Trying to sell you're condo ? Don't try to compete with the developer.

It's called "chasing the bottom". A homeowner enlists the help of a Realtor to price their condominium for a quick sale. The Realtor pulls recent comparable sales and presents the seller with what they feel is a realistic list price, acknowledging that buyers will almost certainly offer below this. Sellers often have justification as to why their home is different (read: better) than the comparable homes and should be listed at a higher price.

"I can always lower the price later" they say, believing that buyers will be interested in working with a seller that has shown unrealistic expectations by listing it higher than it should have been in the first place. After the inevitable reduction doesn't work, they try a second time in order to get buyers attention.

The chase has begun. Unfortunately everybody involved in the marketing of this home has wasted precious time and the buyers that would have been happy to make an offer on an attractively priced home have moved on. The lesson ? If you are selling in a building that still has developer inventory you have lost the deal you could have had to the developer and probably more than once because you scared buyers away with the "my unit is special" price.

As I wrote last week; the sales offices are making incredible deals right now. One Mission Bay community has 2-bedrooms with parking from the high 500's. A South Beach community has put a unit in contract for 40% less than that homes twin sold for early last year.

In this environment, if you can't beat them, join them. Pricing a home aggressively when it hits the market is the only way to get buyers to pay attention. This is unwelcome news to those that put little or no money down on their condos and are now trying to sell. For these folks a short sale may be the best option for getting the property sold with the least impact to their credit scores.

For others that made more substantial down payments and want to sell, it may be time to bite the bullet and take the loss on what is already a depreciated asset. The bright side is that there is now an opportunity to purchase and take advantage of market declines and trade up.

No matter what your individual situation may be, I am happy to talk to you about marketing, selling and buying in our ever-changing real estate market. These are challenging times but we get to weather the storm in one of the most beautiful places in the world. That's a competition that all San Franciscans win.