Selling a home in today's market

Seller's in today's market have challenges.  The biggest one in central Indiana is competing with bank owned homes or short sales.  If you are a seller, I know what you're thinking:  the foreclosures are torn up and not like my house at all!  While it is true that many bank owned homes are in terrible shape, not all of them are.  I've seen some that were in very good condition.  However, condition alone doesn't determine value.   Appraisers do, and they will put a value on a house, based on comparable sales.  Appraisers have certain guidelines they must abide by.  One is the timeliness of the comparable sale.  If a sale is over 12 months old (some banks want 6 months or less), it is not considered an accurate reflection of value in today's market.  So, your neighbor's house that is like yours that sold for a good price in the spring of 2009 won't be acceptable as a comparable sale.  Sometimes, the bank owned homes are the most recent, and/or the only comparable's the appraiser can find, especially when dealing with unique properties.