Todd Tucker is the managing broker/senior vice president of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties.

Every week, we ask a real estate professional for their Short List, a collection of tips and recommendations on an essential topic in real estate. This week, we talked with Todd Tucker, the managing broker/senior vice president with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties.

Pricing strategy is sometimes approached the wrong way when talking with clients. There is usually the price the seller client would like to sell the property for, the price the listing agent would like to list the property for and the price the property will actually sell for. We all know that real estate is local, and it is important to relay that to the prospective seller.

Here are a few tips:

5. Acknowledge the national news. Bring a recent article of the major publications or website and explain the difference in national data versus local data.

4. Pull regional reports and data from local banks or universities or specialized data sources to tell the story of the region. Consider the employment, education and transportation factors, as well.

3. Look at the trending data for the overall area the property resides in. What are the averages for the area – average days on the market, average months of inventory and any trending data – that tell an overview of the specific market?

2. Dig down a little deeper in the tax records or local MLS to find area comparables from the neighborhood or general area. It is always a good idea to compare similar homes in the same school district.

1. Lastly, pull the most recent sales on the street. When pricing a property, search for three comparables that have sold within 90-120 days, and three comparables that are current to the market. All six properties should be most like the subject.

I hope those tips for accurate pricing strategy will help agents generate a competitive listing price for their future listings. Happy Listing!

Todd Tucker is the managing broker/senior vice president of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties. A member of the West Georgia Board of Realtors Board of Directors, Todd was the board’s president in 2009, and is also a governor with Georgia’s Gradute Realtor Institute and an alternate trustee with Georgia Association’s RPAC Committee.

What are YOU an expert in? Take a look at our list of currently available Short List topics, and let us know what you’d like to share your thoughts on!