Although pets may be a significant part of your family, they can pose a challenge when your home is on the market. Pet hair and odors obviously must be addressed, but your furry friend’s presence may be the biggest problem. Although people love their own dogs and cats, they may not like others and they definitely will not be impressed with a property full of other animals’ noises, toys or hair.

Have a good plan in mind for dealing with your dog or cat before potential buyers come inside your home. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

Clean, Clean, Clean!
Vacuum every day to keep the place spotless. Keep animals toys packed away and take down the big scratching post. Pack up the cages and carriers. Put food and water bowls out of sight before a showing. Remember the outside, too, and be vigilant with the pooper scooper while your house is on the market.

The Nose Knows
Smelly pet odors are bad and cat urine is the worst! Cat boxes and puppy pads must be put away before showings and kept super clean the rest of the time. Even a leaking fish tank can create an unpleasant stink. Don’t think that an air freshener can cover the scent — get rid of the smell with an enzyme cleaner.  Nothing will turn buyers off more quickly than bad smells and pet mess.

Repair Pet Damage
Carefully inspect all floor coverings.  You made need to hire a professional to get rid of the worst spots and stains. If you can’t fix the spots, replace the carpet. Cover scratches on the hardwood floors and doors. If your dog has clawed repeatedly on the back door, the marks will need attention. Has he dug up the yard or chewed on the fence? Be sure to inspect for pet damage thoroughly. If you have a dog house in the back, give it a fresh coat of paint.

Fleas! Fix!
If your pet has fleas, then they are in your home, too. Hire a professional exterminator to kill the fleas and have your pet treated. Fleas in your carpet and furniture will run buyers back out the door and your home will only be memorable to them because of bites on their legs!

Where Should They Go?
If possible, have your pets out of the house during showings. Take the dog to the park for a long walk or even to the office for the day. See if a friend can keep the cat for a few hours. Having pets at the house when buyers are there should be avoided if at all possible.  If not, kennel your pet or put up a temporary pen in the back yard and leave a note asking visitors not to disturb your animals. You will be running a big risk if your pet is roaming the house while strangers are there.

You want buyers to be able to see themselves living in your home. That means helping them see beyond your personal belongings, including your pets. Even a home in excellent condition will likely take a hit in sales value if pet damage and smells are not addressed. Neutralizing your pet’s presence will help you sell your home more quickly and at a competitive price.

Putting your home on the market in December doesn’t sound like much fun. But, before you let your inner Scrooge get the best of your festive spirits, keep in mind that there are some characteristics of the season that might position you for a quick sale.

Deck the halls with a light touch.
Emotion is a big part of home buying and you can capitalize on that this time of year. Go light on all the holiday accents, however. Of course, you can put up a tree. Just make sure it’s not so big around at the base that it dwarfs the living room. You might put a little greenery above the fireplace, but don’t hide the beautiful mantle with everyone’s stockings. Yes, your most favorite nutcracker and Santa figurine can find a cozy spot. Just remember that a little jolly touch will look inviting, but an explosion of red and green everywhere will look cluttered. One person’s “merry” is another person’s “tacky”, so less-is-more with the holiday goodies.

In case you are really sad about skipping some of your usual holiday decorations while your house is being shown, keep in mind that next winter you should be relocated into your new home and your big Christmas village and all the other ornaments will be out again!

Curb appeal is still critical.
The same minimal touch goes for your outside decorating, too. Rein in any Clark Griswold impulses to have the house on your street covered with the most lights this year. A pretty wreath on the door or a string of lights accentuating the shape of the roof line are good choices. A big blow-up snowman… not so much. Another possible plus: a blanket of snow could make your home look like a winter wonderland and you don’t have to spend lots of time getting the lawn and flower beds in shape.

You need to have a knock-out online listing.
The majority of shoppers look online to check out listings and plan which to see in person. During the winter months, bad weather makes this especially true. You want your agent to make sure your home shows great online with excellent photos of beautifully staged rooms. If possible, include a spring or summer photo of your home so buyers can see what it looks like during another season. Including a video tour with your listing is a big plus for potential buyers who can’t get there in person during a snow storm.

