The seller’s market is over and now that it is time for the buyer’s to gloat, do you really need to sell in the first place? A few years ago, so many were putting their homes on the market at ourtrageous prices just to take advantage of the upswing in real estate and the consequent profit they could make on their home. Those days are gone and selling your house today yields little to no profit, and perhaps even a loss, so make sure this is the time to sell for you.

If you have no choice in the decision because you have a new job in a distant area, or a growing family necessitates a larger home, make sure you go about the sales process very carefully. If you don’t have to sell now, put the decision off. The real estate market moves in cycles and improved prices will come back, if you have the patience to wait.

But if you do have to sell, the first decision you have to have is whether to sell with or without an agent. FSBO, for sale by owner, houses are becoming more and more common as today’s high home prices make real estate commissions of 5 or 6% seem exorbitant. Commissions of five or six percent have been known in the past, and agents feel they earn it because they have to devote so much work into a sale. Unless you are able to put the same effort into the sale, you may wind up waiting a long time for the sale. Plus, in today’s competitive real estate market, many realtors are open to negotiating their commissions.

Your choice of broker is important. Search all the recent local sales, and see which agents are responsible for the majority of them. Then see which ones have the shortest time between listing and sale.

After you found a super agent, stick to her like glue. Be in touch often about the wants of buyers, and ask when your home will be shown. You will be the one on her mind when a prospective buyer calls her. Make sure you are always available to show the house, or use a lock box. You do not want to take the chance that a buyer bought another house because yours could not be viewed.

Prepare, prepare, prepare. This is an important, expensive project. Attend to any little issues, and even consider hiring a home inspector to make sure there are no hidden ones; you can be sure your buyer will hire one and if he finds something you didn’t disclose, there goes the sale. Maintain the house clean, neat, uncluttered and remember the very important curb appeal. Keep the lawn mowed, bushes trimmed and be sure there are no broken steps, crumbly concrete or other signs of neglect. Many’s the occasion that a buyer simply told the realtor to skip the house when the outside appearance looked shabby.

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