I have a number of calls recently from sellers who are still struggling with the fact that the marrket isn't what it was 2 years ago. I find myself giving them the same advice each time. Step one - Determine a reasonable selling price The first step is to get a CMA. An excellent agent will research the recent sales of comparable houses in your neighborhood to provide you with a market analysis (CMA) and also provide you with an impartial assessment of your property and how it compares to successfully sold properties similar to yours. Your Realtor should also help you understand what happened when houses that were listed didn't sell, and why. You can often learn as much from a history of the houses that didn't sell as from those that did. Step Two - Objectively evaluate the condition of ... 03/24/2007

If you have difficulty remaining unaffected by someone else's behavior, take a moment to breath deeply and remind yourself that you didn't do anything wrong and your not responsible for  people's feelings. If you can see that this person is indirectly expressing a need to you-weather they are reaching out for help or wanting to be heard-you may be able to diffuse the attack by getting them to talk about what is really bothering them.  You cannot control other people's emotions, but you can control your own.  If you sense yourself responding to their negativity, try not to let yourself.  Keep your heart open to them, and they may let go of their defensiveness and yield to your compassion and openness. Coach Pickettwww.coachpickett.com 03/22/2007

Don't be fooled into thinking that there is a relationship between the cost of all of your home improvements over time and the future selling price of your home.  Some of the improvements that you may have made are considered maintenance items, for example the new roof or furnace and some of them may have been upgrades such as a new kitchen or family room addition.  There is not always a dollar to dollar correspondence between what you paid and what the value of the improvement is. Understanding the differences in price, cost, and value is really important. It is important to recognize that there is really only one determining factor when selling your home and that is the value that the local market places on your home. If you have questions ask your Realtor® for the annual Cost vs. Val... 03/21/2007

I've recently been involved in negotations for a buyer with an listing agent who does not normally work in the Northern Virginia area.  It has made me wonder why a seller would list with someone who may not be familiar with the market and the comps for a particular location? Turns out the comps that they were using to establish the list price for the home were for an entirely different model and have set the seller up for disappointing offers.  In discussions with the listing agent I learned that they did not have access to the local real estate tax records or MLS which might have helped them have a better handle on the list price.  I find that I am trying to educate the listing agent to see if they will understand the reason for the numbers on our offer but will probably end up moving ... 03/18/2007