I try not to get caught in this trap but too many times lately I have gone against my better judgment and spent so much time and energy trying to make deals work that were loaded with red flags and flashing yellow signs when I first took them.

My latest attempt was accepting a listing on a beautiful 5 bedroom/4 bath colonial sited on 3 acres surrounded by wooded preserve land. The owners had expanded the house to include a glass-walled In-Law Suite (complete with its own full kitchen) on the lower level. ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!

So what's the problem you ask - if you were to pick that house up and move it half mile down the road it would double in value. But the house had been over improved for its location and, to complicate matters, the owners refused to accept that fact. So OK I take the listing thinking that it is such a beautiful home that I might be able to find a buyer who falls in love with it and, by some miracle, find an appraiser that will put on heavily tinted rose colored glasses and appraise it close enough to the selling price so I can make the deal.

So here I am 5 weeks later with no offers and the showings have slowed to a trickle. I know what the problem is - the home is overpriced - and I am kicking myself for not listening to that inner voice that we all have, but too often ignore, that said "DON'T TAKE THIS LISTING".