Texas is a non-disclosure state. By that, it means that real estate sales price are not public records. That means buyers and sellers have a more challenging time to figure value. Often times, real estate consumers rely on their realtors for this knowledge. Many homes are sold through the MLS system, thus sold record data may be held there.

Realtors perform comparative market analyses to figure out the value of houses. Again, value is only in a form of an opinion. What the actual house will sell for depends on the given buyer and seller under their own motivation and circumstances.

I have come to the conclusion that no matter how much market data, stats and comps you see (as a home buyer or seller), in the end, realtors may provide you with a suggested price range of which a house should sell for, it is ultimately a willing buyer and willing seller that determines the price. In this equation, one thing called the perceived value of a buyer's and a seller's motivation is often times difficult to evaluate, or in short, put a dollar value to it.

How much is it worth you to your realtor cannot tell you.

For example, if you are seller that needed your house sold 1 month ago has more motivation to sell when compared to a seller who wants to see if he can get what he wants. If you are Seller #1, and assuming you had the exact same house as Seller #2, most likely, your price would be lower than Seller #2.

When dealing with a buyer who just absolutely disregard a suggested price range of the market value and is a bargain hunter, there is nothing much to say other than testing how low a seller would go. A value is based on today's value yet so many buyers make offers based on the fact that this is a declining market. Is it really? You would have to prove it based on alot more market statistics and data to come up with the answer - if it is indeed a true declining market. Not just what newspapers and TV say.

Often times, sellers have their reasons to sell. Some have relocated, some want to move closer to family in a different place while others just want to upsize or downsize. Some have to sell for financial reasons while others seize the opportunity to cash out their equity. All these are reasons and in actual fact, has a dollar value denomination to a seller. What this number is depends on the individual.

As real estate professionals and the market area experts, we could only provide a somewhat systematic approach to our opinion. But the rest do obviously lie in the decisions of the buyers and sellers. Motivation truly has a value. Really.