Most people only participate in home sales a few times throughout the course of their lifetimes. Because it's not an area where the average person needs ot have much expertise, it's easy for those who are in the process of selling their home to buy into real estate myths that may have little or no relevance to their individual situations. For instance, it is often believed that setting the asking price above what the seller is prepared to accept is a smart strategy because it leaves room for negotiations, but this is not always the best way to gain interest among prospective buyers.
An overly inflated price will cause some people who are in the market for a new home to bypass certain properties because they believe them to be too expensive. This can have a serious impact on the number of interested parties. Although there will always be potential buyers who make lowball offers, standing firm on the price will eliminate them and limit the playing field to those who are truly interested in the property. Also, inflating the price may cause the home to sit on the market longer than what is normal for the area, and many buyers view properties that have been on the market for longer than normal with a great deal of suspicion.
In hot markets such as Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco, California, many sellers make the decision to set their official asking price a little less than what they will actually accept. They do this because properties in these markets almost always bring multiple offers, and bidding wars among prospective home buyers are extremely common. This strategy is not advised, however, for those who live in areas where the real estate market is in a decline.
Some sellers also buy into the fallacy that real estate prices always go up. This myth has been perpetuated over the years because in most places, home values really have risen with some degree of consistency over the passage of time. However, the real estate crash of 2008 changed the picture in many parts of the country, and although there has been a general recovery, many pockets exist that have yet to bounce back, and prices may never return to what they were prior to the crash. Those seeking to escape common real estate myths should engage the services of a competent realtor saugerties.
