by Francis Jock

Created on: November 11, 2008   Last Updated: March 03, 2010

Preparing your home for sale, hopefully a quick sale, in today's topsy-turvy housing market requires careful planning and prioritizing. Anxious sellers want to have their homes sell quickly and without any hassle. Buyers, on the other hand, come in many different varieties, ranging from the skeptical to the enthusiastic. Your job, probably the most important job in the selling process, is to make your home so appealing and attractive to the buyers that they simply must buy it in order to satisfy their needs.

So, just how do you go about preparing your house for sale? The simple answer is to place yourself in the buyer's shoes and try to feel like they do. What are buyers looking for in a home is an unanswerable question, but you can begin to discover the answer by regarding each buyer as an individual with a set of unique needs, dreams, and desires. The operative word here is "feel". It is a well know fact that buyers buy for emotional reasons and justify their purchases afterwards. So how a prospective buyer feels about your home after viewing it for the first time may largely determine whether you sell your home or not. First impressions count and you should set your sights on making a great first impression when preparing your house for sale.

How a potential buyer feels about your home, or any product for that matter, is a very important aspect of marketing. There are many fundamental concepts of marketing that have been proven to be successful over and over again. These concepts apply equally selling shoes or perfumes as well as to selling your home. Proven marketing strategies include:

1. Increasing awareness of the product

2. Create a desire for the product

3. Stimulating a positive response to the product, and

4. Attempting to satisfy buyer emotional needs for the product.

With these marketing principles in mind, you can begin to see your home in a new light and take actions to prepare your home for sale. Here are a few simple tips and explanations of where to begin.

First, consider the need for making improvements or upgrades to your home, especially if it's an older home. Today's younger generation of home buyers do not place the same value upon such things as formal dining rooms or parlors that our parents once did. These once elegant and pleasant gathering places have given way to open kitchens and technically sophisticated family rooms. Bathrooms are expected to be larger and yet more inviting places to spend time relaxing and enjoying soothing moments

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