Selling a Home in a Cooling Market

A drop-off in buyer demand and rising home inventories has made marketing a home more difficult. RealEstateJournal.com, The Wall Street Journal's guide to property, offers the following tips:

1. Size up the playing field. Study your local market and investigate other homes' listing prices compared to what buyers are actually paying.

2. Price competitively. Price a residence just below what the market will bear. If a home is overpriced, a buyer will dismiss it and move on to the next one.

3. Do your legwork. Use aggressive marketing.

4. Don't delay. Point out to a seller that even if an offer isn’t all he had hoped, taking it instead of waiting for a better deal can save money in the long run.

5. Negotiate. Recommend that sellers offer concessions to potential buyers, such as making minor fixes. Small expenditures speed a sale and, ultimately, preserve price gains.