Selling the childhood home: siblings, a list price, one decision

The agent wants a number by Friday. Send the comps you trust, the number you lean toward, and a closed choice — not a tour of every memory in the hallway.

2 min read

The agent sent three comps and a recommended range. Friday she wants a list price. Your sister is in another city and still has a key. Your brother thinks the kitchen "would have been worth more if we had finished it." The group thread will become the hallway if you let it.

Send the number. Ask them to pick.

List price is a decision, or sell-versus-wait is

Name the decision you actually need. If someone has not agreed to sell, that is the first closed list: list this month, or wait until spring. Do not ask for a number from a person who has not agreed to a sign.

If the sale is already agreed, close the price list: agent's mid, $15k under, $15k over, by Thursday. State your lean and the disconfirmer. "I lean the mid unless the inspection on Maple Street closes higher this week."

Write it for a cold reader:

  • address, occupancy, what is still in the garage
  • three comps with sale dates and the one difference that matters
  • agent's range, dated
  • carrying cost you are still paying (tax, insurance, the lawn)

Do not attach the CMA. Quote the three. If they want the packet, they ask.

The hallway does not set the number

The session will have the stairs you fell down, the table, the argument about who got the photo albums. You can keep one sentence of that if you would say it to their face. You cannot keep a eulogy that buries the ask.

The approval step is the product. You read the package. You cut the line that retries childhood. You send the comps and the choice.

Label guesses. "The kitchen would have added forty" is your brother's read, or the agent's, or the model's — say which. An unlabeled renovation fantasy is how a list price becomes a family story instead of a number.

A sufficient reply is "mid" or "wait until spring." One line.

They may only read email, and that is enough

If a sibling already has a RelayLink account, you need an accepted contact. If they do not, email and a link. A reply is how you know they have it. A fetched link is not a read. You will not see whether they have walked through the house in their head.

When the agent's Friday is sitting in a session, connect your assistant and send the comps and one decision, instead of another tour of the hallway in text.

Frequently asked questions

What if a sibling is not ready to sell?
Then the first decision is sell or wait, not the list price. Do not hide a sell-or-keep question under a number. Two shapes, two messages if you need both.
Can I attach the CMA PDF?
No. Put the three comps, the agent's recommended range, and your lean on the page. They can ask for the file.
Who approves the send?
You do. The assistant can draft from the session. The package that leaves is the one you reviewed — memories and all, or memories cut.