1. Don't price it unrealistically. This is number one for a very good reason. It is all about price these days. The definition of market value is the price a home will sell in 45 days or less. You may resign yourself to believe that it will take a long time to find the right buyer and get your home sold because that is what has happened to your friends or neighbors. In a declining market you need to be out in front of the pack. If your home is on the market for six months or even a year that can be very expensive if prices continue to decline. Time is Money applies to this market in a big way. Homes on the market a long time and eventually sold likely had several price reductions along the way. If your home is vacant factor in carrying costs like condo or HOA fees, utilities, and taxes. It is actually very hard to underprice a home these days unless it is in the luxury category. There are a lot of eager buyers in the market and well priced homes get a lot of attention. I see many homes sell for asking price and even higher. Excessively padding the price will just reduce the number of potential buyer willing to take a look.

2. Focusing on the asking prices of neighboring homes. Those homes haven't sold yet! About the only thing you can learn from the the asking price of the home down the street is the price it WON'T SELL for. 

3. Don't hire the wrong agent. Ask your agent how many properties they have sold since the market started to decline. Many just aren't up to the challenge. Fortunately many of them have left for greener pastures, but some under-performers still linger. Does he/she know how to value a property properly? Is he/she up on the latest technology? Does he/she have a good web presence including social networking on Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook. Does he/she employ a professional photographer? (See more in last weeks post) You never get a second chance to make a good impression and the MLS is littered with really bad pictures. Do you have a  good rapport with your prospective agent? Is communication easy? These are things you need to ask.

4. Don't make it hard to show your home. Make your home available to show at all times. It would be nice if all buyers and their agents were able to give a day or two of notice before showing your home. That is usually the exception in real life. A buyers agent will typically make arrangements to show 4 to 6 properties at a time and often on short notice. If you have to be there to put the dog in the back yard and can't work around their schedule, that buyer may never end up seeing your home. 

5. Don't hover. In fact make yourself scarce when your home is being shown. Most buyers prefer not to have to interact with the owner of the home when they are viewing it. It is easier for buyers to visualize living in a home if they aren't being watched and they can talk candidly and critique it among themselves. A particular feature you may think is important to point out may not be what the buyers are after.

Tom Day, RE/MAX in Motion
Pompano Beach, FL
www.TomDayProperties.com