Mistake #1 Wrong Price. The right price sells a home faster than any other factor. If the listing price is more than 5% over its market value, the price alone could discourage many potential buyers. It’s important to rely on a selling agent to properly price your home. Selling agents have the advantage of not having any emotional attachment like an owner has to their own property and can show you what the market is willing to pay for a property in your neighborhood with the amenities that are in your home. Appropriate pricing is critical for success.

Mistake #2 No Curb Appeal. Your home gets only one chance to make a good first impression. “Curb appeal” is one of the most critical points in selling a home. Take the initiative and time to make sure your home looks great from the street. Keep the grass watered and mowed and keep weeds at bay by pulling or spraying them. Also make sure to edge-trim around sidewalks and driveways. A well-manicured lawn goes a long way to appeal to buyers. Shrubs, trees and flowers also play a big role in appealing to buyers. Ask for some advice if you’re not sure what needs to be done in this area. Good landscaping can have big paybacks for you. You should also make sure the exterior paint job is in good shape. Take the time to get siding, soffits and trim repainted if they need to be. A few easy ideas to spruce up the front appearance are to put new porch lights on the house, install a nice glass storm door and/or paint the front door with an accent color. Here again, ask for some advice on style and colors from your selling agent, especially they have a design background.

Mistake #3 As-Is Condition. If you want the best price for your home, it is best to get it in tip-top shape before putting it on the market. Most buyers either will not consider a home that needs to be fixed up or they will automatically deduct from their offer what it’s going to take to get the house in shape. What most buyers want is a home that is in move-in condition. So make all the necessary repairs like leaky faucets and broken windows. Clean or replace the carpeting ahead of time. The more details you can attend to before putting your home on the market, the more return for your dollar you are likely to get.

Mistake #4 Dark or Dreary Décor. Bright and light are key to selling a home. People buy space and light. Probably the best dollar-for-dollar investment for selling your home fast is a fresh paint job. Neutral colors are best and lighter colors make rooms look larger. Next to fresh paint, new carpeting to replace either the condition or color can make a huge difference in the feel of a home. Again, stay neutral in color with some texture to get the biggest bang for your buck. Another element that can brighten the interior is removing heavy window treatments and going with window treatments that allow more light into the room. If you have blinds on the windows, make sure they are always open for showings. Another simple secret to achieving a light and bright interior is to use maximum wattage bulbs in all of the light fixtures and making sure all of the bulbs are working. If a room is still dark due to a variety of circumstances, placing a floor lamp in the far corner of the room can make the room more inviting. A room that has both overhead lighting and lamp lighting is the most appealing combination.

Mistake #5 Too much improvement. While it’s important to fix whatever needs to be fixed, undertaking a major project in order to sell your home could cost more money than you could recover from the sale. Spending too much on remodeling projects could just drain your wallet. If your improvements push the market value much higher than the average neighborhood home values, you probably won’t be able to recover that same expense when you sell. It’s also important to stay in character with the neighborhood. If plastic laminate countertops are the norm in a subdivision, then installing granite countertops will probably be a waste of money that you won’t be able to recoup. Check with your agent before improving too lavishly.

Mistake #6 Too much personalization. When buyers come into your home, they want to be able to visualize themselves living there. If you have walls full of personal photos and rooms full of hobby items, it’s less likely they will feel like it could be their home. More often than not, buyers become absorbed in looking at your photos and “things” and they move on to the next house. This becomes the memory trigger for the buyers—“oh, the house with all of the family photos” as opposed to “the house with the great master suite.” Pack up the family photos and hobby items and de-personalize the house as much as possible. You’re not trying to tell the world about yourself, you’re trying to sell your home. So make it more of an uncluttered and neutral environment so the buyers see the house and all of its benefits.

Mistake #7 Being at home during showings. Your presence during a showing is often distractive to buyers and makes them feel like intruders. They will not be comfortable talking among themselves or with their agent either positively or negatively. So it’s best to be gone during showings. Don’t forget to take the pets along with you, too. If you must be home, find a room that you feel you would be out of the way. Be pleasant but don’t get into conversations with buyers. You want them to focus on your home not on you.

Mistake #8 Being Stubborn. Approach negotiations with an open and positive frame of mind. If you become stubborn during negotiations, you may only hurt yourself. Since you and the buyer really want the same thing—a sale—it is best not to become an adversary of the buyer. Leave most of the discussion of price, terms, possession and other conditions up to your agent. Communicate your expectations and desires to your selling agent and then let her or him negotiate the best outcome for you.

Mistake #9 Clutter. Do you have rooms that are packed with furniture and things? Storage areas that are piled high with boxes that you haven’t looked at for years? Buyers won’t buy a house that they can’t see. If your home has too much furniture, overflowing closets, crowded kitchen and bathroom countertops or lots of photos or collectibles on display, then potential buyers won’t be able to see your home. Remove enough furniture to give rooms a spacious look; clean out the closets so they look like they have plenty of space for a new person’s clothing; clear off the countertops and store photos and collectibles. If you need to, rent a storage unit to keep these things in while your house is shown. Just remember, you are showcasing your home for sale, so a few things packed away for awhile, although perhaps inconvenient, will help you with your main objective of getting your home sold fast for the best price.

Mistake #10 Going it alone Syndrome. Going it alone could invite disaster. Real estate transactions involve one of the biggest financial decisions most people experience in their lifetime. Are you willing to gamble with your largest single asset? Without a selling agent, you risk either not selling or netting less from the sale than you could have, not to mention all of the legal and regulatory issues that could arise. Selling a home is a team effort involving you and your selling agent. Ideally you will want a selling agent that can put sophisticated marketing tools at work for you such as a home selling system which includes multiple website exposure, virtual tours capability and an 800 number information hotline. Also, a selling agent who can offer a value-added benefit such as a pre-inspection package is another an important feature of your marketing campaign. A selling agent that offers these marketing tools and benefits will help sell your home fast for the best price.