Competition during the holidays is less fierce.
Lots of people are reluctant to sell their homes during this time of year, so the housing inventory is smaller. That may make it easier for you to get top dollar for your sale. Additionally, if someone is house hunting during the holidays, they are likely more motivated than usual. If your prospective sellers are willing to alter their holiday plans and go out in cold weather to look at properties, they are probably doing so because of a job transfer or something similarly compelling them to move in December or January.

Create a holiday-friendly schedule for showings.
If you are travelling during the holidays, showings are easy. Keep the heat on so the house hunters are happy, and enjoy a little peace of mind that your home will be checked on while you are away. When you’re home, set black-out dates so you can enjoy holiday company and celebrations. Your agent will help you with this if you let him/her know your preferred schedule for showings. It’s okay to have limited availability this time of year. People will understand.

It may look like a tremendous hassle, but selling your home during the holidays can be a stress-free experience if managed well. Partner with your agent to meet scheduling and staging goals and hope for a quick sale. If not, there’s always next year, right? And New Year’s Eve is only a few weeks away!

Selling your house can be both exciting and emotional. You may be looking forward to a great change with a move to a new town or a larger house, but you are leaving a home full of treasured memories. Although you have strong attachments to your home, it’s important put aside sentimental feelings and make this sale one of your smartest business moves. It pays to do your homework upfront in order to sidestep the most common seller mistakes. Think carefully about each of these pitfalls to avoid frustration for you and your family, and save thousands of dollars.

Mistake #1 – Trying to Sell Your Home before It’s Physically Ready
Don’t rush when making necessary repairs and cosmetic upgrades before putting your home on the market. You will lose money if you don’t make repairs ahead of listing your house thereby letting prospective buyers see the home’s faults. You are nearly guaranteed that offers will be lower, and the buyers will want credit back for work that still needs to be done after your property is listed.

Mistake #2 – Hiding Your Home’s Flaws
Trying to cover up serious problems like foundation issues, water damage, or mold can come back to haunt you. Don’t try to keep your home’s history a secret from the buyers. They will likely be discovered during the home inspection, and you could lose the sale. Also, if hidden problems surface after the house is sold, you could be faced with a messy legal battle. Be upfront with both your listing agent and your buyers.

Mistake #3 – Selling Your Home Without a Professional Real Estate Agent
Statistics show that homes without representation remain on the market longer and end up selling at a lower price than those listed with a professional. Your agent will help you price your home, research comparable properties, market and show the property, deal with the buyers and their agent, and help you negotiate the mountain of documents that goes along with a house sale.

Mistake #4 – Setting an Unrealistic Price on Your Home
Even in markets where inventory is tight, sellers need to be careful about overpricing their home. Properties that are priced too high frequently end up selling for less than they would have if they had been priced appropriately from the start. Pricing a home to sell is an art. You must look at comparable sales in your immediate area, as well as market movement, demand, location, and your home’s condition. Sellers who are forced to lower their asking price after their home has been on the market for several weeks lose their competitive edge in final negotiations.

Mistake #5 – Marketing with Bad Photos
Over 90% of buyers begin their search online, so your photos make the first and lasting impression. Make sure you and your agent post excellent photos to show off your property and its best features. Too many homes are shown with poorly framed, crooked photos of cluttered rooms. No appeal there! This is an easy one to get right, so be sure to nail it.

Mistake #6 – Refusing to Negotiate
Although your home has a lot of sentimental value to you and your family, it must be regarded as a commodity once you put it on the market. Put your emotions aside and be ready for reasonable negotiations. You need to start with a fair and realistic price on your home, but you should also build in a little elbow room. Many buyers will offer an extremely low-ball price just to see what the response will be. Of course, they want to pay as little as possible, and they want to feel like they got a great property at a bargain price. You can keep the buyers happy by accepting a bit less than your asking price, while still making the profit you need. An experienced real estate agent is an invaluable asset for negotiating the tricky path of getting your price without scaring off the potential buyer.

