By Rose Sklar
After years of selling homes across Weston, I can usually spot the moment a seller is about to cost themselves money. It starts with three little words: price per square foot.
It sounds logical. It feels like math. That is exactly why so many homeowners cling to it, even when the market is telling them something else.
Price per square foot is a data point. It is not a strategy.
What the Number Misses
Two homes in the same Weston community can share identical square footage and be worth very different amounts. One has a renovated kitchen, updated baths, and a screened patio on the lake. The other has dated finishes and an awkward layout buyers feel the moment they walk in.
Location inside the community matters too. A cul-de-sac lot is not the same as a busier interior street, even when the floor plans match. And with many original Weston homes now thirty years old or more, condition often outweighs size in the final price.
The first strong offer is usually the best one
I have watched this play out dozens of times right here in Weston. A motivated buyer arrives. The offer is real. The seller holds firm on a number tied to what they want to net in their pocket, what a neighbor got, or what feels fair.
The buyer moves on. Days on market climb. Other buyers start wondering what is wrong with the home. Showings slow. The home eventually sells for less than that first offer would have netted.
Not most of the time. Every time we have seen it happen.
Do not let your ego buy back your house
If you counter at a price the market will not support, you have just bought your house back. And you may will live with that for months.
There is a real difference between giving a home away and accepting what qualified buyers will actually pay today. The Weston sellers who do best are the ones who separate emotion from strategy, trust the data, and move decisively when a strong offer arrives.
Pricing is Strategy
Marketing matters. Professional photography, digital campaigns, and broad reach across South Florida bring buyers to your door. But no marketing can rescue a price buyers will not pay. Marketing gets the eyes. Pricing gets the offers.
Selling well is about more than a list price. It is about staging, presentation, the feel a buyer gets pulling into the driveway, and a willingness to negotiate in good faith when opportunity shows up.
If an offer is sitting in front of you and you are tempted to hold the line on a number the market has not validated, talk it through with someone before you decide. Not to be pressured. To make sure you see the full picture.
Strike while the iron is hot. Your first good offer is rarely replaced by a better one.