"All you can do in a falling market, if you have to sell, is have the best possible product out there at the price it should be," says Diane Saatchi, an agent with Corcoran Group in East Hampton, N.Y. "Not what you wish you could get, not what the neighbor got two years ago, but at the price you should get now. That's the reality."

It takes discipline to face that reality. Humility, too. For many sellers, "the only disappointment is that their friend, six months or a year ago, got more than they're getting," says Bill Christiano, a loan officer with MortgageIT in White Plains, N.Y. "Ego gets in the way when they're trying to sell. Or stubbornness, I should say."

Put on your shopping shoes and look at everything from a buyer's viewpoint. "Get out in the car and spend a weekend looking at everything you can," Razzi says. "Visit some weekend open houses. Just get a feel for what your buyers are looking at."

Visit newly built houses and find out which amenities and incentives builders are offering. Eavesdrop on other visitors to open houses to find out if there's something in particular they're looking for -- something you should do to make your house more presentable.