The force of absolute decision renders all external friction obsolete.

A seller who has not truly decided to sell will find a hundred reasons why the market is against him. A seller who has decided usually finds the market fairer than he feared.

The undecided seller is easy to recognise. He lists well above what recent sales in his street support, because part of him hopes nobody bites. He makes viewings difficult, rejects reasonable offers without countering, and keeps moving the date on which he could hand over the keys. Every obstacle feels external, the agent or the economy. But most of the friction is a negotiation he is having with himself.

The decided seller behaves differently from the first day. He looks at what comparable houses actually sold for rather than what they were advertised at, and he prices with that in mind. He has already worked out where he will live next, so he can offer a clear occupation date. When an offer arrives with a bond condition attached, he signs it or counters it within a day, because he knows what he wants.

Market conditions still matter, and some properties take longer for honest reasons. Yet much of the delay in a slow sale traces back to a decision that was only half made, and buyers can usually sense it from the first viewing.