A good question for a local realtor.

Brian A.
I'd rather be cycling.

Nope. Folks are pretty pessimistic on the real estate market right now and are more willing to list at a lower price and are more willing to reduce prices more quickly if the property isn't moving. It's a challenging market and that's why it's important to work with a qualified Realtor and mortgage lender to help guild you through this process. (Shameless Realtor plug)

Bottom line, I won't list a home at an unrealistically high price. An overpriced home is not going to sell and it's just wasting the homeowners' time and our marketing budget.

I do quick reviews of homes for sale in the area fairly often. I haven't seem much change in home prices for South Knoxville (37920 zip code) or Alcoa.

It still amazes me how a house we sold in 1994 for $40,000 in the Island Home area of South Knoxville sold for $82,000 in 2005. That's some appreciation!

As a realtor, I think it's ironic that this article quotes a Zillow spokesperson talking about homewoners not being in touch with reality when it comes to pricing their homes, since many sellers get their unrealistic listing prices from Zillow in the first place, but oh well...

Personally, I see too many people approach pricing from the viewpoint of, "Ok, we want/need to get X dollars from the sale of our home, so this is what the price has to be." And I understand that, but unfortunately, the market doesn't really care what someone wants or needs to net from their home sale, especially right now. It's harsh, but it's true.

Having said all of that, I definitely think sellers are finally starting to wake up and smell the buyer's market coffee. I'm seeing more realistic initial pricing, more price reductions when a property isn't showing/selling, and more flexibility with contract terms.

Last time I checked Zillow it showed our house at about half of what what we could get about one hour after putting out a FSBO sign. So, yeah, it's not very realistic.

You can't guesstimate values based on comps by zip code or radius. It has to be a subjective evaluation by eyeballs who know the area. Like a realtor with access to the full MLS data, or consumers who keep up with sales and know how to mine the property tax records and make some SWAGs.

Also, asking price != sales prices, so you can't even go by current realtor.com listings in the same neighborhood.

EDIT: Just checked, and it's better but still about 30% low on ours. It's WAY off on a custom-built builder-occupied house for sale next door. Of course, it ain't selling because he probably overbuilt at the height of irrational exuberance.

Just checked my parents' house. Zillow is in the ballpark, maybe slightly low, perhaps adjusted for the current buyer's market. It's an older, more established and stable neighborhood, though, and they show better comps (because there ain't much else around). Go figure.

I am close-in with river view and private river access and they don't seem to factor that into their equasion. They use the house size in the same zip code for the comparables.

My dirt value is what they have my place valued for. But that is okay, I am not going anywhere.

It sure hit me when my ARM loan payment went way up and they would not re-finance because it was worth less than what was owed on it after putting 12k down three years earlier. It sure hits home when you are losing your home by doing a short-sale and renting a crappy rental house with no relief in sight.

I was ahead of the curve on this CountryWide home loan ARM scam, so it looks like no help for me in this bail-out package as well. Thanks corporate America, you sure need my taxation help, don't ya?

I also grow weary of hearing from wingnuts how people had gotten loans that had no business trying to buy a house. I say, if you want a nation of non-ownership, you are well on your way to having one. Republicans calling Democrats socialist, what a joke! After enacting the largest Federalization of the banking and insurance corporations from a Republican cabinet and President.

I have reformulated my version of the American dream to not own a damn thing, be out of the threat of litigation by being "worthless" and use Federal Prision system for my retirement plan...the new America.

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Trying to not make matters worse.