How to prepare for selling your home

Selling your own home is never an easy task, I've learned it the hard way. Having spent thousands on advertising, training, books, education ... there are several things that I've found to work well. Note though, that ALL of this varies from market to market. One month "A" will work, another month only something else works. Just keep a look out to find out what works in your market. So, without further adue, a list of what I found that works the best (in no particular order):

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. * Newspaper ads
   You may be thinking it's expansive, and your right. It is, but it works. Find your local papers and put ads in all the smaller ones. The bigger papers usually cost an arm and a leg and many people just don't read those BIG news papers 'just' for the classifieds, so stick with the smaller more local ones.
2. * Online ads/websites
   Get a little tech savy and put your home up for sale on all the popular house listing websites. Some I recommend are: Craigslist (works wonders and is 'free'), Ebay (not so free), Backpage (?? I think that's what this one was called). There are others, but I don't remember them off hand.
3. Signs
   * Alright, this may not seem like it's all that important ... But it really works will. Why do you think corporations all over the world put signs out?! It works! First things first:
   o Put a sign out infront of your house!! And more than just one!
   o Signs on street corners, sides of streets
   o Maybe buy some smaller billboard space?
   o Rent a spot on someone elses yard to place your signs out on!
   * Import thing here: Get creative, but stay out of trouble. Many (or should I say everyone that I've come across) counties and cities have strict regulations as to What and where you can place your signs. You've been warned, so don't blame me if your stuck with a $500 fine :-). (yes, they can be that pricey ... I would know ... darn city!)
4. Curb Appeal
   * I'm guessing your property is a nice-ish one? Well, make sure it stays nice while your selling it. Cut the lawns, trim the hedges and wash the house! Make it look nice from the outside. Now, you don't have to go overboard, but keep it looking clean (assuming your selling it as a 'good' nice house).
5. Pricing
   * I'm not gonna say much here, but see if your market is a good market for selling. If your in a market like Indianapolos (foreclosure market) then you might have to rethink your price. OR, get creative in finacing and all that fun stuff.

Tips & Warnings

• Hope that helps a bit. Just don't be afraid to spend a little bit of money on advertising. It can go a long way. As for listing it with a realtor, it's really up to you. If you really want to keep selling it yourself (FSBO, for sale by owner) then maybe listing it with a realtor isn't for you. Those 'flat fee' type programs realtors offer ... you can do most of that yourself for really cheap.