Home Sellers, Know what You can Control.
As uncertain as this real estate market is, I think it helps if sellers understand the things that are in your control and the things that are not.
You can't control the market. It doesn't matter how much you paid for your home, how much you owe on it, or what it may have been worth a year or two ago. This is the market we are in and you can't change it.
You can't control buyers. Buyers want the best deal possible, just as you would if you were buying. They have plenty of homes to choose from and they are only going to buy one. You can't force them to put an offer on your house and when you get an offer you can't force the buyer to pay what you want or even to be reasonable.
You can't control other sellers. If your neighbor across the street puts his home on the market for $5,000 less than yours, there's nothing you can do stop him.
You can't control real estate agents. Some agents will be late when showing your home. Some may schedule a showing and then not show up and on top of that they don't even call to cancel the showing. Some will give feedback that you don't want to hear.
So what do you as a seller have control over?
Condition. You control the condition of your home. How much effort you put into getting the home ready to go on the market and how you prepare the home for showings has a big affect on what buyers and agents think of it.
Price. You control the asking price. The higher the price, the longer the market time and at too high of a price it won't sell at all. At the right price every home will sell. It may not be the price you want, but at the right price it will sell.
That's it. That's all you have control over. Once you accept that, you will be much closer to selling your home.
Note: The graphics used were provided by http://nname.org.
Good Point. Thanks for the tip. Good Luck from Arizona