The other day I was jogging with a friend of mine who is a Realtor.  He told me a story about a lady who sold her home the first day it was on the market in a buyers market.

My friend was in line at a local bank.  He started conversing with the lady in back of him.  When he mentioned he was in real estate, she told him about her property that had just expired in a city that was about 100 miles away.  She asked if he could help.  He said he could, and wrote down her contact info.

When my friend got back to his office he called an agent in that area and referred the client to the local expert.  The home was listed the next day and sold the first day it was on the market.

What lessons can learned from this true, touching tale?  First, my friend had the courage to converse with the lady in the bank line.  He introduced real estate into their conversation.  Second, he was proactive in offering to help with a referral.

A pundit once said it's always better to be the first child, the second wife, and the third real estate agent in a soft market.  This sarcastic but accurate comment means sometimes the student isn't ready for the teacher to appear.  Sometimes the seller isn't serious about selling.  Sometimes the seller is not listening to their listing agent, buyer comments, competition, and comps.

Why did this property sell in the first day it was on the market?  Because, the seller became serious about selling, and put an aggressive price on the property.  The seller listened to the second agent, and realized something is only worth what someone is willing to pay.  Professionals use and listen to professionals.  They divorce their pride, ego, and greed from the pricing process.

Our lady at the bank willing to 'put her money where her mouth was' (pun intended).  Many sellers can sell quickly if they realize that pricing is a process, and their property may not be the bank vault they thought it was.