I recently had a seller of a condo on Hilton Head give me a call and said he was interested in testing the market.  When I went over what was listed for sale in his complex with the same view and floor plan, he wanted 20% more than similar villas listed for sale.  I told him that I thought he was going to be wasting his time in doing that. 

You don’t have to test the market because the market is what it is.  That would be similar to calling your stock broker and saying that you would like to sell your “ABC” stock for $80/share when it is only selling for $70/share.

Buyers are smart on Hilton Head as they probably are in most places.  They also have use of the Internet and they can see similar priced properties. 

I think people sometimes assume incorrectly that it “only takes one buyer”.  That one buyer is very astute and informed and in today’s market they are only willing to buy the properties that they feel are the best values. 

You might be able to get away with “testing the market” in a fast market where we have more buyers than sellers, but in a market where you have more sellers than buyers there is no need to “test the market” – it is what it is.