Why Home Sellers Should Consider Home Hardening Before Listing

Knowledge is Power

Agents, Here's Why You Should Suggest Your Sellers Wildfire Harden Their Homes Before Listing... 

Because It Could Affect Their final Sales Price Significantly, Maybe By As Much As 5%. 

A new working paper from Resources for the Future (RFF) finds that California homes required to disclose high wildfire risk—under state law—sell for an average of 4.3% less than similar nearby homes that don’t require disclosure. 

The study examines 1.6 million single-family home sales in California from 2015–2022, using data from Zillow’s ZTRAX database.

Researchers compared homes on each side of lines separating areas with and without disclosure requirements but similar hazard levels (e.g., high Fire Hazard Severity Zones, FHSZ)

Homes in moderate-risk zones subject to disclosure see a smaller but still notable price cut—around 2.6% less

The average value of these “affected” homes near the boundaries in Marin is about $1,400,000, meaning a 4.3% discount equates to roughly $60,000

The price discount is more pronounced in Southern California, reaching up to 6% in some areas.The discount deepened in later years (2020–2021), coinciding with heightened wildfire activity and destructive fires

The pricing issue ultimately comes down to risk. As the research shows, pricing and risk appear to have an inverse relationship: higher wildfire risk leads to lower sale prices—by as much as 5%. So doesn’t it follow that reducing risk can help increase value?

Wildfire disclosure isn’t optional—it’s required by law. So the strategic move is to lean into it: encourage your sellers to not only disclose risk but also take clear, measurable steps to mitigate it. Because just as more risk reduces value, greater mitigation can boost a home’s sale price—potentially by tens of thousands of dollars!