Set your ceiling with recent sold pricing, not just asking prices on your screen
If you are trying to decide how high to set your search, I would base that on closed pricing first. In Wrightsville Beach, NC last month, a typical sale closed at $1,725,000, which is more useful for budgeting than scrolling through list prices alone.
The recent typical asking price among active homes was $1,695,000, while the estimated midpoint for home value sat at $1,664,410. Offers landed at 96.7% of asking over the previous 30 days, so buyers do have some room to negotiate, but not enough to treat every asking price as dramatically flexible.
That is why I recommend building your plan around the final price you can comfortably carry, then backing into the search from there. In Wrightsville Beach, NC, the gap between typical asking and typical sold pricing is not large enough to justify shopping far above your financial comfort zone. For luxury purchasers, that same logic applies even more strongly because the recent closed range includes sales from $600,000 up to $5,500,000, which shows how much the details of a specific property matter.
Set a hard upper limit before you tour. Keep cash for closing costs, improvements, or furnishing needs. Focus on homes where the likely final number still works for you without financial strain.
