What is the best strategy to get the best possible price?

Well, that's an art that's a good portion of my entire job, so it's a little tough to boil down, but roughly, you want to first know what your condo is "worth." You determine that by looking at recently sold comparables (and being honest with yourself about where yours stacks up), and then looking at what's on the market and making sure that you look good in comparison.

Those two things are sort of a matrix, because obviously if all of your competition is 50% overpriced and you come in 10% lower, a buyer is still not going to jump on your listing.

Once you know what your clearance price is (roughly) you decide how quickly you need to reach it, and that helps drive the tactics of how to get to your price. If you can wait eight months for your buyer, you stage it, market the heck out of it, and sift buyers. If you need to get out quicker, you might chop your initial asking a little lower to quickly "grab" someone.

Does that help?

ali r.
{downtown broker}

Hurry up.

This may sound counterintuitive, but I'd price it below that of the competitition.

Get a head of the downturn in prices which is likely to accelerate sell into 2010. Whatever you do, don't let it sit for long on the market.

Thereafter, do all the other traditional things that make sense to attract a buyer. Staging is important. Get rid of clutter. Go with neutral paint tones, etc.

It might not hurt to first try a For-Sale-By-Owner strategy in which both the buyer and seller come out as winners. (That's how I bought my Connecticut place - a classic win-win.) If that doesn't work, interview a bunch of possible brokers. You might want to consider some of the smart and thoughtful brokers who post on this site. (I am not a broker!) Ask them what their marketing strategy would be. How many open-houses will they commit to? How long must I commit to them as brokers? Let them compete for your business. Commissions could be part of that - but I'm generally more interested in getting value rather than just price when it comes to such services. It's a tough market and I want a broker well incented to jump through hoops for me.

Good luck!

The 6% broker commission seems like an incredibly high transaction cost now that I am already loosing so much on the downturn in the market. Do you know if any brokers do it for less?

All brokerage commissions are negotiable; when you have a broker come talk to you about selling your apartment, it's fair to ask them what they will do to sell it and how much they will charge for that.

ali r.
{downtown broker}