The seller who checks the portal estimate every morning
Some sellers open the same app every morning and read the estimate like a stock price. It went up, they're thrilled. It went down, they call you. Let's give them something better to watch.
The estimate is a guess with a nice dashboard.
Explain what it actually is, in the plainest words you have. "That number comes from a computer model. It looks at public records, past sales, and listings in the area and makes a guess. It has never been inside your house. It doesn't know about the kitchen you redid or the roof you didn't."
Then give them an analogy they'll remember. It's like a weather app for the whole county. Useful for a rough idea. Useless for deciding whether your particular backyard is going to get rain. The estimate is a county-wide guess wearing your address.
Don't fight it. Replace it.
Telling a seller to stop looking at the estimate never works. They'll keep looking, and now they'll hide it from you. Instead, give them a number that deserves the habit. "Here's what I'd rather you watch. The showings we had this week, what buyers said, and what sold nearby. Those come from people who actually walked through houses. That's your real estimate."
Make it easy to check. Same day every week, same place in the update. If your numbers show up as reliably as the app's, the seller will shift their attention on their own. People watch whatever updates on a schedule.
Let's explain why it moves.
The estimate changes because something changed in its inputs. A sale closed three streets over. A listing nearby cut its price. The model itself got an update. None of that happened to the seller's house. "When it drops two thousand dollars overnight, nothing happened to your home. Something happened to a spreadsheet."
Say this once, clearly, and the daily wobble stops being news. The seller may still look. But they'll stop treating each move as a message about their listing, which is the part that was wearing them out.
When the estimate is higher than your price.
This is the hard one. The app says the house is worth more than you listed it for, and the seller wants to know why you're leaving money on the table. Don't get defensive about the model. Point at the people. "The estimate hasn't been inside. The buyers who toured this month have. Here's what they said about the price, and here's what the three closest sales actually closed at."
If the showings and the closed sales agree with the estimate, say so and talk about a change. If they don't, the estimate is the outlier, and you've just shown the seller why with evidence they can touch.
When it's lower.
Now the seller is scared instead of hopeful, and the answer is the same answer. The estimate didn't see the house. Buyers did. Showings, feedback, and recent sales are the signal, and the weekly update carries all three. "I'd worry if buyers were telling us it's high. They aren't. The app is guessing from down the street."
The habit you're building is simple. Every time the estimate comes up, you answer with the three real numbers. Do that enough times and the seller starts bringing you the real numbers first. That's the morning you've been working toward!
Common questions
Should I just tell the seller to stop checking the estimate?
No. It doesn't work and it makes you sound dismissive. Explain what it is, explain why it moves, and give them your weekly numbers to watch instead. The habit shifts when the better number shows up on a schedule they can count on.
What if the estimate is close to our list price?
Say so, and don't lean on it. "It happens to agree with us this week" is honest. Treating the estimate as proof when it's on your side teaches the seller to treat it as proof when it isn't. Keep the showings and the closed sales as the evidence, every week.
Can I use the estimate in my own updates?
Leave it out. Your update is the thing you're offering instead of the estimate. If it quotes the estimate, you've just told the seller the app is a source. Report what buyers did and what homes sold for, and let the update stand on its own.
Send this every week without building it by hand.
Get The Listing, Keep The Listing writes the weekly seller report in your name: their showings against the market, the homes competing with theirs, and what buyer agents said. You read it and send it from your own inbox.