1. Emotional appeal. Make sure your home looks, feels and smells its best. Odors will kill a sale all the time.  Burn a candle if you have cooked something that smells.  The best ones are vanilla, chocolate chip cookie, or Cinnamon.  Find the source of the mildew smell, fix the problem, and then use spray deodorizers to make the house smell fresh.   A smoker's house discourages buyers.  Clean the carpets, paint the walls, and smoke outside while the house is up for sale.
   
   For as little as $150 -$350 you can get a staging professional to come out and tell you what to do to prepare your house to sell.  A staging professional is like a interior & exterior decorator for selling your home.  They try to make your home look like a million bucks for as little as possible.    Her is a check list of things to do to get your house ready for sale 
   
   You're competing with 10 to 200 other homes for sale. Buyers buy on emotion; let your home be the cleanest, freshest and cheeriest, and you'll have a much faster sale; at a higher price.  Very seldom in my experience has any buyer bought a house on value alone.
   
2. Lots of light. For maximum effect, turn every light on, even on a sunny day. Open all window shades. Clean your light fixtures.  Put in higher wattage bulbs.  Clean your draperies and curtains. Make sure your windows are spotlessly clean. Hire a window cleaner if necessary.  Let the sun in and keep those lights on. Leaving all your lights on for two hours costs pennies, and makes your home look larger and more spacious.
   
3. Read my tips on how to get your home ready to sell very carefully. Fix the little things like door handles, remove the clutter, and de-personalize your house.  If your home is logically a good value, but a buyer doesn't feel warm and emotionally attracted to the home, it will not sell. If they feel the little, obvious things have not been taken care, then they think the big items have not been taken care of.  Buyers buy on emotion, not logic. You'll want lots of people to say or think, "Wow! This is nice! I would like to live here!"  More people love the ready to move in house than the fixer upper.  In our day and time most people do not have both the skill and time to fix up a home.  They would rather have one that they can move into with little or no work. 
   
4. Open houses. You can't expect to sell a house quickly at the top price unless you get lots of buyers inside to see it. I will send out just listed cards, email  & fax other Realtors and put it on TV if necessary. 
   
   90% of all home buyers start there search on the internet.  They love looking at the pcitures, the ease of searching,  the speed of searching, and the ability to be anonymous.   You will be on our company website, and my website.  We are on the front pages in several categories.    Our company website has been averaging over 5000 visitors a day.  Then you are one several other websites that open to 41 different major portals (search areas for real estate) such as AOL real estate.  there are more than 500 homes competing with yours for attention. Your home must be exposed to buyers regularly and repeatedly to get a fast sale at a good price. Home showings help sell your home.
   
5. Clean it up and remove the clutter  A home that is not cluttered looks bigger and more spacious.  Box up items that you are not using and store them somewhere else.  Box up the nic-naks.  Take them to your friends or families house.  You want to make your house look like a model house.  Open, spacious, clean, cheery, bright, and inviting.  
   
6. Internet & Non-traditional advertising. We will want you to put a listing flyer up at work and have your friends post one too.  The more avenues your house is being shown on the better chance of getting an offer.  f your home is in the first-time home buyer price range, a substantial portion of your marketing dollars should be aimed directly at first-time homebuyers. We regularly mail to apartment complexes and rental homes.  This means advertising and marketing in areas other than the "Homes for Sale" classifieds or Sunday Open Houses.
   
7. Constant exposure. Your home won't sell unless buyers know about it. To get top dollar, be sure to have your home repeatedly exposed to qualified, ready-to-buy buyers.  You have to be ready to show your house at all times and make sure it is clean.  Sellers who refuse showings to buyers usually lose that buyer.  A Buyer has set up specific times to see houses.   They don't revolve around your schedule.  The refused showing is one less buyer looking at your home. 
   
   Some brokers charge you a discount commission, then don't advertise your home. This is a mistake. The $500 or $1,000 you save in commission is more than offset by a sale price of $4,000 or $10,000 less than what you would have received if your home had been properly marketed. Remember, buyers can't know about your home unless you or your buyer has a marketing plan to ensure that your home is brought to the attention of home buyers.
   
   Education. First-time home buyers are more likely to pay top dollar for your home because they are so happy just to get a home of their own. If your home is in the first-time homebuyer price range, make sure that your marketing program shows first-time buyers the benefits of home ownership and how affordable your home is.   Design a marketing plan to get first-time home buyers to see the inside of your home.  Call me and I will target that market for you.  We do flyers for 4 different payment options on this home.
   
8. Multiple signs and brochure boxes Many home buyers don't even see traditional "for sale" signs, because they aren't actively thinking of buying.  I put out brochures to tell about your house and add a call capture sign.  On the brochures is my cell phone number that I can be reached at all times.   The strategy of an additional sign in the yard shatters the "advertising protection armor" that every consumer wears. Ten years of testing by U.S. Home and Realty in Grand Rapids, Michigan has proven that a second bright-yellow sign, hand-lettered, will result in more inquiries, more showings, a quicker sale, and a 3% to 5% higher price for your home.  If it is possible with local ordinances.
   
9. Aggressive Target Marketing. Lots of buyers will buy your home for less than it's worth. The secret in getting top dollar is to find a buyer who is perfectly "matched" to your home. Right now, there are at least one buyer who would love to own your home, can afford it, and would pay a fair asking price; if only they knew about it! Some of these buyers may not even be thinking of buying yet, but if they knew about your home would love it! It takes a lot more than just a sign in the yard and an ad in the paper to market a home effectively. It has to be on several top internet sites to attract even more potential buyers.Aggressive target marketing will find those buyers!

This report has been prepared by Russ Ravary:

I am not a salesperson, I am here to help market your home.

As a free service, I am happy to prepare a Marketing Plan for your home. This Marketing Plan comes to you free of charge, and without obligation. I'll show you the most cost-effective places to advertise.

This Marketing Plan is yours to use even if you sell your home yourself or list with another broker. It comes with "no strings attached" and absolutely no selling.

Why do I do this? Because I've found that helping people like you market their homes for no obligation brings me even more business. When I help you, you will tell your friends and associates about me. That brings more business to me than I could ever attain by "selling." It's all part of my personal philosophy of helping, rather than selling. I believe (and have experienced) that the more people I help, the more business that comes my way.

So, please, feel free to call me or email me without any commitment or obligation. You can call me anytime at (313) 310-9855.