Call it idle curiosity, call it a need for validation or call it plain masochism, but I have developed a habit of keeping tabs on the listings I didn't get ... I usually want to see the price, but I'm also curious to see what's written about the home, just to see if there was an angle I missed.

Tonight I ran across one such listing. Among the six pictures is the caption "... back yard backs to green area." If memory serves, and it does in this case, that means someone has painted the major road behind the home the color green unless the narrow strip of landscaping separating sidewalk and back fence now is considered green area. In the long run, is it really going to benefit the seller to have buyers view the house expecting to find a park at best or a green retention basis at worst behind the home and instead seeing four lanes of blacktop?

I've already discussed the home where the owners raised the price and lowered the co-broke after switching to another agent. They've since dropped to the price where I had the home listed, which means they now are only $10,000 or so over current market price.

Another remains on the market, beautifully photographed and articulately described. Unfortunately, this property also is priced well above the current market in an area where there is a 20-plus-month supply of homes.

In fact, of all the listings I'm checking on now and again, only one is priced within the current market. And to date, not a single one of my expired listings has been sold by the second agent in. Which leads me to one of two possible conclusions:

   1) I'm not great at selling homes, but no worse than anyone else out there.

   2) By holding firm on the recommended price and not bending at the slightest hint of resistance, even at the risk of losing the listing, I'm saving myself a great deal of time and aggravation.

Which leads to the question, is there any particular benefit to competing for a listing based on the listing price you are willing to enter into the MLS? In a market where sign calls are next to nil and you have a far better chance of having a sign rust in a yard than placing a "sale pending" rider on top of it, does it make sense to take a listing at all costs?

I've read with interest the suggestions and comments regarding simply walking away from a listing. I've yet to do so directly, though I have indirectly by not offering to list at any price. Not that I've never taken an overpriced listing, particularly for former clients and some friends - all of whom know up front we're in an uphill to purely vertical battle.

But if two of the few cornerstones we have as real estate professionals are our expertise and our credibility, don't both take a hit when the listing paperwork's sales price is promoted as a blank check for the seller to fill in as they please?