The phrase “over list” gets repeated so often in real estate conversations that buyers start to treat it as a performance metric. But according to Daniel M. Berger, a licensed broker and owner in NY and CT with over a decade of full-time experience and 55 transactions completed in the past year alone, it is one of the most misleading numbers in the market.
List price, Berger explains, is simply the number an agent and seller agree on at the outset, not a precise measure of a home’s value. At RE/MAX Prestige Properties, that perspective shapes how Berger advises buyers navigating one of the most competitive suburban markets in the country.
The List Price Strategy Problem
Consider two comparable homes in the same Westchester town. One seller lists at $999,000 to generate maximum interest and spark a bidding war. Another lists at $1,499,000 because they want qualified buyers only and a cleaner process. The first home might receive 19 offers and sell at $1.3 million. The second receives four offers and sells at $1.625 million. Both “went over the list.” Only one of those numbers tells you anything useful.
Berger recently listed a home at $1,499,000 that he believed was fully and fairly priced. It sold at over $1.6 million with four offers. His point is that sellers who underprice to manufacture a bidding war are taking a risk. If the frenzy doesn’t materialize, the property is left with a market price equal to whatever it was listed at. “When you pick a list price, you’re letting the world know what you think it’s worth,” he says.
What Buyers Should Focus on Instead
Rather than fixating on how far over list a home sold, Berger tells his buyers to think in terms of their “pain point.” The question is not how much you can spend. It is the maximum you are comfortable spending such that, if someone outbids you by a small margin, you feel disappointed but not regretful.
Buyers who identify their true ceiling and communicate it clearly to their agent go into every offer knowing they gave it their best shot within reason. “You never want to lose something and find out what it eventually sells for, and say, I would have paid that,” Berger says.
This reframe matters because buyers often hold back emotionally when they hear that a home “always goes over list.” They assume the deck is stacked against them. In reality, the most important variable is not the gap between offer and list price. It is whether your offer is structured in a way that a seller actually wants to accept.
Packaging the Offer Matters as Much as the Number
Price is not always the deciding factor, even in a seller’s market. Berger consistently asks the listing agent what the seller actually needs: a long closing timeline, a rent-back period, flexibility on possession, or certainty around financing. These factors often matter as much as an extra $10,000 or $20,000 on the offer price.
When financing is a near certainty, Berger sometimes advises waiving mortgage contingencies because he knows his client will get the loan. In one recent case, he secured a home at $1.3 million for clients, beating out a cash buyer by $10,000 with a financed offer. The seller trusted the deal would close. “Sellers want to close, and they want to do it as painlessly as possible,” he says.
That trust is also built on the agent’s track record. When a listing agent knows Berger has completed 55 transactions in the past year, they know the deal will move efficiently from contract to closing. That reputation becomes part of the offer itself.
The Westchester Reality Right Now
Entry-level homes in Westchester, roughly the $600,000 to $1 million range, are moving extremely fast. A well-priced home in a desirable town can draw offers within days of listing, often before the open house weekend is over. Homes above $1.5 million tend to take longer and are more sensitive to factors like school district and specific town.
For buyers in that competitive lower bracket, the binding constraint is inventory, not demand. When deals fall through, or buyers lose out, it is usually not because they were priced out of the market entirely. It is because supply is so limited that even well-positioned buyers can go months without finding the right fit.
Berger has one client, a family he has worked with for nearly a year, who recently came second out of five offers on a property. They bid over the list and still came up $100,000 short of the winning bid. “Winning a bid is less important to me than properly bidding for my clients,” he says. They are still looking.
That patience and the ability to treat each loss as information rather than failure is what keeps buyers in the game long enough to eventually win. The number that matters is not the gap from the list. It is the number that gets the deal done.
Daniel M. Berger is a Licensed Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Prestige Properties, licensed in New York and Connecticut, specializing in Westchester County, NY, and Fairfield County, CT. With over a decade of full-time experience, 55+ transactions annually, and five consecutive RateMyAgent County Agent of the Year awards, he is one of the most recognized and independently validated agents in the region.
This article is based on information provided by the expert source cited above. It is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or real estate advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any real estate or financial decisions.
Disclosure: Individuals or companies mentioned may have a commercial relationship with KeyCrew.
