When someone calls me to list their property I go out and give an appraisal.  In most cases, people are shocked and think their property is worth more than the present market.  That is the most people think.

Someone will list their house at $500,000 when I tell them it should be listed at $450,000.  It will sit on the market for about two or three months and they will reduce it to $475,000.  After about two or three more months on the market they will call and say that maybe they should list it at $449,000 like I said several months ago.

In a declining market, at this point the house needs to be listed at $429,000. 

The best way to get your house sold in a declining market is to get ahead of the curve.  That is hard for people to swallow but it is the truth. 

There is an old saying in real estate that “time is an enemy of the seller and a friend of the buyer”.  It could not be any more true in today’s market. 

If people want to sell their house on Hilton Head, I tell them to look at the competition and be priced $10,000 better than the competition and you will get it sold because you will get activity.  With Internet, all buyers are well aware of what is on the market.  They look at pictures, they drive by and look at them before they call us and most of the time when they come in our office they have a good idea of the properties they want to look at. 

They want to look at the ones that are the best buys.

In short, if you want to sell your house on Hilton Head, price it right to start with and you will get it sold.  Otherwise you will be chasing the market for a long time.