Real Estate is area specific and so my comments apply to the area of my expertise which is Fort Worth and Tarrant County Texas. 

I have been meeting with my Seller's who have homes that have not sold in the past three months.  The discussions have all been about the local market condition.  Why are we not having more showings, why are homes so slow to sell, and what can we do?

The answers are clear, however it takes the general public and specifically sellers a while to wrap their minds around the ideas.  What I suggest is that we examine 3 things.

1. The things that we can change.  2. The things that we cannot change. 3. The Pendings and Solds of the past 8 weeks.

Pendings and Solds: We look at how long they were on the market and the number of price reductions.  The price per sq. ft. as compared to "our" property.  Where do we have to price so that we could be in the same catagory.  These are real and hard facts.

Things we cannot change about the property: Location and Location inside the subdivision,
the neighborhood and how the area around the property looks... we are stuck with those. We also cannot change that there are a certain number of buyers for a certain number of homes at any given time.

Things that we can Change:  The seller can change the apprearance of their home if it is needed. From the front door to the back door, cleanliness, condition, and the staged appearance can be changed for the better, if needed.  And, They can CHANGE the price of the home to be ahead of the market.  If they want to be gone, they can reduce the price to the point where they will capture some of the available buyers in the area.  It's a fact that if home prices are and have gone up beyond what salaries have gone up, then there has to be an adjustment.  If there are situations such as new home builders offering big incentives for buyers, then preowned in these areas have to reduce theirs so much that they will attract the buyer.  These are the facts.
Price always has an effect on Time on the Market.  Always!

That being a fact, I encourage my sellers to look at what if any advantage they will get on price when they purchase.  What IRS advantages may be available on a loss sale.  What about the time involved in not selling.....prices still may go down.  The one rule about real estate is that things are always changings.  This is a fact.  The answer is that the time to buy and sell and price right is always NOW.

For more information: www.diannearnette.com
DiAnne Arnette, REALTOR
Keller-Williams REALTY