1) Get professional advice. Use local real estate agents for a free home appraisal to find out the value of your properties. This is a free service with no obligation; You do not have to access your home or use your services.

2) Invest in your Home. You should receive very good feedback from real estate agents and their valuations. Ask them what you can do to increase the value of your home.

3) Do market research. Read the newspaper, shop for real estate magazines in your local area, and go to open houses within a 5-7 block radius. Talk to other sellers in your area. Compare and contrast your home and prices based on your findings. There are many free internet resources available where you can find out some interesting facts about recently sold homes in your neighborhood.

4) Sale Price. Pricing your home based on the facts, rather than its emotional value, is essential to a successful home sale.

5) Set a realistic time frame. Manage your expectations. Look at the various factors of how the market can affect how long your home stays on the market. Factors that can affect this range from the supply of similar homes for sale in your neighborhood to the time it takes to sell the average home.

6) Organize your home. Tidy up the clutter, work on curb appeal, clean up trash, paint outside if needed, replace worn carpet and repair broken fixtures. Arrange your furniture like a model home or furniture store. Make it cozy yet attractive and clean. Allow potential buyers to see how the space will work for them.

7) Marketing is key. All of the above steps only kick in if people know your house is for sale! Attract potential buyers. There are so many different types of advertising. One that is really effective is listing your property on your local Multiple Listing Service, which allows your home to be listed in the Homes For Sale database that Real Estate Agents use when searching for properties for their buyers. You have to be here. There are many Internet listing services that offer packages that include this service. Only a licensed real estate agent can list properties for sale here, but you can do so with a fixed fee service from MLS or another Internet listing site. I will visit this further as this step is very important.

8) Have open days. Having baked cookies… cliché… yes! But it works, people relate to smells, they have tempting smells. It goes without saying, but clean up and make sure your home is organized. Everything mentioned in Step 6!

9) Have forms available. You should always have forms for potential buyers’ contact information to make it easy to track and trace your advertising. Have easy-to-carry brochures of your home with your contact information and property details. Have resources available to qualify a buyer. You will need contracts. When “closing the deal”, you’ll want to seek professional help here.

10) Don’t forget. A typical sale involves:

• a home inspection,

• an appraisal,

• a poll,

• a title search,

• a termite test,

• underwriting and approval of loans,

• deadline,

• Show me the money!