Let's say our market analysis shows your house is worth $350K... and you'd be happy to sell your house for $350K... but you'd be THRILLED to sell your house for $360K.

What is your best path towards actually selling your house for $360,000?

The answer is almost always C... both on multiple choice tests (don't they say that?) and in my theoretical question above.

Here's how things might play out at each list price...

It might seem like pricing your home at $365K - slightly above where you'd be thrilled to end up ($360K) is the best way to get to $360K... but... it might very well backfire.  

Plenty of buyers will potentially walk through and conclude that your home is worth $350K (like our market analysis indicated) and then decide not to make an offer since you priced your home at $365K.

After all... if your home is priced at $365K and they think it's worth $350K... they might feel the need to make an offer of $340K (or so) to try to talk you down to $350K.  And what buyer would make an offer of $340K on a house listed for $365K in the first few days it is on the market?

This strategy could work... a smidge below your really thrilling goal of a sales price of $360,000.  But... the same logic above applies here too... a buyer who thinks your house is worth $350K might feel like they need to make an unrealistically low offer to try to get you down to $350K... and thus might not make an offer at all.

In theory, every buyer who likes your house, who thinks it is priced appropriately and reasonably at $349,900 will want to make an offer.

Furthermore, some of those buyers may very well decide they would be willing to pay a bit ($5K to $10K?) above your asking price if there are multiple offers.

Keep in mind... this pricing strategy doesn't always work for every property in every price point in every location... but pricing your home reasonably is often your best strategy for selling your house for more than that list price.