Make sure you feel comfortable with your Agent. Remember that your Agent will be with you throughout the home selling process. From getting your home ready for the first showing to close of escrow and beyond. All the more reason to engage an Agent you trust and that you know will be working on your behalf.

Tip No 2
DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE SETTING A PRICE
There is no standard formula to assist you in deciding on a list price for your home. It isn’t rocket science but it does require a thorough and knowledgeable understanding of current market conditions and a reasonable comparison of your home to other properties in your area. Your Real Estate Agent will do all the market research and provide you with comparables showing where your home should be priced to best meet your goals—a fast sell, maximum profit, etc.

The tricky part is arriving at a list price that will be competitive enough to encourage buyer interest. If you start out by pricing too high, you may discourage prospective buyers. Sellers often find it difficult to be objective during this process. After conferring with your Real Estate Agent on market conditions and comparable nearby sales and listings, the seller will set the listing or “asking” price for the house. A common definition of fair market value is: “What a ready, willing and able buyer will pay, at a price a seller will accept.” Buyers are sophisticated. They’ve already been shopping, and when they visit your home, they’ll be comparing features and financing. There’s a rule of thumb that says: “A house priced more than 5% over market value discourages offers.” Buyers who can afford the price can get “more house” for their money elsewhere. Buyers who cannot afford the price simply won’t look. It is said that “A house priced right is half sold.”

Tip no. 3
KNOW YOUR BOTTOM LINE
When you meet with your Real Estate Agent you should know: What is the net amount you want or need from the sale of your home? When will you be ready to vacate the property?

Tip No. 4
UNDERSTAND YOUR FINANCING CHOICES IF YOU BUY BEFORE YOU SELL
If circumstances conspire to force you into closing on your next home while you’re still making mortgage payments on the old one, you might end up turning yourself into a seller who is eager (or desperate) for the first deal that comes along. Your Real Estate Agent can assist in arranging financing that won’t “break the bank” while you are in the home selling process. A bridge loan or home to home loan may be the perfect solution but it must be arranged very early in the process of purchasing your next home.

Tip No. 5
MAXIMIZE YOUR HOME’S SALES POTENTIAL
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” You may not be able to change your home’s location or its floor plan, but you can do a lot to improve its appearance. And you should. The look and “feel” of your home generates a greater emotional response than any other factor. You may price your home to sell, but a prospective buyer reacts to what they see, hear, feel and smell.

Tip No. 6
CURB APPEAL IS IMPORTANT
Your home’s exterior is most important when it comes to buyer appeal. Buyers can “fall in love” just driving by because the property is so appealing. Buyers can “reject” a property because it is so disappointing. Welcome buyers with a groomed landscape and colorful plantings and they’ll be anxious to “come on in.”

Tip No. 7
FIX IT ALL NO MATTER HOW SMALL
The step that squeaks, the light switch that doesn’t work, the hairline crack in the bathroom mirror—they might be minor annoyances to you, but they can also be deal-breakers. Even small repairs that need to be done may cause a buyer to look for more and bigger problems that may have been neglected by the seller.

Tip No. 8
MAKE YOUR HOME SPARKLE
Pick up, straighten, scrub, scour, dust...well, you get the idea. If your home still isn’t ready to appear in House Beautiful, then clean some more. Consider hiring a professional cleaning service for a deep cleaning and perhaps retaining their services while you are on the market.

Tip No. 9
SMALL TOUCHES—BIG IMPROVEMENTS
While personal items can detract, other small touches can help make your house a home to buyers. A well-placed vase of flowers, accent pieces of sculpture, potpourri in the bathroom—all can enhance the attractiveness of your home in a subtle, soft-spoken way. Check out home magazines for more tips.

Tip No. 10
DON’T LET A SMELL BE YOUR DOWNFALL
All traces of food, pet and smoking odors must be eliminated. If a Buyer knows you smoke or that you have a pet they may start smelling odors and seeing stains that may not exist.

Tip No. 11
DECLUTTER
Almost everyone has too much “stuff.” Remove as much clutter, oversized furniture and unused items as possible. Your home will look more spacious and buyers won’t be distracted from picturing how they would live in the house.

Tip No. 12
STAGING YOUR HOME FOR SHOWINGS
Today’s buyers are looking for light, bright and well maintained homes. Before your first showing make sure you have paid attention to all the little details-curtains/drapes/blinds open, lights on, toilet seat lids down and beds made. Walk through your house as if you were the buyer. If you don’t like what you see chances are the buyers won’t either.

Tip No. 13
DISCLOSE EVERYTHING
Smart sellers proactively go above and beyond the laws to disclose all known defects to their buyers—in writing. If the buyer know about a problem, they can’t come back with a lawsuit later on.

Tip No. 14
THE MORE PROSPECTS, THE BETTER
By maximizing your home’s marketability, you’ll increase your chances of attracting more than one prospective buyer. Why is this better? Because several buyers compete with each other; a single buyer ends up competing with you. You’re proud of your home and you want buyers to like it as much as you do. Then let the buyers have the house to themselves when they come for a showing. If you are talking to them they will not be able to focus on imagining themselves and their families living in the house. Remember not everyone likes the same things so features you point out may actually be a negative to the buyer.

Tip No. 15
DON’T GET EMOTIONAL DURING NEGOTIATIONS
If you can just let go of the emotion you’ve invested in your home and approach negotiations in a detached, businesslike manner, you’ll find the process to be much smoother. In fact, you might even enjoy it—and you’ll definitely have an advantage over prospective buyers who get caught up in the emotion of purchasing.

Tip No. 16
BE PREPARED TO COUNTER A BUYERS OFFER
No matter what the buyer offers don’t get angry or feel insulted; evaluate the offer objectively. Make sure it spells out the offer price, adequate earnest money, amount of down payment, mortgage amount, a closing date and any special terms. Now you have a point from which you can negotiate. You have the option of countering the price and/or terms of any offer. You never know what a buyer will agree to until you make the counter offer. You may be pleasantly surprised at the response.

Tip No. 17
UNDERSTAND YOUR SELLING TERMS
Before you sign the Buyer’s offer make sure you understand the terms under which you are selling your home. Your Real Estate Agent will go over the offer price, earnest money deposit, closing date and other specific terms of the offer.

Once you have come to terms with the buyer make sure you understand the terms under which you sold your home. There are any number of deadlines written into the contract that both the buyer and seller must follow to maintain a valid contract of sale. The terms are equally important. For example, if you agreed to leave the chandelier in the dining room you can’t take it down or replace it without getting permission from the buyer.

Tip No. 18
KNOW WHERE BUYERS CAN GET INFORMATION ON YOUR HOME
Buyers may become aware of your home from a variety of sources: Their Agent via the multiple listing system; the internet; real estate websites; open houses; advertising and word of mouth from friends and neighbors. Make sure your Real Estate Agent subscribes to the multiple listing system and has a solid plan to maximize your home’s exposure to buyers.

Tip No. 19
PHOTOS, VIRTUAL TOURS AND FLYERS
A picture is worth a thousand words. Make sure your home is displayed with the maximum number of photos permitted on the Multiple Listing System. Buyers expect to find a Brochure Flyer at every home. Virtual tours are the way internet buyers walk around and through your home-a must in the age of electronic data. Without the photos your home will be invisible to buyers.

Tip No. 20
INSIST ON WORLD WIDE INTERNET EXPOSURE
Make sure your home will be placed on a World Wide Web site. This exposes your home to buyers around the world twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. In today’s computer driven world your home must appear on the web to be competitive.