1.  If the property has been on the market for a while, the Seller will negotiate price.  There are many reasons a property may have been on the market for awhile.  Maybe the Sellers had an offer that fell through because the Buyer couldn't qualify, possibly the property was listed at a higher price initially and after several days on the market the Sellers reduced their price, or maybe the Seller had an emergency and the property couldn't be shown for several days.  Just because a property has been on the market for more than the average number of days, does not mean the Seller will negotiate their listed price. 

2.  If I make an offer, the Seller can't sell to anyone else while I am negotiating with him and/or the Seller must address my offer first if I was the first one to submit an offer.  Neither of these is true.  Up until the Buyer and the Seller have come to an Agreement (fully accepted offer), the Seller can choose to accept a different offer and stop negotiating with you.  Additionally, if more than one offer is presented to the Seller, the Seller can choose to accept either offer without notifying both Buyers that more than one offer was received.  The thing to remember is that all offers must be presented to the Seller regardless of whether the Seller is currently negotiating an offer or not.  Then it's the Seller's decision as to how they would like to proceed and negotiate with the Buyers. 

3.  A full price offer can't be rejected by the Seller.  Yes, a Seller can reject a full price offer.  There are several other terms to an offer other than just price.  The Seller does not have to accept any offer, even full price offers. 

4.  Discount Brokers or F. S. B. O. save Sellers money.  Not true according to The National Association of REALTORS (N. A. R.) statistics.  N. A. R. indicates that Sellers end up with a much higher sales price when using a full service REALTOR, up to 10% more on average. 

5.  Assessed Value is Market Value.  Unfortunately, this is not true either.  Assessed values rarely accurately depict actual market values.  In fact, I have seen as much as a 15% difference between assessed value and market value in Girdwood.  If you want to know what the market value is of your home, give me a call or send me an e-mail.  It would be my pleasure to provide you with recent sold and pending comparable sales. 

Enjoy your weekend!