My home sale story:
When I put my beloved Old Town Alexandria home up for sale, my realtor, a bright woman who I respected, recommended that I list it at the price I wanted to receive -- no higher -- and let it get bid up. I objected. The market had plunged a year before and was still iffy, even for prime real estate, which this was. My strategy was to price it 10% higher, and be prepared to sell at my desired price. She didn't agree, but I found her approach too risky and prevailed. As it turned out, the buyers were both tax attorneys who didn't believe in overpaying for anything, and one of whom seemed to think he was pretty smart, despite being a first-time buyer and making some obvious mistakes. They offered me 10% less than asking price, plus a couple conditions. I accepted, but could have done without his demands, which would have been met anyway. I felt like telling him that there's no need to go into attack mode -- just communicate your needs and we'll try to oblige. Perhaps he felt he needed to show us how smart he was. I was glad I stuck to my original approach; there were no other offers.
