The biggest step in a falling housingmarket is making the choice about selling at all. We all remember the time, not too long ago, when many people put their home up for sale in order to take advantage of the rising tide of home prices increases. That is no longer the case, and prices are no longer increasing, but rather, decreasing.

If you have no choice in the matter because you have a new job in another area, or a growing family requires a bigger home, make sure you go about the sales process very carefully. If you don’t have to sell now, put the decision off. Home prices have gone up and down throughout the years, and they will increase again.

The next choice to make is if you should list with a real estate agent or sell it yourself. FSBO, for sale by owner, houses are becoming more and more typical as today’s high home prices make real estate commissions of 5 or 6% seem obscene. Commissions of five or six percent have been known in the past, and brokers feel they earn it because they have to put so much work into a sale. If you are not going to be able to give the project a lot of time and attention, you may end up sitting on it a great deal longer, which will cost you as much as the commission. Plus, in today’s competitive real estate market, many real estate agents are open to negotiating their commissions.

Choose your realtor agent carefully. Make sure you research all of the latest listings and sales in your area and contact the agents with the most activity. Make sure her listings have sold quickly relative to other sales in the area.

After you found a star agent, stick to her like glue. Be in touch often about the desires of buyers, and ask when your home will be shown. Your property should always be the first one the agent thinks of when a buyer walks in the door. Make your home always available for viewing, or allow the agent to have a lock box. You do not want to take a chance that a buyer bought another home because yours was not available for viewing.

Prepare, prepare, prepare. Make your home the most perfect it can be. Even if you have to use a home inspector to ferret out any problems, find and repair anything that may become a problem in the showing or sales process. Keep the home spotless at all times. Keep the lawn mowed, edges trimmed and make sure there are no broken steps, crumbly concrete or other signs of neglect. A buyer will have no problem telling the agent to drive onto the next house if yours looks terrible before he even steps in the door.

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