So many home sellers want to price their homes way above market value, because they think the cushion gives them more negotiating room. Some even price it 10%, 20% or more above any of the comparable homes that have sold. They tell themselves that their home is worth more, justifying it in their minds by calculating features that they have recently added. But what overpricing actually does is eliminate potential buyers. Buyers know what they can afford. Pricing a home at $10,000, $20,000, $40,000  or even more above the value that your home is worth (just to leave negotiation room) will keep buyers that are in your price range from even looking. The
buyers who will look will be comparing your home with ones that are worth more.

If you were the buyer, and you looked at a home with an inflated price and several that were at market value, would you even consider an offer? Would you think, well maybe they will take less? Or would you just move on to one that had more for the same price?

A home with a true value of $300,000 has a certain set of features that contribute to it's value. A house valued at $260,000 in the same market normally has less to offer than the higher priced home and simply can't compete with it.

Buyers in the $300K range won't be impressed with the home's features and buyers looking for homes nearer its true market value won't even see it because of the too-high pricetag.

It doesn't matter what you want for your property, what's important is what your property is worth.

Overpricing is usually easy to correct, but there are plenty of homes that buyers pass on for other-sometimes simple-reasons. So, when coming up with a price to list your home, allow yourself to be flexible, and DO NOT let your home linger on the market for month after month with no offers. A good rule of thumb is to consider a price reduction if your home is not under contract within one month. That's right ONE month. In that amount of time, plenty of buyers have seen that your home is for sale, and if no one has jumped on it, it's not priced properly. Many other homes that were listed for that same month went under contract in most markets.

Suppose your house did not get any showings... what do you think the problem is then? I've had sellers tell me... "No one has seen my home, so how can you say it's priced too high?" That's exactly how. If it has been up for sale for 30 days, and you have had NO showings, you have missed the mark with your price. NO QUESTION!!  No one is going to look at your home if they can get so much more down the street, and many can see that just by driving by or looking at the features that your home offers in the Multiple Listing System.

If you're a home seller, and your house isn't selling, it's time to analyze the situation and figure out why.