Extraordinary delusions and the madness of crowds

I saw a local builder quoted in one of our weekly rags recently, pointing to his unsold new construction in Riverside as evidence of a slow (or dead) market. Usually, he claimed, his houses sold immediately but this one had sat on the market for ten months. Proof, he says, that the market's screwing him.

I like this guy and wish him only the best but the fact is that he over-priced his project originally and even a year and ten months ago, it wouldn't have sold where he wanted it to. I sold two new houses in Riverside this year, each in what I (and the market) felt was a better location and each substantially cheaper than this one (but over $3,000,000, lest you think we're comparing apples to oranges here).

So yes, the market's in the doldrums, but before you leave your house priced where it is and throw your hands up, a victim of impossible circumstances beyond your control, consider the possibility that you muffed up when you set your price.