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After concluding that Mary had her house listed too high, the next step was to ask about the condition of the home. She said it was in pretty good shape, but that it was hard to keep it clean with a family and that it needed painting. She thought she could avoid that expense in such a good market.

Mary couldn’t have been more wrong.

Buyers are looking for model-home conditions. The paint inside and out should be near perfect. Everything should be kept perfectly straight and orderly. In fact, a buyer should be able to move into her house without doing anything, including cleaning the carpet.

Even if Mary received an offer, the condition of the house would cause the buyer to offer less than market value. Mary need to take the house off the market and paint it inside and out, cleaning everything, including the carpets, windows and light fixtures.

Although it may be difficult, a seller really has to walk through the house as if they are a potential buyer, being very critical and asking whether they would purchase a home in this condition. If you don’t feel you can do that, hire an interior designer to do it for you and to suggest what needs to be done to prepare your house for the most important show time you’ll ever have.

Once Mary had completed the recommendations above, the next step would be to invite all three agents back to visit and do another market analysis. She might even invite another agent that had impressed her during the previous listing period.

Another common question that many sellers ask and that is what do I do about pets, especially dogs. The results of a recent survey stated that 60 percent of all people are extremely scared or highly allergic to animals. What does this mean to a seller? Its very simple -- you need to make other arrangements for your family’s pets. Of course, these pets are family members and you probably don’t want to board your pet. That’s okay, but you may not sell your house in a timely fashion or at its full market value.

With dogs, just the liability factor is huge. Your pet is the friendliest around but some little boy may come in pull your dog’s tail, causing your pet to react by biting this boy. Then you have problems. Therefore, its best to board your pet, let a friend keep him, or have some relatives take care of him during this important stage of selling your home.

The things that make your house stand out the most is price and condition.

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