If you're like most North Americans, your home is absolutely the largest investment you have....and when it comes time to sell it, make sure that you get every single cent of what it's worth!

You've decided that a move is in your immediate future. Regardless what the reason is behind this decision, how you approach the whole event may save or cost you thousands of dollars.

Call in a professional Realtor and obtain a comprehensive Market Evaluation. This should be a two step process...an initial visit to take measurements and get details of the property, sometimes including pictures and then a return visit with the actual Comparative Market Analysis. At this time, the Realtor should be able to give you a pretty accurate value of your property. On the initial visit, the Realtor may be able to give you a rough idea as to the value of your property, however, it's going to take several hours of research to analise the market in your area and compare your property with others that are on the market or have recently sold to come up with an "accurate" price. This is VERY IMPORTANT!  Putting the correct price on a home is critical and regardless if it's overpriced...or underpriced...it's a costly error. Ideally, your home should be compared with houses in your own neighborhood. It should be closely compared to similar structures...ie. 2 storey 3 bedrooms or 4 level sidesplits...etc. Updates and improvements must be considered. You should be informed "objectively" of how your home compares to it's competition before you establish an asking price.

De-cluttering and repairing is an absolute must and there's very few homes that don't need it. I personally can't stress it enough and it's the one thing that you can do to not only maximize the value of your home, but will allow you to see a sale much faster.

De-cluttering is not wasted time at all, simply because you're going to be moving it anyhow! Get some boxes and start packing anything that doesn't pertain to survival. Remember, that when you're selling, you have to keep things organized and clean....and the fewer things you have to dust around and tidy up, the easier it's going to be to accommodate those short notice showings. A lot of time people can't part with their stuff, so packing it up and putting it in a storage unit is a good option, however, if you pick it up and have second thoughts about what you're going to do with it in your new habitat, sell, donate or dispose of it.

As you go through each room in your home de-cluttering and organizing, clean everything. Windows, sills, cobwebs, corners, mantles, doorways, railings....and repair loose door knobs, oil squeaky hinges and anything else that you've just been living with. Remember...unless you're selling to a renovator, handyman or contractor, most Buyers don't want to buy a fixer upper. Also, most homes come under examination by a Home Inspector, so it's not in your best interest to have him flagging minor issues that could have been eliminated before the house went on the market.

Once you have everything done, it's time to call the Realtor back and get it listed. If the Realtor has done their job correctly...and the Seller has put their home up to the standard of the Evaluation, then it's going to pay big dividends.

Sometimes when homeowners get their home in tip top shape, they have the urge to ask more than the original evaluation indicated. Try not to fall into this trap. List it at the top of the market evaluation...if the Comparative Market Evaluation was done properly, and you've prepared it properly, this is the most realistic value for your home. It will not be overpriced...and it certainly won't be under-priced. Chances are that in a few months you'll be moving and not looking out your window at a "For Sale" sign sprouting roots on your front lawn. Too many times Sellers are so impressed with how nice their home looks after they've prepared it that they tack on another $10,000. to the asking price....resulting in an overpriced listing...an extra month on the market...and perhaps less money then they would have seen if they would have priced it correctly right at the beginning. The "hottest" time for any listing is when the "For Sale" sign goes into the ground.

My last point is pictures!  Todays marketing is more picture based than ever before. No pictures are better than bad pictures. I'm amazed at the number of listings that are put on the market with only one exterior picture and even more amazed at the listings that are on the market with horrific pictures. Pictures of a cluttered kitchen counter, messy hallway or living spaces full of nick nacs will do absolutely nothing to sell your home...unless of course,  the person looking at them is a certified visionary. Tilted, blurry or dark pictures are not good and closeup pictures of  a corner (unless it's architecturally significant) really serve no purpose . Our Real Estate Board allows for 10 pictures and sometimes in very small homes, getting good pictures of the interior is difficult, but usually a good picture of the kitchen, living room and rear yard are possible.

The more time invested by you and your Realtor before the "For Sale" sign goes up will go a long way in minimizing the stress involved in selling your home. If you do it right, you'll find yourself selling for the most amount of money...in the shortest length of time...with the least amount of problems, and that's what it's all about!