| Selling your home
The selling process
Step 4: Marketing your property
 Preparing your home
In preparing your home for viewing by prospective buyers, remember that people buy on emotions. Your home has to feel right, or buyers will look elsewhere. Ask your REALTOR® and some honest friends to look at your home objectively and suggest ways to make your home more inviting and sellable. Consider both the exterior and interior. Since you will be appealing to buyers' feelings, you need to pay attention to detail. An extra $50 you spend on red geraniums or new bath towels might mean a significant increase in a buyer's offer.
Clean your home thoroughly and make minor repairs such as tightening towel racks and gluing wallpaper edges. For larger repairs, consult your REALTOR® as to whether repairing the item will generate a good return on the sale. Repainting the woodwork may be worth it, but replacing the carpet may not. Hire a professional inspector to examine your house for structural and mechanical defects. Get an inspection early, and you can avoid surprises.
Honesty and candor
If your home has a major problem you don't intend to correct, be candid about it. Don't paint over the water marks on the ceiling to hide a leaky roof. Buyers will find out about the problems anyway, especially if they are smart shoppers and hire a professional to inspect your home. In an age when lawsuits are as common as family sit-down dinners, it pays to be open about everything. You should consider including a one-year residential service contract with the sale of your home. This buyer perk is a common practice and helps ease concerns. Typically, after the first year, the buyer has the option of renewing the coverage at his or her expense. A residential service contract is simply an agreement with a company to repair certain items on the property if such items fail to function or are in need of repair (for example, air conditioning unit, heating equipment, plumbing system, etc.).
Attracting and screening buyers
As part of the overall marketing strategy, your REALTOR® may arrange a tour of your home for local REALTORS® and perhaps schedule an open house for the public. Your REALTOR® may also run ads in local newspapers, Web sites, and other publications tailored specifically for the type of home you are selling. As responses come in, your REALTOR® will screen out sightseers and half-hearted inquirers and make appointments with the serious prospects.
When the showings begin, keep your home clean and ready. Your REALTOR® will try to give you advance warning before showing your home but be prepared anyway. If people drop by and are not with a REALTOR®, it's best not to show them your home. Ask for their names and phone numbers and refer them to your REALTOR®.
Purposeful absence
When a REALTOR® comes to show your home, it's best if you are not there. Many buyers feel like intruders when the owner is present; they tend to hurry away. Letting the buyers walk through your property at their own pace will help put them at ease. They will feel free to look around and ask questions. If you must be there, let the REALTOR® handle the showing. Sit quietly and be courteous, but avoid engaging the buyer in conversation. The REALTOR® needs the buyer's complete attention to show your home properly.
Fair housing
REALTORS® are required by law to make your property available to all persons without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, or familial status. Your REALTOR® will not discuss any matter that may potentially discriminate against any person.
Next: The offer
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