Your timeline should match how quickly homes have been closing lately.
If you're deciding whether to hold out for your number or accept an offer that is close, I anchor that decision to the market's recent pace and how close buyers have been paying to asking. In Brookline, MA, buyers landed at about 100.2% of asking last month, which is a strong signal for realistic expectations in March 2026.
Looking at the latest numbers, the clearest signal was how close deals have been to asking in Brookline, MA offers landed around 100.2% of asking last month. A typical sale took 24 days last month, the typical closed price was $1,325,500 last month, and supply sat at 1.45 months recently.
That matters because it reframes "patience" into a measurable choice. Some metrics were not reported for this period. Without seeing a full breakdown of list prices versus final prices by property type, I will not pretend every home will sell above asking, but the recent average around full price tells me you should take a close-to-asking offer seriously when the terms are clean.
Set your decision thresholds before offers arrive define the minimum net you will accept and the terms you will not bend on, so you are not negotiating against yourself. Respond quickly and professionally, because the typical timeline suggests momentum is valuable and delayed counters can cool an active buyer. If an offer is near asking, weigh the certainty of closing financing strength and timelines at least as heavily as squeezing out a little more on price.
