How to price your home in a Buyer's Market

There is little doubt that we are in a Buyer's market. Just read the headlines. Sale of residential properties were up for the month of January...prices were down an average of 11%. Simply put, that means many homes have lost value over the last year. We are definately in a Buyer's market and need to realize that if we are to sell properties, as realtors and sellers, we must price our properties accordingly. In other words, we must price our properties at or below the selling value of the neighborhood that the property is located in. Don't look outside the borders of the neighborhood for a comparison. Compare like product to like product. Think of it like you think of prescription medication. If you can pay $4 for a generic brand or $100 for a name brand which would you buy? Of course the name brand may have ingredients that the generic brand does not. Compare and adjust accordingly. If the comp is better than your property subtract from the comp. If the comp is not as good as your property add to the comp so that the comparisons are somewhat equal. Then you have your comparison. Most of all remember that when you place your home to sell you have to be willing to sell it. If you really don't need to sell, or if you are not willing to sell at or below market value you may want to consider holding your property until the market improves.