Competitive Pricing Called Key to Timely Sales

One of the hardest things for a home seller to do is to agree to drop the price, but in this tough market, realistic pricing is crucial, experts say.Home sale price reports can be behind the curve because these reports are based on property closings that lag the market, says Gary Malin, president of Citi Habitats in New York City. He recommends monitoring current sale listings instead.Mollie Carmichael, senior vice president of John Burns Real Estate Consulting in Irvine, Calif., says that setting the initial asking price 15 percent to 20 percent below other listings from the very beginning can get things moving and even trigger a bidding war."If you close fast and sell fast, you have a better opportunity to retain value," Carmichael says. "Premiums are very, very difficult to achieve in a market like the one we have today."