You're on top of the world. Your agent has just explained that it's a "seller's market" meaning that there's an abundance of buyers for the number of homes listed. Sounds like you'll have no trouble selling---like shooting fish in a barrel! But be careful. Just because there are many prospects to view your home doesn't necessarily mean that they will all agree to your price and terms.

One of the dangers of a "seller's market" (where sellers appear to have the controlling hand) is over-pricing property and standing firm until that price is met. While it's natural to want to sell your home for the highest price, falsely elevated prices in a seller's market can mean that when you buy again, you, too will be paying an inflated price! Much of what you stand to gain on the sale's side can be lost on the purchasing side.

Your real estate agent can assist you in pricing your home properly for sale by using the following techniques:

1. Using the most-current comparable sales to price your home:

The agent will choose properties similar to yours, in similar neighborhoods, with similar amenities to determine just the right price range for your property. But the critical component is to find the most recent sales to base this information on. In a seller's market, keeping up with what has recently sold can speak volumes in helping you determine exactly where to list your home.

2. Using marketing techniques that best showcase your home:

As a marketing specialist, your real estate agent can show you which marketing strategies work and which don't for homes such as yours. Together you will design a plan to get the property happily sold in the proper time frame.

3. Searching recent sales to uncover how sellers have best negotiated with buyers:

Just because it's a seller's market doesn't mean that negotiating with buyers won't be important. Your agent will look at previous sales and help you determine which items you may need to be flexible on in negotiations and which items can stand firm.

A seller's market may appear to be a hay day for potential sellers. But don't take it for granted. If you price the properly correctly and fairly evaluate all offers you receive, it won't matter what type of market you're working in---you'll win big as a seller

Published: May 29, 2000

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Julie Garton-Good, DREI “The Frugal HomeOwner™” As a syndicated newspaper columnist, author and international speaker, Julie Garton-Good DREI, C-CREC™, is called “America’s Home Affordability Expert”, addressing more than 25,000 persons annually on topics of real estate industry trends and home affordability. She is the author of five real estate books and is the sole two-time recipient of the international "Real Estate Educator of the Year" award from the Real Estate Educators Association. In 1997, The National Association of Realtors® nominated Julie as one of the fifty most influential people in the real estate industry. She shared the list with only three other women.