When it comes to selling your house, there are a million different tips and tricks.

I recently came across a marketing video on BreakthroughBroker.com that had six basic tips for selling your house and they really broke it down to the fundamentals.

1. Meet with a real estate agent. Your agent is there to help you along the way.  As a Realtor®, we are truly here to work with our clients every single step of the way.  Some agents do it all themselves and others have teams that handle different aspects of the transaction.  The important thing is to find an agent you like and trust, who communicates well and who has the knowledge and experience to help you sell your home.

2. Pre-qualify to buy. Work with a mortgage professional to get pre-qualified to buy.  Most likely if you’re selling, you’re also buying. And unless you are paying cash, you will need to get a mortgage loan.  I recommend taking the pre-qualification one step further and getting pre-approved before you make an offer on your future home.  It takes a little more work up front, but it’s no more than you’ll have to do once you’re under contract.  Pre-approval includes underwriting your loan up front which eliminates a lot of the stress when you are in the throes of selling your house and helps you make a stronger offer for your next home.

3. Price correctly.  Use your agent’s knowledge to price your house correctly based on current market conditions.  There is a famous saying that the three most important words in real estate are “location, location, location.”  I disagree.  I think they are location, condition, and price.  But when you boil it down to the basics, it could really be “price, price, price.”  Because no matter where a property is located and no matter how great or poor its condition, it will sell for the right price.  The key is pricing your home correctly at the beginning based on current market conditions to ensure both a timely sale and maximum value.

4. Pre-inspect. Determine potential fixes before listing your home.  This one is a tough sell for lots of sellers because they figure the buyer is going to get inspections and find things wrong with the house, so why not just let them do it?  Try looking at it from a different perspective, though.  If you have an inspection and address the issues found by an inspector and you are transparent about the repairs that were made, that can certainly make a difference in a buyer’s decision to make an offer on your house vs another.  Oh, and that buyer will 100% get an inspection of their own, but you’ll be confident knowing that you’ve already addressed most or all of the issues which will give you leverage when negotiating any additional repair requests.

5. De-clutter.  Allow others to see themselves living in your home.  I often take this one step further and bring my in professional staging partner, Lisa Glass, with Details Home Staging & Redesign, to go room by room with my listing clients to optimize their home’s appearance and to enable it to show in its best light.  I offer the staging consultation whenever I notice the house needs a little more than just cleaning off the counters and it truly makes a difference, both in the pictures and at showings.  And the best part is you can use your own stuff!

6. Get professional photography.  This is an absolute MUST.  I don’t care if you are selling a $150,000 house or a $1,500,000 house, professional quality photography is essential.  I also don’t care how great you think your iPhone camera is, it does not compete with a quality DSLR camera and professional editing software.  If you are interviewing agents, ask to see pictures of their recent listings as that will be an indicator of the quality of images you’ll have of your house.

I like to think of this piece as a weekly advice column in which I get to share my knowledge and experiences about real estate and about the local market.  I am always looking for inspiration for new ideas and topics to write about.  Is there a topic you’d like me to write about or a question you’d like answered?  If so, email me at jgrappone@skyecroftrealtygroup.com and you may see your idea written about or your question answered in an upcoming column or in a reply email!