One of the most interesting parts of being a real estate agent isn’t negotiating contracts or marketing homes. It’s helping people adjust their expectations.
Every buyer and seller comes into a transaction with opinions they’ve gathered from friends, social media, television, or stories they’ve heard. Some are accurate. Some aren’t. My job isn’t to tell people they’re wrong—it’s to educate them while respecting that this is their decision.
A perfect example is today’s market. I regularly hear buyers say, “It’s a buyer’s market. The seller should be happy to get any offer.”
There’s a little truth in that statement. Buyers today certainly have more choices than they did a few years ago. Homes are taking longer to sell, and many sellers have become more willing to negotiate.
But that doesn’t mean every offer is a good offer.
If a home is listed at $450,000 and a buyer wants to offer $410,000, I’ll usually explain exactly what I think is going to happen. Most sellers won’t simply accept an offer that far below asking price. In fact, there’s a good chance they’ll become frustrated and counter at a higher number than they might have if we had started with a more realistic offer.
Pricing isn’t just math. It’s psychology.
Most homes already have some negotiating room built into the asking price. In many situations, I may see roughly a $10,000 to $15,000 cushion. Rather than throwing out an offer that’s likely to offend the seller, I’d rather negotiate within a range where productive conversations can happen.
That doesn’t mean buyers should always pay asking price. It simply means the offer should have a realistic chance of starting a negotiation instead of ending one before it begins.
The same thing happens on the seller’s side.
Some sellers believe their home is worth considerably more than what the market is telling them. I can provide comparable sales, market statistics, and years of experience, but sometimes the market becomes the best teacher. After several weeks without meaningful activity—or after receiving offers below their expectations—they begin to see where buyers actually value the home.
Those moments aren’t failures. They’re part of the process.
One thing I’ve learned after decades in real estate is that people often need to experience the market before they fully believe it. As agents, we can educate, advise, and recommend, but ultimately our clients make the decisions.
Sometimes that means submitting an offer I know probably won’t be accepted.
Sometimes that means listing a home at a price I believe is optimistic.
Why?
Because my role isn’t to make decisions for my clients. It’s to guide them, protect them, explain the possible outcomes, and then represent their interests as professionally as I can.
Ironically, those experiences often become the turning point. After seeing how the other side responds, buyers become more realistic with future offers, and sellers become more open to pricing adjustments. They haven’t changed because I argued with them—they changed because the market gave them the answer.
Experience has taught me that patience is just as valuable as negotiation skills. Every client reaches the right conclusion at their own pace, and sometimes the best lesson comes from allowing the market to speak for itself.
If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home in Central Florida, I’d be happy to help you understand today’s market before you make your first move. Sometimes the best negotiation starts with having the right expectations.
Contact David Dorman
David Dorman
Broker Associate, CENTURY 21 Carioti
📞 407-948-8295
📧 david@daviddorman.com
🌐 www.daviddorman.com
🌐 www.liveinorlandofl.com
Serving Ocoee, Winter Garden, Windermere, Orlando, Clermont, Minneola, Groveland, Apopka, Gotha, Mount Dora, Tavares, Dr. Phillips, Bay Hill, Celebration, and surrounding Central Florida communities.
When you hire David Dorman, you GET David Dorman.