Real estate agents are quite fond of the philosophy that "price conquers all," meaning that if you price a listing low enough, it will sell regardless of the challenges the property presents.

Fair enough.

But, so what? Is that our job as professional real estate agents to simply recommend a price low enough that any piece of junk will sell? Or, rather, is it to help our sellers get the highest possible price in the shortest possible time, whatever a realistic price and time may be? If our job is to simply sell it fast, at any price, well, shoot, just about any idiot can give their property away! Isn't that why homesellers hire us in the first place, to do a better job for them than they can do for themselves?

Real estate agents are always bragging about their listing expertise and defending their commissions by claiming they more than earn their fee. However, if the only solution we offer our sellers is to price aggressively, then where exactly did we earn that fee?

There ARE other things a seller can do to maximize his sales price, and it's our job to

1. know what those things are, and

2. be willing to share those secrets with a seller, and

3. help the seller accomplish those things.

What if you went to your doctor with a pain in your leg and the only solution he offered was to cut off the offending appendage? Yes, that would cure the pain in your leg, but maybe there's a better way that involves a little more effort on his part (and yours). Or, if your plumber simply removed the toilet that wasn't flushing instead of figuring out how to repair it?

Of course, if I request that the doctor amputate my leg, or that the plumber tear out my toilet, or that my Realtor simply give my house away, well, then, they have my blessing. But in most cases, c'mon, our clients deserve a little more effort and expertise than that, don't they?

Price is important. However, if we keep preaching that "Price is the ANSWER!" to the exclusion of any other effort on our part, we may end up preaching ourselves out of a job.