The Most Important Things You Need to Do Before You Put Your Home on the Market

If you are considering putting your house on the market in this economy, before you do, there are four things you should know...

Timing

Well, we all know that timing is a crucial factor in any part of life but right now the timing point that I want to get across is that it is not a good time to sell a house unless you're absolutely serious about doing so - in other words, you have to do it, or you're re-locating and there is no chance of you renting the house. This is just not a good time to sell a house.

Price

Price is absolutely crucial because we're competing with distressed properties. Banks are reducing the price 10-30 percent across the board. How do you compete with that as a homeowner? You can't do it; so it's really crucial. And don't play games with pricing. You have to be priced correctly or it's going to sit there; and priced pretty low, in reality.

I'm out there showing property all the time and I see people who don't have a chance of selling in today's market. They might as well go buy a lottery ticket; there's just no chance.

Showings

Showings are crucial. You know, you only have so many in today's economy because there's limited number of buyers, so make sure that every chance your home has to show, that it shows its absolute best. Remember to make it look like that model home. Buyers are very unforgiving right now. You don't have a second chance to make that first impression; it's absolutely crucial.

Photographs

It is also critical for the pictures you put on the internet or in any of the marketing you do for your home.

I was at an appointment the other day and the lady has a $500,000 home. I said something about the pictures that the prior realtor had taken and she said, "Well he took them with his phone." I thought. "Oh my goodness, there's just no chance of her selling her home." And she wondered why nobody came to look at it - it looked terrible. So remember the picture of your home is kind of like the headline for a sales letter. It needs to attract the interest of your potential buyers to do further research. That research should hopefully include looking at your home and then starting negotiations.

It is really important to pay close attention to these ideas before you put your home on the market.