If Your House Is a Mess, You Dont Have To Sell For Less

Don't be tempted by "We Buy Houses" or "Sell Your Ugly House in 9 days for Cash" ads.

These savvy real estate investors look for sellers under duress. They make the money you earned for holding your home. Investors only want to pay you up to seventy percent of the (low-end) market value. Many investors who studied late-night infomercial real estate scams want you to be their bank and carry the financing.

You do not need to be at the mercy of these scavengers. Selling your home is stressful enough without worrying about getting a fair offer.

As a real estate investor who looks for distressed houses with desperate sellers, I give you the following tips for getting fair market value for your home quickly.

For Sellers with No Money to Spend:

Start at the street and clean up the weeds
Remove dead plants and trim overgrown limbs
Plant brown spots with cuttings of ground cover from friends
Remove empty pots and containers or fill with cuttings
Wash the windows
Inside, take town tatty window coverings
Open window coverings, let the sunshine in
Air your home out
Pack up personal effects -- family photos, memorabilia, and piles of magazines
Get rid of excess furniture, especially pieces with holes
Hold a yard sale and use the money to buy flowers
After a thorough purging and cleaning, your shining home is ready to sell!

For Sellers with a Little Cash:

Spend your money wisely on improvements that make a difference in your net proceeds.

Freshen paint
Fix everything you possibly can
Use Design and Marketing Psychology to stage your home

You can sell your home, at a fair price, with a little planning and work, when you know how to fix it up for the buyer's emotions. Think about the reasons you selected your home. Was it to have a home of your home, or a move-up? Knowing your prospective buyer's motivation helps you highlight the special features that will attract the right buyer.

Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/pages/5/index.htm

MORE RESOURCES:

Real estate bust: Toledo wins at Big House - San Francisco Chronicle

Great Food, Good Drinks and Luxury Real Estate on Main Street - Eastside Business Journal

BIZ DATA: Boulder real estate foreclosures - Daily Camera

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/2-0fd=Rurl=http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/oct/12/Boulder-real-estate-foreclosures/cid=1257047711ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNFTirv443A_8i0xjAwdg1Ukc5vgVABIZ DATA: Boulder breal estate/b foreclosures/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fDaily Camera,nbsp;COnbsp;-/font nobr1 hour ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1b.../b Boulder; Aurora Loan Services LLC; $1519142.90; $704000 334 E. Eighth Ave., Longmont; Front Range bReal Estate/b Partners LLC; $227838.20; $90500. b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/2-1fd=Rurl=http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/oct/12/Boulder-Broomfield-county-business-calendar/cid=1257047711ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNFkDuGij9SK-f6H6PeDE9FUCaxj8QBoulder, Broomfield county business calendar/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrDaily Camera/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1257047711hl=ennobrall 2 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Real estate growth strategies in focus - Gulf Daily News

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/3i-0fd=Rurl=http://www.ameinfo.com/171116.htmlcid=1257033209ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNEX5IkjBiXAHx6iS6E7NG-eXZ0OWQimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=OVxW3Ww3hKMJimgurl=www.ameinfo.com/images/news/0/64970-1111111111111.jpg width=55 height=80 alt= border=1brfont size=-2AME Info/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/3-0fd=Rurl=http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp%3FArticle%3D231633%26Sn%3DBNEW%26IssueID%3D31207cid=1257033209ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNH0iYHaa5x07ujjQB4Q77lcsSzUZQbReal estate/b growth strategies in focus/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fGulf Daily News,nbsp;Bahrainnbsp;-/font nobr2 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1GROWTH strategies for the breal estate/b sector amid the global economic downturn will be discussed at a major conference in Bahrain next month. b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/3-1fd=Rurl=http://www.ameinfo.com/171116.htmlcid=1257033209ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNEX5IkjBiXAHx6iS6E7NG-eXZ0OWQStephen Lee is coming to Bahrain/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrAME Info/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1257033209hl=ennobrall 2 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Making fortunes from real estate investment - The Punch

