Realtors that “buy” listings do a disservice to their clients. This is intended to get you to sign a binding contract, and for the Realtor to get their sign out in the public’s eye. Then after weeks of little or no activity you are asked to reduce the price closer to market value (where it should have been priced in the first place). But you have lost your window of opportunity as a new listing on the market. The highest exposure to your home takes place when it is first placed on the market.

If you overprice your home the wrong prospects look at the house, if any at all. Cooperating Realtors don’t want to lose credibility with their buyers by showing them overpriced listings.

The house becomes stale and cooperating Realtors and potential buyers begin to assume there is something wrong with the house. Even subsequent price reductions do not regain lost market.

When buyers see a house that has been on the market for a long time they assume they can get a bargain and you get extremely low offers.

While overpriced properties may eventually sell, they usually sell for less than if they were competitively priced when first offered for sale.

Unless you are prepared to catch up to your elevated price, don’t fall prey to the overpricing game. While you’re waiting to sell your expenses and mortgage continue and the price of your next house may be escalating out of your reach.

Curb appeal is #1. There is no such thing as a second first impression. Buyers will make decisions about your home the moment they pull up to the house.

People who prepare their homes, both inside and out, before they put them on the market are the ones who have quicker sales and who receive top dollar.

Spending between 1 and 2 percent of a home’s value is a reasonable investment in curb appeal.

Make your home welcoming. Plant pots of bright flowers at the entrance, trim the bushes, keep garbage cans and recycle bins out of sight, brush the cobwebs from the front entrance and house numbers.

Correcting minor cosmetic defects before showing your home can avoid losing buyers who might be influenced by such details. Torn screens, sticky doors, cracked caulking, or a drippy faucet will reflect a house that isn’t well maintained and are easily fixed and could subliminally diminish an offer by thousands of dollars.

Get rid of smells. Clean the carpets to eliminate pet odors smoke.

Once your house is correctly priced and in its best presentable condition, it’s time to tell the world about it. You might have the most beautiful house at the best price, but if no one knows it, or if it’s not marketed correctly, neither condition will matter. I will expose your house through:

• Open Houses
• Broker Open Houses
• Listing it in the MLS (Multiple Listing Service)
• Web marketing: Listed on Realtor.com, the #1 real estate website. Your house will also be a Featured Property on our websites.
• Print advertising in newspapers.
• Postcard mailings to pre-screened leads.
• Email marketing campaign targeted to pre-qualified buyers.
• Internet advertising both nationally and locally.
• Virtual Tours