Take a fresh look at your house. It looks great to you, but you have to look through the eyes of potential buyers. They need to be able to picture themselves in your house. Take a good, hard look both inside and out. Be critical because your buyer will be. It is essential to have your house clean, organized and inviting.

Curb Appeal
A good first impression is essential. Your lawn and the front of your house are the first things people see when they arrive.

• The lawn should be pristine, nicely mowed and edged. Weed the flower beds and trim shrubs. Colorful annuals will have an immediate impact and fresh mulch is always a good idea.
• Give the front door a good scrub or fresh paint. Add a tasteful welcome mat.
• Check to see if shutters or trim need a paint touch up. Fix damaged gutters, siding or shingles.
• Clean all windows inside and out.
• Eliminate clutter and keep lawn decorations to a minimum. Put away all the toys. Remove or update old light fixtures or lawn furniture.
• Keep everything tidy. Sweep the sidewalks, porch and driveway. In the winter, make sure snow is shoveled and sprinkle ice melt as necessary.

Stepping Inside
Once again, you have to make a great first impression. Everything must be sparkling clean, neat and appealing. There are many inexpensive ways to put a fresh face on your house and most of them only cost you some time. This is a ceiling-to-floor, roof-to-foundation clean-up project.

• Declutter, then declutter again; rent a storage locker if necessary until your home sells. Potential buyers are seriously put off by clutter and we all have more than we need.
• Remove personal items such as family photos and collectables.
• Organize closets. The less you have in a closet, the bigger it looks.
• Every space will be inspected by potential buyers. Straighten attic storage, the garage, and the basement.
• Shampoo carpets and clean wood floors.
• Polish the wood work around door frames and wooden cabinet doors.
• A fresh coat of paint will give tired rooms a lift.
• Pay special attention to the kitchen and bathrooms. Scrub sinks, mop floors and repair discolored caulking.

Small Details Count
Potential buyers will see many properties so you want yours to make a lasting positive impression. Having all the little things fixed can make a big difference in the perceived value of the home.

• Remember that they will look in the small places, like medicine cabinets and kitchen drawers, as well as in every closet. Look at every space with a critical eye.
• Add a vase of fresh flowers or a plant near the entryway.
• Be sure kitchen and bath towels are bright and clean.
• Check all doors, knobs, drawers and windows to make sure nothing sticks or rattles.
• Dust ceiling fans and light fixtures.

Stay Ready for Showings
Get into the habit of keeping everything tidy all the time while your house is on the market. You want it to look like a model home — clean, uncluttered and fresh.

• Make beds and clean up daily. Pick up papers and dishes. Vacuum, dust and remember to remove kitchen trash before each showing.
• Let the light in. It makes rooms seem more spacious and gives a positive feeling to your home. Open all the shades and window coverings during the day. At night, turn on as many lights as possible.
• The nose knows, so be vigilant against unpleasant odors. Smoke, greasy cooking smells, pet odors and even strong room fresheners are unpleasant. Air out the house before a showing. If you can, put on a pot of coffee or boil some cinnamon in a little water on the stove. You want your home to smell sweet, but subtle.
• Keep your thermostat at a comfortable level. You don’t want potential buyers to notice the temperature — neither too hot nor too cool.
• It’s best for pets to be elsewhere during a showing. Either take them with you or arrange for them to stay with a friend or family member. If this isn’t possible, they should be penned in the backyard or kennel. Try to keep indoor pets in a specific room and then put a sign on the door.
• Stay vigilant. You need to make sure your home is available to been seen with very little notice. That means less than an hour or possibly even five minutes.

Remember that after location, the most important item to a buyer is a well-maintained home. Many flaws can be overlooked if the buyers know they can move in without a lot of trouble and expense.

It is tempting to determine the asking price of your home by figuring what you originally paid for it, adding the cost of improvements plus a healthy profit, and then put it on the market. This is a rookie mistake, however, and can cost you a lot of time and money.

