Pricing your home properly is possibly the most important thing you can do to sell it quickly and easily. Overpricing is one of the most frequent reasons sellers fail.

There are many tools and methods to help you price your home: The common means of valuing real estate for all appraisers, lenders and real estate agents is to base the value on comparables, also called comps. The best comps are similar homes that have sold in the immediate area within the past six months. The comps will be assessed for their location, condition and features as compared to your house.

Although appraisals are based on SOLD comps, it is useful to see what is for sale now to get a sense of the current real estate market. For instance, if listing prices are lower than what you think your home is worth, that is an indication that house prices may be falling your area. Conversely, if listing prices are higher than the sold comps indicate, that is an indication of prices moving upward.

Unless you are in a very active market (houses sell within two weeks), you should assume that you will get an offer for less than your asking price. Generally speaking, most houses sell within 10% of a reasonable asking price. Set your price at the high end of the reasonable range if your house is in excellent condition compared to other houses for sale in your area and/or the market is fast. Set your price at the lower end of the reasonable range if your house needs work, doesn't show as well as it could, or the market is slow.