Add to what? The price of a house is based on comps. If you add 10% above market value you will loose about 50% of potential buyers if you add 20% you will 75% of buyers.

If the seller wants to sell, they will listen to their agent and price the house according to market conditions now, not what they were. The "room to negotiate" mentality doesn't work. If a home is overpriced, no one comes to look at it and the seller has to drop it anyway. If you're looking to make the best possible offer on the house with the best possible chance of being accepted, you should be working with a buyer's agent that works for your instead of the seller. They can provide you with the most recent comps in the area and also possibly give you insight as to why a particular seller might be selling. It will certainly help you get the best house at the best price. If I can assist you, please contact me. Good luck.

Ralph Windschuh
Associate Broker
Certified Buyer Representative
Century 21 Princeton Properties
631-467-0009
rwindschuh@c21princetonproperties.com

Tough to judge and it all depends on the area-- in some instances sellers are right on the money, in some not. A good list of the neighborhood sold comps is a great starting point so that a reasonable offer can be made and negotiations can begin--keep in mind there are bidding wars out there even in this market.

To Norma,
I would never in this market try to list a house for more than the Nassau County Market Valuation.
I would also strongly suggest they go below the market price by 10% to 20%, so you will find a buyer within
a six month period of time. In today's market there is no other way to sell a house.
It doesn't pay to put a house on the market just to see if you can get more
money than your house is really worth. It is a waste of everybody's time.
This is a declining real estate market, people have to change their way of selling homes.

Camille Dandola, 516-312-6245
Charles Rutenberg Real Estate

Many sellers still think here houses are worth what they were worth in 2007, so they are 30% above what the house would sell for now. I am noticing that many of those listings are expiring and nor being relisted. Now a days you have REOs, shortsales and more realistic sellers. I would say 5% over what they are asking.

I agree. There is no set amount. Some homes are way overpriced based on comps in the area. These are the homes that will be on the market for months and months.

Homes that are priced correctly based on the comps are selling in a reasonable amount of time.

A lot of it depends on the motivation of the seller - Are they testing the market? Have they found another house already? Are they committed to price? Or are they committed to selling?

If there is a specific property that you are asking about I would be happy to give you comps.

I also use a service called Listingbook to gie my buyers and sellers access to information that is normally only available to Real Estate agents. It will really give you a good handle on the market.

If you are interested e-mail me at dgalinsky@pugatch.com and I will sign you up.

You can also visit my website http://www.FindYourHomeLI.com for lots of information.

Let me know if I can be of any help.

Thanks

Donna Galinsky
Pugatch Realty Corp
516-317-9253

Norma,

There is no definite percentage associated with this assertion. However, today's sellers are painfully aware it is unlikely they will get their asking price and do tend to inflate the asking price.

Agents are now working hard to convince sellers of the importance of not doing this and listing the home accurately with regards to the current market value.

The best thing to do is use the recently sold comps to arrive at a reasonable offer price.

Good luck