It is essential that you place a smart, competitive price on your property. If the price is too high, your home stays on the market longer, increasing your expenses along the way. You may think it’s a good strategy to start high and then reduce the price if necessary. But, if potential buyers see a history of a dropped asking price, they will either wonder what’s wrong with the home since it hasn’t sold or they will think you must be getting desperate and will offer an even lower price.

Your real estate agent can tell you that sellers who list competitively from the start get a better price than those who list high and then go lower and lower. Let your agent help you avoid the overpricing trap. Together you can review a comparative market analysis of similar homes to yours that have sold in your area recently.

Also, consider your local market conditions. Are homes in your neighborhood selling quickly? Is it currently a buyer’s market or a seller’s market? Are you listing during the spring homebuying season or in the middle of winter?

Remember that some buyers are motivated by more than just price, so plan to be flexible to get your home sold quickly. When do the buyers want to move into the house? Can you, the seller, finance the the home? Are you willing to leave the patio furniture or an area rug? Be open and creative as you review the buyer’s offer.

Price your home based on reality, not just wishful thinking, and depend on your agent to be your best ally in finding your bottom line.

Some sellers hesitate to stage their home because they think it’s too much work or it’s too expensive or they really like their own decorating. So, why should you stage your home before your list it?

In brief, it will help you sell it faster and for a better price. Having your home on the market is difficult and you want the experience to be completed as quickly as possible. Staging gives you a chance to highlight your home’s best features and downplay the worst. You never get a second chance to make a first impression and your home is going to be scrutinized by many potential buyers. You want them to be able to see themselves living in your home. That means moving your personal touches out of sight and creating clean, open spaces to help buyers visualize themselves and their furnishings in it.

It’s hard to look at your home objectively and make the best choices for decluttering and rearranging. Your real estate agent can help you with that. Frequently, agents arrange for professional stagers to come in to make the hard decisions about what pictures to remove, how to arrange the furniture and make suggestions for quick updates that will make your home shine.

Staging gives you a headstart in getting ready to move. You must pack everything anyway, so start with the declutter process. Rooms crowded with stuff give the impression that there isn’t enough storage. Also, there are likely some minor repairs that will show up during inspection — get them done before listing as part of the staging process. Disrepairs make buyers think that your home hasn’t been maintained well so take care of anything that may catch a critical eye.

Stage the whole house to make the best impression. Give special focus to the front entry way and the room visible from it, the main living area, the kitchen, the master bedroom and any bonus areas, like a deck or den. Consider this list of inexpensive changes you can make to effectively stage your home:

• Make sure the living room is arranged for conversation as well as for viewing the television. Buyers need to envision sitting in the space and talking without having to move a chair. Accent the room’s best feature, such as adding a pretty plant near the fireplace hearth to draw the eye.
• Painting is an inexpensive fix to a tired room. Choose neutral colors for living spaces and more dramatic ones for bathrooms and the dining room. Neutrals need to be warmer tones like tan or khaki, not just an off-white.
• If your kitchen cabinets are dated, stain or paint them. Replace scratched or nicked door pulls.
• The master bedroom need to appeal to both sexes, so remove bedding and accessories that are too gender-specific. Paint the walls a neutral color, but choose a bright bedspread or comforter to give the room a focal point.
• Buyers love plenty of storage space and they will open every drawer and closet door. Unclutter all of them and organize your shelves to show off how much storage your home really has.
• Let the light in. When a showing is scheduled, open all the blinds and draperies. Turn on lamps and overhead lights. Make all the rooms look as light and airy as possible.
• If you have children or pets, visually reduce their presence so the home appeals to buyers who don’t have them. Confine children’s toys to their rooms, pack many of them away and organize the rest attractively. Place pets’ food bowls and litter boxes out of sight. Be conscientious about pet odors, too. If you need to get rid of old carpet that has trapped smells, do it!
• Your staging has to include the outside, too. Curb appeal is essential — you don’t want buyers to just drive-by. Add planters filled with plants and flowers by the front door. Trim shrubs and low hanging branches. Make sure the lawn looks good all the time. Take care of peeling paint and loose doorknobs. Replace a worn welcome mat with a new one. Powerwash the deck or patio and arrange the furniture into conversation areas.