How do I sell my home for the most money in the least amount of time?

The first key to selling your home quickly is to price it right.  Your objective is to get the most  money for your home.  However, most buyers are looking for a great deal.  As it is with any product, you must make the buyer feel that your home is the best home

neutral colors) will significantly reduce the amount of time your home is on the market and will bring you top dollar.  Although many sellers don't want to incur this expense,  it is money well spent when you consider the extra marketing time and inconvenience your family will incur if you don't.     

Some of the home improvement companies (Lowes's and Home Depot) are offering "no payments for six months" programs that can help with the financing of such upgrades.  Smart sellers will make these improvements a year or so in advance so that they can enjoy them before they sell.

The final key is to promote your home so that any buyer that is in your price range knows about your home.  At any given time, there are 25,000+ homes for sale in metropolitan Atlanta.  How are you going to make sure that yours is made known to a potential buyer?

Like it or not, the best way to do this is by using a realtor.  Yes, it's true that occasionally a home will sell as a "FSBO" or For Sale by Owner.  However, most people don't have the time or the expertise to do this successfully.  Additionally, many people don't like the idea of just anyone calling you up to come see your home.

There are many advantages to using a realtor, but the greatest is the amount of exposure or promotion they can give you by putting your home in the multiple listing service -- the primary vehicle for letting buyers know that your home is available for sale.  In an instant, this service places your home in front of thousands of agents, some of whom might be working with a buyer that is perfect for your home.
It also places your home on one of the best internet home-sale sites out there, realtor.com.  As the National Association of Realtors official web site, this site is probably the most comprehensive and easiest to use of all real estate internet sites.

How do you know if your marketing plan is working?  A good marketing effort should generate approximately two pre-qualified buyers per week looking at your home.  This sort of "traffic" should produce an offer on your home within 60 -- 90 days if your home is priced under $300,000.  Homes priced above $300,000 will generally take five to eight months to sell.

As the number one seller of homes in the 30189 zip code, Gina's team is recognized as the experts in selling Towne Lake area homes.  Please send your real estate questions to gcarr@century21atlanta.com or call them in to Gina's voice mail at (770) 517-8210 ext. 700.

for the money.  How do you know what price is right?

Get an expert opinion.  You can get a real good idea of the value of your home by asking a realtor who specializes in your area to give you a Comparative Market Analysis (aka CMA).  Realtors prepare CMAs for free in hopes that, should you decide to sell, you will hire them to be your salesperson.  Alternatively, for about $300, you can hire an appraiser to produce an actual appraisal (more detailed and objective than a CMA).  Either method should get you within 5% of the true value of your home.

Adjust it if necessary.  Even though you have sought expert advice on pricing your property, market factors change constantly.  As homes sell and others come on the market, the relative value of yours may go up or down.  How do you know if yours is priced right?  After ten to twelve qualified buyers have seen your home, you should have had a couple of them coming back for a second showing (always a good sign) or saying things like "It's one of our favorites."  If you aren't hearing this sort of feedback from your realtor, you are most likely overpriced.

No, you probably won't hear "your home is overpriced" as feedback from the buyers via your realtor.  However, what we as professionals know is that the Principle of Substitution is at work here as it is with all buying decisions.  While your home may not be "overtly" overpriced, a lot of buyers obviously found something else that they thought was a better value and that is what they bought.

The second key is to present your home well.  To be competitive in our marketplace, your home must be in excellent condition.  Think "new home" perfect.  The more you can make your home resemble a brand new home, the faster it will sell.

Specifically, newly painted walls and new carpet (both in