When selling your property, other houses or apartments in a similar price range are your direct competition

Therefore it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of what else is available at the time in order to ascertain an objective indication of what price you might be able to achieve.

An agent should provide you with a list of recent sales in your area, as well as a list of those properties similar to yours that are currently on the market.

Interest in a property peaks when it first becomes available - so a good agent will have already lined up a pool of genuine buyers who are knowledgeable about prices in the area and eager to buy.

If you ignore market trends and price the property too high, prospective buyers may expect too much for their dollar and you will have unwittingly lost the positive impact of the initial exposure.

Although buyers will often spend slightly more than they originally anticipated if they find their dream home, it is unwise for sellers to drive away genuine buyers by being overly ambitious.

Unfortunately, the longer your property stays on the market the more 'stale' it becomes - buyers tend to associate an extended period of availability as a sign that something is wrong with the property.