The first thing to remember is your house is an inanimate object with value, do not let your emotional attachment get in the way of your business decision to sell. It is imperative you price it right, and that it shows well. Paint is the easiest and most dramatic step, but cleanliness is also paramount to your success. You can usually keep a buyers attention if you are lucky for several minutes, if you can get them to imagine themselves living in your home, the battle is half over. Curb appeal is key, if they hate the exterior of your house or the neighborhood, all the trim and custom touches inside will mean nothing and you may have a challenge. If you are home when it is being shown the greeting you afford these people can also make it or break it, I advise my clients to treat each showing party like guests you were anticipating over for Thanksgiving dinner, they should feel welcomed and appreciated but do not overwhelm them with your "guided tour", tell their agent and the buyer where you will be, (never let an unsupervised buyer roam around your house unless it is vacant!) then excuse your self and let them know they can come and ask you any questions they may have and then let them have the freedom to view and get acclimated to your and possibly their, new home.

Take a lesson from the new builds, ever been to a new home subdivision and seen an ugly model with hideous furniture and upgrades? Probably not, these guys are pros at selling, they hire the best decorators and rent nice furniture to get you thinking about anything, but leaving with out buying a home. A tidy home with soft music and scented candles is in order, while you are at it why not have a bowl of cold water bottles and snacks available? In a good market, you need at least 25 buyers to see it before it sells, in a buyers market like we are in now, count on triple that number, get them in and wow them, the results of your labor and staging will be easily measured, it may sell quickly if you did everything right but there are no guarantees, financing could fall thru, the buyer could get a better deal on one down the street or a number of things could happen but just remember houses will all sell, the question is will it be 30 days or 30  months? That is up to you and of course the market. Stay positive, the worst case scenario is you live in the house until it sells or you rent it out, you may even spark a renewed love affair with your house!