How do those houses compare to yours? Are they good solid comps? Are they similar in style to yours? Do you have a bigger lot? Do you have better construction?

The best thing to do, in my opinion, is to make your house shine and make it memorable. As a buyer, I've seen so many houses that I couldn't even remember an hour later. A few of them stood out for bad reasons: "Honey, that was the one at the bottom of that steep hill" or "That one had a terrible rooms layout" and a couple were memorable for the right reasons: "That one had the great kitchen and the new wood floors" or "I really liked the fireplace in that one."

So what are the good features of your house that make it stand out and will convince buyers that your higher price is worth it?

Good luck!

Ouch! ThatÂs a tough one. Do you need to clear $254,000 or is there negotiating flexibility? Your best advantage is a house that outshines everybody elseÂs and is set a bit below those currently for sale. A $254K price is below your competition which is a plus but you may need to be flexibleÂthose two sales are important to your price. You may also want to pay for an independent appraisal and use that to establish your price and strengthen a counter-offer. At least, youÂll have any idea what a loan appraiser might come up with for any buyer making an offer on yours. As a potential buyer in a softening market, I wouldnÂt sign a purchase offer that didnÂt contain an appraisal contingency.

The neighbors back in my old neighborhood are facing the exact same situation. The newest comps (based on two sales of identical homes in the last 90 days) are 15% below what I got for mine a year earlier. The two neighbors that lowered to within 5% of those very new comps sold within 30 days of decreasing their price to the lower range. The two that are priced 10% or more above are still sitting and itÂs been monthsÂtheyÂve been lowering by inches. They feel they canÂt sell lower because they need the money to pay off their HELOCS. So, theyÂre determined to wait and hope for better times.

By the way, the appraisals and prices of many houses in my area (Northern Virginia) skyrocketed due to the sales of 1-2 houses in a particular tract neighborhood. Each time a couple of houses sold for a higher price, you can bet the comps for that neighborhood were reset. So, I think itÂs likely that a couple of sales in your neighborhood could, indeed, become the new comps. If houses are sitting at one set of prices and those priced lower are selling, is it because of a lowball or is the market speaking? ItÂs very hard to accept that a couple of sales can sway the value of your home. But any smart buyer is going to be looking hard at those lower sales. They probably wonÂt know and certainly wonÂt care who bought the houses or why. Best of luck to you. These days itÂs not easy finding that "sweet spot" in the market.

The ones that are on the market at $259 and that aren't selling aren't really comps. They are asking prices that -- so far -- no one has been willing to me.

If you price below them you should have a better chance but most buyers will see the comps for the sale houses and won't care why they sold low.

Your best way to get more is to have some feature or reason that someone would want your house even if higher priced than comps.

Unfortunately, those "low-ball" sales will be used as comps, not the current listings on unsold houses. You may be able to ask for $254K because you will still be lower than those listings. What recent comps on other houses sold in the neighborhood?

Asking price = $260K to $270K.

Investors purchase 3 for $244K a piece.

After fees and carrying costs they will be lucky to break even. Doesn't sound like a very good investment to me.

We are going through the same thing. We listed our house at $349,999 based on all the comps. The house across the street went on the market yesterday for $289,900. It's about 400SF smaller than ours, and ours is more updated. But I'm sure any smart buyer is going to wonder why our is $60,000 more. The woman who owned it passed away a few months ago, and the woman who is handling her estate just wants to get rid of it.

Never has a realtor come to me and said, "Hey Quirky, I think your offer on this house is a little too high given the previous sales in the area." If I was in your shoes, it's something that would worry me and that I'd complain about and that others would tell me not to worry about it. So don't worry about it.

Something similiar happened when we sold our first house in 2002. It was a townhouse with nearly identical layouts. The only difference was if you were an outside in inner unit. Prices had been rising steadily for a couple of years and had finally broken the 140K mark. Then we had 1 unit where the elderly owner died and his out of state children wanted to sell fast, so they listed at 15% less than comp! Then a couple in the middle of a nasty divorce put there house on the market at 16% under comps. We were in the middle of a relo and were days away from putting up a sign.
We needed every penny from the sale, so I convinced the Realtor to list at the previous comps, not the lowballs and let the appraiser know the other homes were "distress sales". In the end they agreed because it was even on the appraisal report that those 2 houses were priced below market. The house sold in 8 days BTW because it was still a fair price.

I hate to tell you this, but I'd say the "lowballs" were actually market price. It sounds like those who are priced higher and haven't sold are in denial about market conditions.

I have to agree with terriks...

"languished for months ... then sold to an investor"?

Are the others selling or are they languishing too?

I'd make sure is has above average curb appeal and has many great pics on the website.

If you don't mind the extra expense, have it inspected. The cost might be worth it in the long run. If you know what a buyer's inspection is likely to reveal, you can repair/replace anything that is likely to take a bite out of your asking price.

I'm with terriks and kats_meow, the stuff on the MLS is the stuff that ISN'T selling. Comparables != Competition.

I have to agree. If the houses across the street sold for over list price in a multiple bid situation, wouldn't you want to use them as comps for yours?

In many areas (including mine) the market has declined. The houses that sold are your new comps, whether you like it or not, provided that they were arms-length transactions.

Most important, they are the comps that will be used by any appraiser hired by your buyer's mortgage lender. So take heed.

I'd possibly agree with terricks also but we don't know the condition of those other houses. Poster makes it seem like just a couple houses. Maybe they were trashed and needed a lot of work.

True, quirky, but an appraiser will still take them into consideration as comps, because he probably won't ever see inside them. What the appraiser will see on paper is: similar sq ft, similar lot size, same number of beds/baths, etc. Appraiser doesn't know that the "low-ball" houses may be trashed on the inside. And neither will any potential buyers - they'll just see the selling prices.

True. And the OP notes that he lives in a "low-end" neighborhood, which means that buyers are going to be going for the maximum financing, in most cases. So unfortunately, those comps are likely to really impact the mortgage appraisal for the OP's house.

It's a new reality in many markets out there, and sellers who must sell will have no choice but to adjust their expectations.