I was amazed by the number of comments on my Condition, Condition, Condition post. Most of you agreed that condition is very important in today's highly competitive market and I enjoyed reading some of the "war stories." There were a number of comments, however, that can be sumarized as follows. "The market is bad, many sellers are upside down and face short sales so there's no incentive to do anything."

Sorry, I don't buy that. I think Michael Ford says it best in his comment, "It's our job to show them how to get  the best bang for their buck. Most homes can be whipped into shape for less than $500." Really, that's why they hire us and why the agents who use imagination, talent, training and hard work succeed. It's an old adage in poker that a good player will lose less with bad cards and win more with good cards. A good agent will get more regardless of the market. Sure the current market is challenging and many sellers are strapped, but as several of you said, it doesn't cost much to clean, declutter, stage and do minor repairs. Painting a room can still be done for less than $50. If it's a short sale, maybe the incentive for Sellers is to be "less short." For us, the incentive is to have a listing that will generate a pay check.