Pricing your home for sale is such an important part of deciding to move and sell your home, probably the MOST important. All home sellers want to sell their home for the most amount of money possible! Why wouldn't they? But sometimes shooting for the stars gets you nothing. Nothing but wasted time, and lots more mortgage and tax payments for a house you no longer have your heart into. It's really hard for most to come down from the stars to see the realistic price that they should be asking for their home.  Once someone thinks they can get a certain amount of money for their house, they consider that an amount they can bank on and start to mentally figure out what they can spend that money on. If they can't get what they thought, what do they give up?

Sellers often decide who will list their home for sale based on the highest price quoted by an agent. Only to find that no one or very few home shoppers stop in to take a look. They never see an offer, and feel frustrated and angry at that agent for not selling their home. This is a terrible practice for Realtors(R), they get a reputation for listing houses too high, "just to get the listing." And the house gets a reputation that "something must be wrong with it... it's been listed for so long and never sold." No matter how much marketing and work is done to sell that home, no seller is going to appreciate it... if it doesn't sell.

When someone who loves and cherishes their home makes a decision to sell the place where they have made memories for many years, it becomes a difficult task to see the actual value of their home. Often a small renovation is much more valuable to them then it would be to a buyer. But the buyer is the one who will decide where and how much money they will and can spend on their purchase. The person who holds the money decides when and where to spend it. As agents, we have no control that. This means, that buyers are looking for the best deal for THEM.

So how can this be a win, win situation? Buyers want to spend the least amount of money for the best house, and sellers want to get the most amount of money for their house. The answer is easy, the parties need to both be realistic and informed properly. A buyer will know if a house is worth what is being asked... they have looked at all the competition. In order to come to a deal on the house, the house has to be worth what the seller is asking in THE BUYERS opinion. No one else's (except maybe the appraiser)!

When setting a sale price, try to be realistic. No matter how unrealistic some information may seem!It is important to keep in mind that sometimes agents will present a seller with an inflated sale price in order to get a listing, only to widdle away at that number during the locked in contracted listing period. So be careful not to fall into that trap.

Keep an open mind when looking at the other listings that are actively for sale.... they are your competition, and be competitive.

Look carefully at the homes that are under contract or have sold recently, and figure out what they have that made them stand out to the buyers that bought them.

And hire an agent that you TRUST!! One that is honest to you and will guide you in the right direction.

It's O.K. to be a 'dreamer', but when you sell or buy a house, there is plenty of information out there to help keep your head out of the clouds.