The Wall Street Journal has this report on home pricing strategies. "Now that the market has grown uncertain, homeowners are at more of a loss when deciding what price tag to put on their property. Some sellers are experimenting with non-traditional strategies for setting prices."

"When Eleanor and Simon Golledge put their Bradbury, Calif., home on the market in April. Instead of naming a price, the Golledges (who are selling the home without an agent) settled on an asking range. On a for-sale-by-owner Web site, they say they will 'entertain offers' from $1.198 million to $1.298 million."

"It almost worked. The couple, who paid $770,000 for the house two years ago, has received three offers near or below the low end of the range. They accepted the highest, for $1.2 million, but it fell through on a seller's contingency. They're hoping for another offer that's closer to their high number."

"Two weeks ago, Rita and Daniel Davis put their three-bedroom Craftsman bungalow in Minneapolis on the market for $284,900. A week later, the price tag was $279,900. Cutting the price is common practice,- just not so quickly. The fast drop wasn't due to unfamiliarity with the market. Before they listed their house, the couple had visited seven others for sale nearby. They discovered that many were similar to theirs, and worse, there was something for sale on every block."

"By cutting their price within days, the couple hopes to send a message that they're flexible. 'We're between a rock and a hard place,' says Ms. Davis."

"In February, Jonathan Hinkle put his five-bedroom home in Lansdowne, Va., on the market for $1.35 million. He purposely set it high and cut the number by $50,000 a few weeks later, and continued dropping it by $50,000 every few weeks until it reached $1.05 million. Mr. Hinkle, who bought the house two years ago, says that's close to the lowest price at which he can afford to sell."

"He says he didn't get any serious shoppers until the price fell to $1.1 million. However, all were lured away by nearby builders, who recently began underwriting closing costs, buying down mortgage rates and giving away such things as $500 gasoline cards and three years' worth of paid electric bills."

"Cincinnati professor John Bryan tried to price his home carefully. He bought a new five-bedroom home in January. He finally set the price at $324,000. He received one contract, for $307,000, but that fell through. He has just lowered the price to $299,900, even though he may lose money on the deal after closing costs and commissions. (He bought at $250,000 in 1998 and added $56,000 in renovations.) He hopes the new price will bring his listing to the attention of a new group of Internet shoppers."

"Mr. Bryan says he is disappointed that he had to drop the price so low, but he thought it was the best solution. 'I'm trying to break a psychological barrier,' he says."