Northern Colorado, Fort Collins. Demand is high, inventory very low. Basic economics, prices go up and rational and logical thinking seem to go out the window, for the most part. History repeats itself, once more. Home sellers looking to make huge profits, buyers agonizing and stressing over affordability and forced limited choices. We as real estate agents play, or should play one of the most important roles on the front line of any market, no matter what the condition. But is seems more often than not, it is not the case. A neighbor recently listed their property with an agent who is a friend of the family. I comp out the properties in my neighborhood and the region, along with national trends regularly to keep a pulse on what the market is doing. Case and point, I saw the last real estate melt down start in 2005 in Florida. It took a couple years to move west. I digressed. Back to my neighbor. I shook my head in disbelief as he told me what his agent’s opinion was to the property value. I can see in a way how the agent arrived at that figure, but in my opinion using limited information to get an unrealistic number. I respectfully gave him my opinion and his response was, “My agent has been doing this a long time.” What does that really mean? There the property sits. And will until it is adjusted to a realistic price point. To throw a number out there just to see “who bites” is not the best plan of action. Regrettably, one of the poorest. It can also happen when owners are adamant about what they want their properties priced at, despite all the data you present. Ultimately, we have to do what our clients direct us to do. It is my experience, if a property is priced right in the onset, and it is well maintained, in a good location, the large group (in these market conditions) looking for that type of property will bid it up. On an average, those types of properties are selling for between $5000 to $10,000 over list price. Fifty percent of selling a property is getting as close to the market value of what it is worth. The rapid and drastic increase in home prices adds more to the logistics end of the deal when it comes to appraisals and loans. Until the inventory catches up with demand, this trend will stay the course for the foreseeable future.