Strategies for Setting a Price for Your Home
By ALINA DIZIK
Aug. 21, 2014 12:10 p.m. ET
BLINDED BY LOVE Sellers often overestimate the value of their homes for emotional reasons. Sol Linero
To get top dollar for his Portland, Ore., home, Alex Hickman played lowball. He set his asking price below that of comparable homes nearby—and got six offers in four days.
In residential real estate, the asking price is often as much about psychology as it is reality. Michael Seiler, professor of real estate and finance at The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va., said that most home buyers don’t realize that setting an asking price is primarily a negotiating tactic. “When you set a list price, you’re sending a signal to the market,” he says.