Here's To Reality and Pricing It Right

If you are the real estate agent that consistently prices homes to high, to "get the listing", you're used to chewing on a hard candy listing. This is truly very hard on the teeth as well as the pocket book.
What’s a hard candy listing? Hard candy listings are overpriced from the get-go. An agent knew it, the moment they took it.
When an agent takes a listing from a seller that wants to play the market, at a price that will not work (ever), for the area you are selling, and youdance to the tune and price that will never get the housesold...Congratulations, as a seller, you have now employed a hard candy listing agent.

Make an appointment with your dentist and your accountant, as it will become expensive quickly-for both of you.
Although getting a hard candy listing initially seems sweet, and you savor the fact that you will make a lot of money off the sale of your house, and the agent is savoring that sweet commission once the property sells at the "play listing price", keep in mind, we are not playing to sell properties, we are working to get properties sold and closed.  Over priced listings don't sell. They linger.
As an agent, they have convinced themselves and you (the home seller), that you can actually get a price that no one else in the area has been able to get and one that no one else has even suggested as a possibility.

Homes Priced Correctly

The key to selling your home is pricing correctly. Don’t do as so many sellers do;  don’t choose the agent that suggests the highest listing price. Make them show you the supporting sales history to support their suggested listing price.
Your home is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Find an agent that is going to be totally honest with you and follow his or her advice, then price the property to sell. Not sit on the market. You will have wasted a great deal of time and money if you price it too high.

Consider This:

Once you make the decision to sell your home, the market price will not be increasing dramatically over the next year. Pricing it too high, means that each month you are paying interest and carrying costs on a product that is not increasing in value.
Listing your home at the right price is key to selling it in a timely manner. If your desire to sell is strong, you need honest, straightforward advice. We will give you that, without giving the farm away.
We will need to compare your home, size, location, age, upgrades, etc. to see what a potential buyer will compare your property against (your competition), along with what has proven to be a selling price range for homes (like yours) within the same area.
Even if your home is in an updated, upgraded condition, in the end it is what the buyer thinks your home is worth and what they are willing to pay for your property.

What The Bank Says

Lastly, for a buyer to get a mortgage, your house will be appraised by the buyers lending company. The appraiser will be using the same type of comparables SOLD in the last 6 months. This can make or break a deal.
So, regardless of what you think you can sell it for, and even regardless of what the buyer will pay for it, if the lending company says the value is not there, the buyer won't be able to get the loan if the house doesn't appraise. (Although, occasionally, a buyer will bring more cash in to close the deal if they still think it's a worthy one and the appraisal is a bad one.)

Things To Keep In Mind

"The successful sale never starts with a price that's over the top."  Not altogether true. A little over the top is not deadly. Just like an extremely low ball offer is not deadly.
Success should be measured by how close the original listed price and the sold price are (as well as days on market-four years to get the listing price does not constitute a job done well:)).
It is better to inform a seller with the truth that hurts one's ego, rather than blow smoke in hopes of a fictional sweet deal.
Hard candy prices can be tough to sell in this market, but they are the truth. And, sometimes tough to swallow.
It is our job to inform and bring a home sellers awareness up. Not mislead them with high hopes. This is not rocket science. It is factual data that we use to come to the pricing conclusions that we come to.