Tyce Ortman REALTOR

By Tyce Ortman | July 24, 2026

You listed your Sioux Falls home four, six, maybe eight weeks ago. The showings have dried up. The offers never came. And now you’re staring at two choices that both feel like losing: drop the price again, or pull the listing off the market entirely and try again later.

I get this question a lot right now, and for good reason. The 2026 market is very different from the frenzy of a few years ago. Homes in the Sioux Falls metro are taking about 85 days to sell on average, and inventory is down roughly 30% from a year ago — which sounds like a seller’s market until you realize buyers have gotten patient and picky. They’ll wait. They’ll lowball. And they will absolutely skip a home that feels overpriced or stale.

So which move is right for you? Here’s how I walk sellers through it.

First, Figure Out Why It Isn’t Selling

Before you touch the price or the listing status, you have to diagnose the actual problem. Delisting and price-cutting are two different treatments for two different diseases, and picking the wrong one wastes weeks you don’t have.

The clearest signal is your showing activity. Ask yourself:

• Lots of showings, no offers? That’s usually a condition or presentation problem. Buyers are interested enough to walk through, but something — smells, clutter, deferred maintenance, a dated kitchen — kills it in person.
• Few or no showings at all? That’s almost always price or online marketing. If buyers aren’t even clicking to book a tour, the home is priced above what they’ll consider, or the photos aren’t stopping the scroll.
• Showings that all say “nice home, but…” Listen to the feedback. The same objection three times in a row is your to-do list.

Here’s the hard truth agents say quietly: if a home has been active for 45 days with no traction, there’s a very high chance the issue is price. It might be dressed up as “the market is slow” or “buyers are waiting on rates,” but a correctly priced, well-presented Sioux Falls home still sells in this market. It just sells at the number buyers will actually pay — not the number from a Zestimate or from what your neighbor got in 2022.

Nationally, homes sit a median of about 23 days at their original price before sellers make a first reduction, and a listing is generally considered stale once it crosses 60 days. Use those numbers as guardrails, not gospel — but if you’re past them, the market is telling you something.

When Keeping It Listed (and Adjusting) Is the Right Call

Most of the time, staying on the market and making a smart adjustment beats delisting. Every day you’re off the market is a day no buyer can find your home, and buyers who were “watching” it will move on to something else.

Keep the listing live and adjust when:

• You need to sell on a real timeline. Job move, a home you’re already under contract on, a financial reason — if waiting isn’t truly optional, delisting just burns weeks.
• Buyers are looking but passing. Steady showings mean the home is visible and the price is in the ballpark. A targeted price cut or a presentation fix can tip it over.
• Your price cut can be meaningful. A timid $2,000 trim on a $350,000 home does nothing. Buyers barely notice it, and you look like you’re negotiating with yourself. A reduction that clears a new search bracket — say from $355,000 down under $350,000, or $340,000 down under $335,000 — puts you in front of a whole new pool of buyers who filter by price.

And a price cut isn’t your only lever. Before you give away equity, look at whether the real fix is cheaper:

• New photos. Dark, cluttered, or phone-shot photos get scrolled past. Professional photos after a good declutter can restart interest for a few hundred dollars.
• Staging. Staged homes tend to sell faster and for more than empty or cluttered ones, and the cost of staging is almost always less than the first price reduction you’d otherwise have to make.
• Refreshed marketing. A new headline, better highlighting of updates (new roof, new furnace, finished basement), and re-promotion can bring the listing back to buyers’ attention without dropping a dime off the price.

The math is simple: a $10,000 price cut is $10,000 out of your pocket at the closing table. A $1,500 staging-and-photos refresh that gets the home sold at your current price protects far more of your equity.

When Delisting and Resetting Actually Makes Sense

Delisting isn’t a failure — it’s a legitimate strategy in the right situation. You’re seeing more of it nationally right now: in April 2026, about 5.8% of all U.S. listings were pulled off the market, near the highest share since 2020, as sellers who couldn’t get their price decided to wait rather than cut.

Taking your Sioux Falls home off the market and relisting later can be the right move when:

• You genuinely don’t have to sell. No deadline, no double mortgage, no pressure. You can wait for a stronger season or better rates.
• The listing has gone truly stale after real price cuts. If you’ve already reduced meaningfully and it’s still sitting past 60–90 days, the “days on market” number itself is now scaring buyers. A reset can help.
• You need time to fix something real. Making repairs, finishing a project, deep-cleaning and staging, or waiting out a temporary glut of competing listings in your neighborhood.
• You’re rethinking the plan entirely. Some owners with a low mortgage rate decide to rent the home instead of selling into a soft market.

