When selling, should you factor in future price declines?
Housing market watchers are predicting another 10 percent or so plunge in prices over the next year.
And buyers know this. They not only want to get the best deal possible, but they also don't want to get burned. And a big part of that is not wanting to become a knife catcher, putting big money down now only to find your new home underwater a year from now.
So what's a poor seller to do?
It's a little gimmicky for my tastes, but real-estate-broker-turned-motivational-speaker Steve Harney is offering a simple tip for sellers.
Take a look at comparable sales, then knock off 10 percent.
That certainly beats the much tried - and now pretty foolish - strategy of starting high and gradually coming down until you hit the right price.
Most buyers are onto this and will simply stand on the sidelines and watch with grim amusement the steady progression downward - the real estate version of a slow mo car crash.
Of course, the 10 percent rule only works if you have some wiggle room. If you bought during the peak of the housing bubble, you may not have that luxury.
But it's something to think about.
