To sell fast; tempt Id, and satisfy Superego

A little over a year ago, you could price a property, call in your stager, then up the price a little more. It would be snatched up. Now the game has changed.

The real estate market is currently like the end of season sale at the mall. Buyers are savvy, picky and looking for the perfect fit at a bargain price. And just like at the mall, shoppers check every possibility to make sure they haven't missed something better lurking just around the corner.

Buying is an emotional impulse -the "it's perfect!" reaction that comes from our unconscious Id level of the brain. Id doesn't care about reality; it just wants to satisfy its needs. We then have to use our logical side, the superego, our conscious, to justify our emotional buying impulse.

To satisfy both its critical to put together the best marketing and presentation strategy possible. This needs the collaboration of the home seller, Realtor®, and property stylist.

The onus is on the Realtor® to really know their market and determine a very sharp price point when the property is first hits the open market. Pricing with a cushion to see what will happen and then ponder a price reduction is not an effective strategy. There just isn't enough qualified buying, or quality selling, traffic to go around.

Buyers are shopping, believing something better is still out there. Like an end-of-season sale, people are expecting designer sheets at K-Mart prices. Can you afford to hang onto your stock with its overhead costs when it's not moving off the shelves. Can anyone predict when the demand will justify former pricing? How much can you afford to lose every day?

The buyer's perspective is your reality. Not only are buyers are frustrated with the quality of selection, sellers are worried that there aren't enough buyers. They're both right. So what's the remedy?

Once you have a sharp competitive price point set, then stage it. Your property will immediately stand out as having the best value in its price range. Home sellers cannot afford to do less. Well priced, well presented homes are competitive and still selling fast. The trick is to use staging to get the buyer's emotional reaction that your property is "it" with a pricing to satisfy Superego's need to look any further.