When selling a house the quickest way to achieve disappointing results is to relinquish all responsibility by turning all tasks over to a real estate agent while you sit on the sidelines awaiting receipt of your check. “Don’t you worry about a thing” should come as a warning. The fact of the matter is you should worry about everything when it comes to selling your house, it’s most likely your largest asset.

The point of this brief piece is to help you take control when selling your house in order to maximize your return and to do it in the shortest time possible.

When selling your house, planning is the key, you should begin by informing yourself by gathering real estate and house selling information on the Internet. It’s where 70% of both buyers and sellers begin. It’s a library right at your fingertips and it’s open 24/7. ForSaleByOwner.com is a great place to start.

Part of both the planning and home sale process is developing a checklist to guide your efforts.

Here are items that should be on your list:

• Determine how soon you want or need to sell your present home. Timing allows or limits your options.

• Start Looking for Your Next home. Indeed, it’s difficult to juggle selling and buying at the same time but wouldn’t the ideal be selling your “old” house and closing and moving into your “new” house shortly thereafter? Once your home is sold, you – then - may feel pressured to buy too high and too quickly in order to “get a roof over your family’s heads”. Don’t get trapped into a “sell low, buy high” situation.

• Survey your Home in order to Identify and Quantify problems. A professional appraisal is a quick way to survey your house after which, you can determine where you may have potential problems and what items you must fix in order to get your price. Then, set your price.
  • Write down what about your house can use some fixing to raise the perceived value
  • Also write down what will remain “as is” because some of these items may be subject to disclosure rules
  • Remember that a Home Warranty will cover questionable items and can save you countless unnecessary replacement costs (see article on Home Warranties)

• Set your Home Selling Price. Price is determined by the neighborhood, the current real estate marketplace, the available time you have to sell, the work you put into fix-up and marketing.
  • Figure out the net results of your sale carefully after all fees and costs are considered
  • After thorough calculations, you may want to go back and adjust the original price

• Get Your House Ready for Showing. Make sure that you address everything that will be seen right from the street because first impressions count and can alter or enhance the entire showing.

• Get Rid of Clutter. Determine what will go to your next home and what will stay with the “old”. Get rid of everything else.

• Develop a House Selling Plan. This includes advertising both in classifieds and on the Internet. Lawn and directional signs are very important and For Sale By Owner signs happen to be the most effective (See Signs). You may want to use MLS, which can normally be purchased without having to retain a selling agent (See Flat Fee MLS). Don’t forget relatives, neighbors and business associates who may be able to provide introductions to potential buyers. “Why would you pay a 6% commission to an agent to sell your house to your cousin neighbors or friends? Creating a Great Sales Flyer for help with writing memorable and effective handouts and home selling flyers.

• Be Prepared for Negotiations. Remember, if you want your price, you must hold your ground. Everyone except you makes out if you give in. Just remember, more than 1,000,000 homes were sold by their owners in 2004 and generally higher prices than they would have received if they listened to an agent. Practice handling objections and questions. (see negotiating the sale of your home)

• Be prepared at Closing and Settlement. The house selling process is done at this point so be prepared for the necessary paperwork, which can take the fun out of the sale for all parties.

There will be other specific items, which you may want to add to this list. Write them down and review your list often.

The better you prepare and follow your plans the better the probability of success.