……Slaughtered. I first heard this expression when I was practicing law. I must’ve found it to be quite catchy because I still remember it. Basically, it means that you shouldn’t be TOO greedy. It’s okay to get your share and probably okay to get a little more than your share, but if you try to get too much, you’ll risk losing it all. Why am I bringing this up now? Because it’s been coming to mind with increasing frequency lately. The way the real estate market has been in central Toronto recently, it’s not uncommon to hear that your neighbours had a bidding war on their home and sold it for a gazillion dollars. When it comes time to sell your home, it’s natural for you to want the same thing. However, you have to be realistic and understand that not everyone wins the lottery. Some sellers don’t realize this and are either pricing their homes out of the market to begin with or refusing excellent offers because they hope to get a higher price. In both instances, their homes are languishing on the market and could quite possibly end up selling for far less than they would have if the sellers had acted reasonably from the start. My advice: hope for the absolute best outcome possible to create as much good karma as you can, but remain reasonable. It’s much better to get fat and live to tell about it than it is to face the alternative.