But go in with your eyes open about two things.

First, buyers and their agents can see your history. They know how long the home was listed, how many price cuts it took, and often what you first asked. Delisting for a week and popping back up fools no one — and it can add stigma rather than remove it.

Second, resetting the “days on market” clock takes real time. On most MLS systems and portals, a home usually has to be off the market for about 30 days to start the days-on-market count over, and Zillow’s counter generally needs 31+ consecutive days off. Some portals want closer to 90 days for a full reset. Many MLS rules also only allow a cancel-and-relist when there’s been a substantial price change (often more than 5%). So a reset is a month-plus commitment, not a quick trick — and if you relist at the same price buyers already rejected, you’ll get the same result with a fresher date stamp.

That’s the part people miss: delisting buys time and a clean slate, but it does not fix an overpricing problem. If the number was wrong, it’ll still be wrong in 30 days.

How This Plays Out at Closing in South Dakota

Whichever path gets you to an accepted offer, the closing mechanics in Sioux Falls are the same. Your title work runs through a local title company — First Dakota Title here in Sioux Falls, or Abstract Title for Madison-area properties. As the seller, you’ll pay the South Dakota real estate transfer fee of $0.50 per $500 of price (about $350 on a $350,000 sale). And you’ll still complete the Seller’s Property Condition Disclosure Statement — that obligation doesn’t change based on how long the home sat or how many times you relisted it. If you delisted to make repairs, disclose what you now know.

None of that changes the core decision. It just means that once you’ve made the right call and gotten an offer, the finish line in South Dakota is straightforward.

The Bottom Line

Don’t treat “delist or cut the price” as the whole question. The real question is why isn’t it selling — and once you answer that honestly, the right move is usually obvious. If buyers are looking but passing and you need to sell, adjust the price or the presentation and stay visible. If you can truly wait and the listing has gone stale after real reductions, reset and come back stronger. What almost never works is yanking the home off the market for a couple of weeks and relisting at a price buyers already turned down.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should I wait before reducing my home’s price in Sioux Falls?
If you’ve had few showings and no offers after about 3 to 4 weeks, it’s time to act — that’s roughly when a listing loses its “new” premium. Nationally, sellers make a first reduction around 23 days on average, and a home is considered stale by 60 days. In today’s slower Sioux Falls market, where the average home takes about 85 days to sell, watch your showing activity closely and don’t wait for the listing to go cold before adjusting.

Does taking my home off the market reset the days-on-market count?
Usually only if it’s off the market long enough. Most MLS systems and portals require a home to be delisted for about 30 days (Zillow needs 31+ consecutive days) before the days-on-market clock restarts, and some portals want closer to 90 days. Many MLS rules also require a substantial price change before you can cancel and relist. A quick one-week delisting typically won’t reset anything and can look like game-playing to buyers.

Will buyers know my Sioux Falls home was relisted?
Yes. Buyers and their agents can see listing history, including how long a home was on the market, its price cuts, and prior listings. Relisting can freshen a stale listing, but it won’t hide the past. That’s why it works best when paired with a real change — a new price, new photos, or genuine improvements — rather than used as a cosmetic reset.

Is it cheaper to stage my home or to cut the price?
Almost always staging. A professional staging-and-photography refresh typically costs a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars, while a meaningful price cut on a $350,000 home is $10,000 or more off your net proceeds. If the home is getting showings but no offers, fixing presentation is usually the cheaper and smarter first move before you touch the price.

Should I just rent my Sioux Falls home instead of selling?
It can make sense if you have a low mortgage rate you don’t want to give up and you’re not in a hurry to cash out. Renting lets you hold the property and sell into a stronger market later. But it comes with landlord responsibilities, tenant risk, and its own tax and financing considerations, so weigh it against your goals and timeline before deciding.

Thinking About Your Next Move?

If your Sioux Falls home isn’t selling and you’re stuck between cutting the price and pulling the listing, the right answer depends on your timeline, your showing activity, and an honest look at your price versus the comps. If you’re buying or selling in Sioux Falls or the surrounding area, I’m happy to walk you through this. Reach out anytime: tyceortman@gmail.com.

About Tyce Ortman

Tyce Ortman is a real estate agent with eXp Realty serving the greater Sioux Falls, South Dakota area and the Madison community. He specializes in helping first-time home buyers and sellers, with a focus on pricing properties right and finding each client the perfect home. Connect with Tyce at tyceortman@gmail.com.