A buddy of mine called me the other day and asked me if I would mind helping him determine where he should price his home at for sale.  The home is in a different market area than what I serve, but one that I am very familiar with.

So, he emailed me the information on the properties that have sold recently close to where his home is located at.  I went over the comps and did a sort of mini-appraisal thing by adding and subtracting the various features that were superior and inferior to my buddy's place.

Being as this was a lake home, my buddy's place had several things that I thought were going to be major selling points.  (1) His home didn't have very many steps in order to get down to the lake. (2) He's in a very nice cove...big enough to maneuver in, but too small to water ski in. (3) His home sits on a peninsula, so it's got a water view from every room in the house.  And (4) his driveway is pretty level.

So, when I looked at all of the various factors involved I came up with a price of $350,000.  On a per square foot basis, this was at the high end of the spectrum when compared to the other properties that had sold, but considering the advantages of their lot, I figured that this would be a 30 - 60 day price.

Well, my buddy didn't take me up on my price.  He put it on the market at $339,000 and had TWO offers on it within 3 days!

He's as happy as a bug in a rug!

And I'm happy for him too.  I'm also happy that this shows that the real estate market does indeed have a pulse!  I feel bad for the first people who looked at it and thought about it for a couple of days because they got beat to the punch, but hey...isn't that the reason behind the old real estate adage;

"The home that you've looked at today and want to think about til tomorrow might be the same house that someone looked at yesterday and are going to make an offer on today?"

When I asked my buddy why he didn't list at the higher price?  He told me that he wanted to make sure that he sold it quickly and besides, they bought the home 14 years ago for a fraction of that price and he is happy with what he'll get to take with him when it closes.

This made all the sense in the world to me! So, to all you sellers out there......Remember, it's always a question of asking price!  Anything will sell at the right price, you just need to be realistic as to where that price is!

R. B. "Bob" Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.

Bob Mitchell is president of ValueList Real Estate Services,  St. Louis' largest discount/full-service real estate and mortgage company.  If you would like to find out more about Bob, ValueList or our flat-fee listing program, please feel free to visit our web site at valuelistre.com