Prepare your home to sell How's your Curb Appeal? Paint the front door and anywhere else that needs it Remove Clutter - Have a garage sale and haul away what's leftover. Repair visible damage Tidy-up your landscaping and remove any eye-sores. Sweep the front steps and entryway. Be aware of the curb appeal of the homes in your neighborhood. Be aware of which days of the week, the neighborhood has less desirable appearances (example: trash pickup day) Interior Get rid of clutter in hiding spots! People will look behind your doors, in closets and crawl spaces. Throw away dead plants. Correct any cosmetic flaws. Re-grout tile walls and floors. Replace dated faucets, light fixtures, and the handles and knobs on your kitchen cabinets. Pack anything you won't use between now and moving day. Store the boxes away from high traffic areas. Deep Clean Carpets or replace worn out carpet. Clean surface floors to a shine. Be sure to Stage your home. This is a proven technique which will sell your home faster and bring in more money for your home. Don't start any major renovations during the middle of selling your home. What may seem like a simple home project could turn into a nightmare. And potential buyers will be turned off by the utter chaos your home may seem to be in at that moment.

Don't start renovations while you are selling your home! While selling my last home, I was preparing for the first Open House. I ran a newspaper classified ad. The house was cleaned spotless. I went to Home Depot to buy the directional signs, light bulbs and air fresheners. I returned to the house, walked in the door and to my shock... my husband had the Master Bathroom torn completely apart! Dust, dirt and pieces of water-damaged floor tile were everywhere! He said he felt the house would not sell with those old floor tiles and didn't realize the floor underneath was damaged. He said he would have the bathroom back together in a couple of days... The Open House continued as planned because I had advertised it in the paper. One woman who actually liked the home, froze solid in disgust when we reached the master bathroom and there was hubby sitting on the floor prying up the toilet. She practically ran out of the house! He did manage to finish the bathroom in about a week and it did look beautiful afterwards, but the timing was really bad and could have cost a serious buyer.

Sell! Sell! Sell!

• Get rid of those antiques and collectibles that are packed away.
• Find a new home for those clothes, bikes and toys the kids have long outgrown.
• Participate in your neighborhood's annual garage sale.
• Sell on Ebay! You'd be surprised how much cash you can make selling your stuff on Ebay.

Brighten the environment

• Clean the windows and other glass.
• Paint rooms that need it.
• Polish fixtures.
• While selling, switch low watt bulbs to high watt and turn on all lights even for daytime showings.
• Keep kitchen sparkling. Keep counters clutter-free.

Don't move completely out

• Statistics show that vacant homes are harder to sell. They lack warmth and hominess are un-inviting.
• You're sending the message to the buyer that you have another home (and probably mortgage) and are motivated to sell fast. This gives the buyer an advantage at the negotiating table.
• On the other hand, too much furniture looks very cluttered and makes rooms appear smaller. So find that happy medium that looks pleasing.
• Find a happy medium that looks pleasing such as Staging your home.

Avoid Controversy

• Take the deer heads off the walls
• Do you have books, magazines or artwork that may be considered controversial or provocative to others? These things can turn off buyers and send them out the door.

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Author, Dan Auito

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(Mispelled words: fbso, for seal by ownr, ownr, hose for sale, sel yur hom, ownet)