After living a in single family home for over a decade, we tend to get a little lazy when it comes to home upkeep, and those annoying water drips, or slow evacuating drains are overlooked most of the time. People then panic and have a long list of “Honey Do’s” all of a sudden when it comes time to sell their house, or vacation property. The cost of repairs when items are taken care of when they need fixing is a lot less pricey than having to hire a contractor to come in at the last minute and help.

You see these before and after type of home staging shows on the Home and Garden television network where they have a group of realtors come in and inspect a property to see why it’s not selling. Many times, it is the overall decor of the home that is not appealing, but cracked floor, and counter tiles, or chipped bricks on the fireplace will be glaring warts on your home when prospective buyers are doing a formal walkthrough. The wood-trim around doors and windows may be faded or scratched up from years of pets putting their paws on them and scratching the surface. As you can see the to-do list is getting bigger than you thought it might.

The most important room in the house currently is the kitchen, followed by the bathrooms. If they are dated, and dingy then do not be surprised if shoppers do an about face, and leave before even inquiring about the asking price. It is fairly normal to spend fifteen to thirty-thousand dollars on fixing up, and properly staging a home for the most possible buyers currently. If this is not in your budget, then chances are you will have to take a large chunk of your selling price off the table.

People in general are not that creative when it comes to making a home appealing, but they know what they like when they see it. Therefore, if you have the creativity of a fence post then seek immediate professional help. Your agent can give you all the references needed to get the repairs, proper decor, and overall exterior rejuvenation done, and create a showplace that people cannot wait to buy.

If you want to kill any chance of your agent working their magic, then stick around for the open house. This is the kiss of death, as other real estate agents, and prospects will be very open about their comments concerning your home, and even if you are thick skinned it makes for awkward moments that could reduce the chances of moving the property. So take the family and make it a day at the Zoo or nearest water park while the open house is in operation.

Homeowners seem to always let their egos become apart of the pricing they set for their homes, and usually those figures are just as inflated as their heads. A Realtor’s biggest nightmare is a client who will not realistically price their home to get it sold in a few days or weeks. Setting figures too high will have people overlooking the online MLS listings, and will never get them to come out and take a look at what you may have to offer. Doing some roll up your sleeves investigating will be required to come up with an acceptable range to sell your home.

First look at the homes that are for sale in your sub-division, only compare the ones that are within twenty percent positive or minus of the same square footage as your house. Even though you may have installed a forty thousand dollar in ground pool in your backyard, and upgraded the whole house in Travertine tile, this does not mean you are going to get your investment back. Depending on the average home prices in your area, compared to what was paid for the upgrades, as little as only twenty percent can be recouped in some cases. This does not matter if you plan of living in the home for the rest of your life otherwise choose additions carefully.

One way to see what others are selling their properties for with options like swimming pools, just to go Google maps, and input your home address, click on the satellite image, and just zoom out until you can see all the homes in your neighborhood with pools in the backyard. Then compare this to the real estate prices online, and your real estate agents com-parables. You will still probably not be fond of the pricing you will find.

Let the Realtor do their job, and do not make an issue of price, he or she will know exactly how to price your home. If you do not believe them, then get a second opinion before signing the sellers contract. There are many areas in the United States that home prices have dropped below what people still owe on their mortgages. In Texas, fortunately, this is not always the case, and break-even or a little profit can still be gained in many selling scenarios. If you are upside down on the home when comparing worth versus what is owed, then it will probably be best to not move at this time, and wait out the market for better days.

If you want to spruce up your home before you list it for sale, you may be concerned about the costs involved with remodeling. For many sellers, it is simply too big of a risk to remodel in hopes of recouping their investment. However, there are many ways in which you can give your home a facelift without breaking the bank.

Many home improvement experts categorize home remodeling expenses as either “hard costs” or “soft costs.” Many times, it is the soft costs that prove to be much more favorable for sellers. Here are a few examples of how you can remodel your home without taking on too much expense:

1. You know buyers want hardwood floors, and your hardwoods have seen their better day. Do you refinish them (a soft cost) or shell out thousands for new flooring (a hard cost)? The general rule of thumb is that most hardwood floors can be refinished to look brand new, so always get the opinion of an expert before tearing out existing hardwood floors.
2. Appearance first is the name of the game. For example, if you need a new hot water heater (a hard cost) or fresh paint on all the walls (soft cost), the fact of the matter is that you will likely see a better return on appearance features rather than function features. A hot water heater replacement can be easily negotiated, but if the buyer walks in and is immediately turned off by the condition of the home then you will likely never get to the point of negotiation.
3. There are many fantastic ways to freshen up a room in your Medical Center property without shelling out the big bucks and a good example of that is bathroom remodels. You can tear out an old tub and spend a few thousand dollars (a hard cost), or you can call in a bath tub refinisher for just a few hundred dollars (a soft cost).
4. You can replace kitchen cabinets (a hard cost), but if you have solid wood cabinetry, consider spending much less by refinishing them yourself or paying for a cabinet re-facing (a soft cost). There is simply no better way to give your kitchen an instant facelift!

The Houston real estate market, much like any other market in the United States, is still very much a buyer’s market. Things are starting to look up, as evident by the positive numbers posted for the last quarter of 2009, but it is still a competitive market for sellers. In other words, there is still an influx of homes on the market, just waiting to be sold.

So, you’ve listed your home on the market, only to see that, in your neighborhood alone, there are a half-dozen homes on the market that are similar to yours. What can you do to make yourself stand apart from the competition?

The answer: plenty.

1. Offer new appliances – Most buyers would love to have new appliances in their new home, so consider purchasing new appliances before listing your home for sale. The few thousand dollar investment will certainly be worth your while.
2. Consider closing cost assistance – One of the most popular ways to gain a competitive edge is to market your home with the offer of closing cost assistance. Many buyers, particularly first-time buyers, would love the chance to save on their out-of-pocket expenses at closing. Many times, sellers will offer to pay half of the buyer’s closing costs, for example.
3. Price it right – There is absolutely no better way to gain a competitive advantage over other homes in your neighborhood is to price it right – from the beginning! If you want to sell your home in this market, you must price it to sell; otherwise, it will end up sitting on the market for an extended period of time –even after you lower the price.
4. Make it move-in ready – Buyers of today, because there is often such a large selection of homes on the market, want a home that is move-in ready. A turn-key Houston home is a home in which all repairs, upgrades and updates have been made; in other words, the only thing a buyer has to do is turn the key and settle in. Repairs and improvements to consider: replacing worn or stained carpeting; painting all of the walls with a soft, neutral color; updating all light fixtures and faucets; and performing any small repair jobs.