Sellers: This is something you need to understand

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This Buyer's Market and 5 things that do not influence the price of your property.

For many years we had a Seller's market. Prices were going up steadily, sometimes very quickly. You probably bought during one of these periods. Just about everyone who sold during those times could take a chance and price their home a little high. Often, if they waited long enough, the market would catch up to their price and there home would get sold.

But for the last two years things have been different. The market crashed. It crashed all over the country and it crashed right here in Seattle. It crashed in my neighborhood and in yours, too. Prices came down as much as 20, 30 even 40% on average. Even more for some homes. Ouch. That is a big hit.

And now you want to sell. That's great and I look forward to helping you, but I want you to consider this. The market is still trending down. Very slightly but still down. Short sales and foreclosures are being sold at big discounts and they are , in the eyes of the appraiser, valid comparables for your home. Buyers are making the choices and they often pick the cheaper home that is a short sale or foreclosure, especially since it is in just as good of shape as yours.  So pricing to test the market and waiting for it to go up may take years. Remember, the market is still going down.

Even if you see a home in the neighborhood that sold with multiple offers, it was probably because the seller priced it below market, not above market. The important thing to do is get several Realtors opinions of the value of your home and then do not pick the one that is way higher that the rest. Take the lower values and average them. Nothing hurts your sale more than long market time and even being slightly high can add weeks and months to the time it takes to sell.

And remember this too. Here are five things that do not influence the value of your home:

1. The amount you paid for your property, no matter when.
2. The amount of money you need from the sale to buy something else, pay bills, retire, or take a trip. It just doesn't matter.
3. What it was worth two years ago. You may have had a market analysis done then. Forget about it.
4. What a neighbor or family member said your property should be worth. Get the opinion of someone who has been in the business a number of years and is working as a Realtor now. It just makes sense.
5. An appraisal done for a refinance. An appraiser doesn't have to get you house sold in order to get paid. You pay him and he does his work. Realtors work the other way around and only get paid if the sale happens.