Introducing The Real Estate Deal, a blog on all things housing around the Sound

Some friends think I'm nuts. They don't understand my obsession with real estate.

Others, however, love sharing their buying and selling woes and getting free advice from me.

The reason for my passion: My husband and I lost about $12,000 on the sale of our first home. We did everything wrong in selling it, and I vowed never to repeat those mistakes.

I boned up — read newspapers, hoarded books, went to open houses, talked with agents and lenders. I learned a great deal and found a passion in the process.

Lots of people are avidly interested in real estate — buyers and sellers, owners and wannabes, investors and market voyeurs. But it's tough to make sense of it all.

That's where my blog, The Real Estate Deal, comes in. I'll decipher real-estate issues and post news, tips and nifty tidbits from around Puget Sound. And I want to hear from you. What are you seeing in your neighborhood? What are you curious about? What doesn't make sense to you?

Take this weird real-estate market we have now. Why, for example, are prices rising in the Seattle area while sales are plummeting? The explanation from industry experts is that sellers won't lower their prices.

In a market like this, that's crazy. This is a buyers' market, so buyers call the shots.

I often hear, "My house is worth more than that." Actually, it's worth what someone will pay for it; and if no one will pay what you want, then your asking price is too high. No amount of emotional attachment (yours) to the place is going to change that.

Potential buyers can afford to be finicky these days. There are thousands of home for sale right now, and even those who love a house can fall just as quickly for another with a lower price tag.

This leaves you three choices: Lower the price; wait months for the perfect buyer; or take the home off the market.

Just so you know, I speak from experience. When we put our first house in South Florida on the market in 1995, we were attached to it and to the asking price.

For our three-bedroom, two-bath house with a master bath larger than the kitchen, we wanted $129,950.

It sold for $117,500, about $4,000 less than we'd paid for it two years earlier. If you count the $8,000 in improvements — fencing, blinds, ceramic tile, landscaping and appliances that stayed with the house — we lost about $12,000.

And we couldn't really blame anyone. In a buyers' market, sellers' mistakes can be more costly than ever. We learned the hard way.

Here are a few tips to help you avoid our mistakes and get the most for your house:

• Put your home on the market early. Don't wait until you've found a new place to live. It is likely to take time to complete a sale, but it shouldn't take you as long to find a new place.

• Interview at least three agents. Hire one who knows the market in your area, not one you'd like to invite to dinner.

• Stage the home. Your place will look like it came out of House Beautiful. What buyer could resist that? If you have to move before it sells, staging will make it look like you still live there (only better).

• Be realistic about what your home is worth. Check Zillow.com, then recent comps so you don't price yourself out of the market.

• Talk with your agent about whom your potential buyers might be. Would your home appeal more to first-time buyers? Young families? Empty nesters? Consider what they might be willing and able to pay before you agree on an asking price.

See what I mean about free advice?

Cindy Zetts: 206-464-2027 or czetts@seattletimes.com

To read and contribute to Cindy Zetts' new real-estate blog, go to seattletimes.com/therealestatedeal