I remember my first day as a REALTOR(R); my broker pulled me aside and said, “Always remember, Listers last.”  What she meant was that as long as I had listings I would survive and be successful.  Being a rebel, I vowed to prove her wrong.  My first 2 years in this business I was exclusively a buyer’s agent.  One problem with being a buyer’s agent is that eventually your past buyer clients want to sell their homes and buy new ones.  So, inevitably, I started listing homes too.  (Enter tension migraines and many sleepless nights). 

As a listing agent it is my job to help a seller market their home and negotiate favorable terms.  Let’s face it, if all of the world’s REALTORS(R) fell off the face of the earth tomorrow, houses would still sell.  Houses sell themselves.  REALTORS(R) are consultants, advisers, and purveyors of information.  It is a REALTORS(R) job to stay on top of the market and apply information to a client’s specific circumstances.  But in the end, it is a team effort.  The Seller and the REALTOR(R) need to work together to obtain the goal.  No seller wants to spend months on end with their house on the market.  No REALTOR(R) accepts a listing with the hopes that it will never sell. 

So, what’s the grand secret to selling your home?  You could concentrate on print advertising and catchy headlines like, “For the Love of God, Buy This House”  but, taglines, headlines, and fluff statements don’t sell houses.  Or you could hire a REALTOR(R) who knows the local market, the regional market, and the national market and helps you navigate through this crazy process.    Being aware of market conditions, market projections and competitive pricing sells houses.  Did you miss the secret?  The secret is knowledge.  Knowledge of the market, knowledge of the process, and knowledge of the price that will effectively sell your house.  Or, you could continue to stand on your porch and scream at the top of your lungs, “For the Love of God, Buy This House!”  Option one seems a little more practical though.