What’s worse—accepting a lowball offer or selling your home to your ex?
For nearly a third of homeowners, the answer is clear: they’d rather take less money than let their ex move back in.
That’s just one of the surprising insights from Clever Real Estate’s 2025 survey of 1,000 American homeowners, which dug deep into the emotions, fears, and dealbreakers that define the modern home sale.
From sky-high stress levels to shocking agent forgiveness, the data paints a fascinating picture of what’s keeping sellers up at night—and what could make them walk (or run) away from the deal entirely.
Read on for the highlights.
Who You Sell to Matters More Than You Think
Money talks, but for many sellers, so does personal history—and it’s not always a love story.
According to Clever, nearly 1 in 3 homeowners (31%) would rather accept a lower offer than sell to their ex at asking price. And 13% would even take their home off the market if they found out their ex was interested in buying it.
That said, it’s not just romantic baggage influencing decisions.
- 40% of homeowners said they’d walk away from a sale entirely if they didn’t like the buyer—even if the offer was significantly higher than expected.
- 33% would reject a significantly higher offer if they knew the buyer planned to knock down or completely renovate their home.
- 53% would take an offer below the asking price to avoid selling to someone they felt was very rude. That figure includes 58% of women and 47% of men.
With so much emotion tied to a home sale, it’s no surprise that many sellers prioritize ease over price. More than half (55%) of homeowners would even consider selling to a cash investor just to avoid the hassle—willing to trade a higher offer for a smoother, stress-free transaction.
Seller Dealbreakers with Agents
Some sellers are surprisingly lenient when it comes to their agents. The data found:
- 71% wouldn’t fire their agent for hitting on them.
- 63% would keep working with an agent who made inappropriate jokes or comments.
- 45% would continue working with an agent who lied about having a real estate license.
- 43% would not fire their agent if they caught them stealing.
For an industry built on relationships and trust, that’s a wild statistic—and a reminder that not all dealbreakers are about dollars and cents.
On the flipside, the majority of sellers in the survey would fire an agent for the following reasons:
- Stealing from them (57%)
- Pressuring them to accept lowball offers or rushing the process (56%)
- Being unprepared or lacking knowledge about the housing market (51%)
Nearly half (49%) would fire their agent if they believed the latter wasn’t marketing their home effectively, while the same share would part ways with an agent who was rude to buyers or to other agents.
What Moves Sellers—and What Makes Them Stay Put
The Clever survey also sheds light on what motivates homeowners to speed up—or slam the brakes—on their sale plans.
Reasons homeowners might speed up their sale:
- Significant property tax increase (43%)
- Rising home insurance costs (33%)
- A drop in mortgage rates (35%)
Reasons homeowners would delay selling:
- A major economic downturn (29%)
- Another pandemic (24%)
- A local natural disaster (23%)
Even with the market uncertainty of 2025, one thing is clear: sellers aren’t just selling houses—they’re navigating personal histories, emotional baggage, and life-altering decisions every step of the way.
Final Thought: Every Seller Has a Story
Whether they’re dodging an ex, battling the fear of lowball offers, or just dreading the ordeal of moving, sellers today bring a lot more than equity to the table. For agents, understanding these deeply personal dealbreakers isn’t just good service—it’s essential.
For the full breakdown of 2025 home seller fears, motivations and dealbreakers, check out the original survey from Clever Real Estate.
