to list. Price wrong and you can sit on the market for months, often selling below what a well-priced launch would have achieved.
5.0 across 36+ Google reviews Top 1% Team — Greater Vancouver REALTORS®, 2023–2025 47+ years in the Tri-CitiesQuick Answer
What should you know about pricing your Coquitlam home?
Pricing is the single highest-leverage decision a Coquitlam seller makes. Price right and you give your home its best chance of selling promptly, close to list. Price wrong and you can sit on the market for months, often selling below what a well-priced launch would have achieved. Craig Johnston, Top 1% Team — Greater Vancouver REALTORS®, 2023–2025 and 47+ year Tri-Cities resident, can walk you through the local context. Free Strategy Call ends with a written one-page plan in 24 hours.
Pricing strategy · Coquitlam
The math of pricing is simple — but the discipline is hard. Most Coquitlam sellers anchor on their personal valuation rather than recent sold comparables. Here is the framework that actually works.
Active listings are seller hopes. Recent solds (last 30-90 days) are buyer reality. Use solds as your primary comparable, not actives.
If you price slightly below the most-recent comparable sold, you can attract more buyer interest early, and sometimes multiple offers.
Pricing at-comp usually gives you a normal market timeline and a sale price close to list.
Pricing well above comps often delivers either: long days-on-market with eventual reduction, or no sale. The 'aspirational price' rarely wins.
Greater Vancouver REALTORS® reads a sales-to-active ratio below 12% as a buyer's market and above 20% as a seller's market. In a seller's market you can price more assertively; in a balanced market, price at-comp; in a buyer's market, price at or just below comps to stand out.
Craig Johnston is a 47-year Coquitlam resident and licensed REALTOR® at Royal LePage Elite West. Top 1% Team — Greater Vancouver REALTORS®, 2023–2025. Talk through your specific situation — no pressure, no obligation.
Pricing is the single biggest lever a seller controls. Get it right and the market comes to you; get it wrong and even a great home stalls. Here's how strong pricing decisions get made.
Comparables
A proper pricing decision begins with recent sales of genuinely comparable homes — same area, type and condition — not with what a neighbour is asking or what you hope to get. Sold data is the anchor.
Search brackets
Buyers search in price bands. Listing just above a common threshold can hide your home from a whole pool of buyers, while sitting just below it can widen your audience meaningfully.
The strategy
Pricing at or slightly below market can drive traffic and competing offers; pricing above it asks buyers to make your case for you. Each approach has a place — but only one suits your specific home and market.
The first weeks
A new listing gets its strongest, most motivated attention in its first couple of weeks. An ambitious price wastes that window; by the time you correct it, the freshest buyers have moved on.
Condition
Price has to reflect the home as it shows today. A dated kitchen or deferred maintenance priced as if it were renovated simply invites buyers to discount — or to skip the showing.
Feedback
If showings aren't converting, the market is talking. Sellers who read that feedback early and adjust recover; those who wait for the market to 'come up' to their price usually chase it down.
The right price depends on the specific home, its condition and exactly where the local market sits when you list, so treat these as principles rather than a formula.
Craig prices Coquitlam homes off current sold comparables and an honest read of condition, so your listing lands in front of the right buyers from day one.
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About the numbers on this page: market statistics come from Greater Vancouver REALTORS® data. Price premiums, discounts and ranges are estimates based on recent local sales and Craig’s experience. They’re a guide for planning, not a guarantee — every home and every sale is different.
Generally no. Over-pricing kills momentum. The first 2-3 weeks are when you have the most buyer eyes; over-pricing in that window means you miss the active buyers and end up reducing later — by which time the property looks stale.
Make real comparable adjustments for upgrades (a renovated kitchen vs. a dated one), views and lot (corner, size, orientation), sized from recent sales rather than guesses. Don't over-claim — buyers and appraisers see through it.
Almost never. Most buyers search by price range, so a listing without a clear price can drop out of the searches that matter. It suits only a few unusual situations.
Loosely. BC Assessment values reflect estimated market value as of July 1 of the previous year and are calculated en masse. Use BC Assessment as a directional reference point only, not a pricing anchor.
List at a slightly under-market price with offers reviewed on a specific date (typically 7-10 days later). Generates multiple offers. Works in hot markets; fails in cool markets.
Pre-listing appraisals can be useful for unique properties or contested situations. For typical Coquitlam inventory, a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) from your REALTOR® is sufficient.
No. A CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) is your REALTOR®'s professional opinion of value based on recent solds. An appraisal is a licensed appraiser's formal opinion of value, more rigorous and used for lending purposes.
Price below the last comparable sold to capture the few active buyers. The longer you sit, the more your property becomes 'stale' and harder to sell. In slow markets, speed beats greed.
Only as data. If your neighbour's identical home is listed at $1.4M and has been sitting 60 days, that is your cap. Pricing higher than the sitting neighbour is rarely successful.
If on the market: weekly review of feedback, showings, and competing inventory. At 14 days with no offers: hard discussion about price. At 30 days: implement a strategic reduction.
5.0 stars across 36+ verified Google reviews. Three from recent clients below.
“Craig was patient throughout the entire process. He never pushed us to buy something we weren't sure about, and when we decided to wait six months and save more, he just said ‘good call’ and stayed in touch. When we did finally buy, the math was so much cleaner.”Susie & Hans
“He is a professional who is guided by integrity, honesty, and punctuality. When faced with challenges, Craig has shown his dedication to proactively navigate the issue on hand towards our goal.”Jaeyoung Joo
“Craig was an absolute pleasure to work with. He is extremely friendly, highly knowledgeable, and constantly monitors trends and data so we could make informed decisions. The more time we spent interacting with other agents during our home-buying process, the more pleased we were with choosing Craig.”Ashley K.
A 20-minute strategy call, no pressure — or start with a free Equity Map showing what your home is likely worth in today’s market and what you’d net after costs.
5.0 across 36+ Google reviews Top 1% Team — Greater Vancouver REALTORS®, 2023–2025 47+ years in the Tri-CitiesOr call direct: 604-202-6092