Bushnell looks at life and real estate in the Village - eTaiwan News

Hypo Real Estate Denies Report It Withheld Data on Liquidity - Bloomberg

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6i-0fd=Rurl=http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html%3Fid%3Dbb36578b-e605-4c92-97cc-af727b82e531cid=1251970064ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNFiiy8gajsuDMU3XQ6PXLOZHifvuAimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=JzoeQV1xHB0Jimgurl=a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/reuters/olusbus_iptc/2008-10-05t133503z_01_btre4931gx200_rtroptp_2_business-us-financial1.jpg%3Fsize%3Dl width=80 height=80 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Calgary Herald/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6-0fd=Rurl=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news%3Fpid%3D20601100%26sid%3DaqQ6AbAsxYqs%26refer%3Dgermanycid=1251970064ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNEeoOVYY7VAFVDn1kGUBNtBE_zAzgHypo bReal Estate/b Denies Report It Withheld Data on Liquidity/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fBloombergnbsp;-/font nobrOct 9, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By Oliver Suess and Karin Matussek Oct. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Hypo bReal Estate/b Holding AG, the commercial property lender that needed a revised 50 billion-euro b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6-1fd=Rurl=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DdlzSEbBo2hocid=1251970064ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNElR_e3dQn7HD0O5RO9xyF3qLe56QVideo: Wells Fargo#39;s bid for Wachovia/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrReutersVideo/nobr/fontobject width=448 height=356param name=movie value=http://www.youtube.com/v/dlzSEbBo2ho/paramparam name=wmode value=transparent/paramembed src=http://www.youtube.com/v/dlzSEbBo2hotype=application/x-shockwave-flashwmode=transparentwidth=448height=356/embed/objectbr/fontfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6-2fd=Rurl=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/10/07/business/EU-Germany-Hypo-Real-Estate.phpcid=1251970064ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNGPkR6BdwkjTWOpEDdioD2t6bWHIgCEO of embattled Hypo bReal Estate/b to step down/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrInternational Herald Tribune/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6-3fd=Rurl=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/006200810061785.htmcid=1251970064ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNHbwapTgkauO4LTK1c4lUUp6QwiUQGerman Govt rescues Hypo bReal Estate/b in a Euro 50 bn package/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrHindu/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6-4fd=Rurl=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news%3Fpid%3D20601100%26sid%3DavupZJMdl7gQ%26refer%3Dgermanycid=1251970064ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNGTUEoTGUkbrJkL8sJN5bmuwccuwAnobrBloomberg/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/6-5fd=Rurl=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news%3Fpid%3D20601100%26sid%3Day6Rie7zHawQ%26refer%3Dgermanycid=1251970064ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNESLP56qe1bEHGzkVTAw8dtBmk0xAnobrBloomberg/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1251970064hl=ennobrall 1,015 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Real-estate agents, mortgage brokers hurting - Bolingbrook Sun

Real estate in Acadiana and Wall Street - The Daily Advertiser

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8i-0fd=Rurl=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122351316270117559.html%3Fmod%3Dgooglenews_wsjcid=1255319735ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNHxxlqTJkYt7ZzAVKZdgBmXB4nTLAimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=50jUWnAPCS4Jimgurl=s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/NA-AT054_McHous_D_20081008190940.jpg width=80 height=53 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Wall Street Journal/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-0fd=Rurl=http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article%3FAID%3D/20081012/BUSINESS/810120335/1046cid=1255319735ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNFufeR_tpsZLSazfoM3HQao0cKFGwbReal estate/b in Acadiana and Wall Street/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fThe Daily Advertiser,nbsp;LAnbsp;-/font nobr18 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Fortunately, the Acadiana breal estate/b market is still strong because we did not have the speculation that was seen in other parts of the country. b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-1fd=Rurl=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DBAdIBCGcEo8cid=1255319735ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNFsGcpKq5ufjkM8p6zcLMUaPTAEggVideo: Obama: #39;Taxpayers Shouldn#39;t Pick Up Tab#39;/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrAssociatedPress/nobr/fontobject width=448 height=356param name=movie value=http://www.youtube.com/v/BAdIBCGcEo8/paramparam name=wmode value=transparent/paramembed src=http://www.youtube.com/v/BAdIBCGcEo8type=application/x-shockwave-flashwmode=transparentwidth=448height=356/embed/objectbr/fontfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-2fd=Rurl=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122351316270117559.html%3Fmod%3Dgooglenews_wsjcid=1255319735ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNHxxlqTJkYt7ZzAVKZdgBmXB4nTLAMcCain Reshuffles Rescue Deal/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrWall Street Journal/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-3fd=Rurl=http://www.clusterstock.com/2008/10/mccain-s-messy-mortgage-buyout-digging-holes-and-filling-them-incid=1255319735ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNFSOmJEm-4NY2DXQbidjv9XtDr1wgMcCain#39;s Messy Mortgage Buyout: Digging Holes and Filling Them In/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrClusterstock/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-4fd=Rurl=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news%3Fpid%3D20601087%26sid%3DacLuJmJz0roc%26refer%3Dhomecid=1255319735ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNGLionvpEvktGcYDggi6G2SeVUjgwnobrBloomberg/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-5fd=Rurl=http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2008/oct/12/troubled-home-loans-didnt-require-insurance/%3Fbusinesscid=1255319735ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNEVS0wE7COvwWDbrz8Bv6GWiCYNNAnobrSt. Joseph News-Press/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1255319735hl=ennobrall 1,086 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Sunday Real Estate Round-Up, 10/12/08 - Luxist

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-0fd=Rurl=http://www.luxist.com/2008/10/12/sunday-real-estate-round-up-10-12-08/cid=1256615524ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNECVa9VxT5KRkZoCcT7yYjPCmmnSgSunday bReal Estate/b Round-Up, 10/12/08/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fLuxist,nbsp;CAnbsp;-/font nobr13 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1--More Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner breal estate/b rumors, this time it is said that they have put their home in Brentwood on the market for around $8 b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-1fd=Rurl=http://www.dailyherald.com/story/%3Fid%3D241072cid=1256615524ei=XLTySJPmEKr6yAT98824Bwusg=AFQjCNFQvBwRmOiebfAPRWstZ3JNn_znFwDC, estate listed for $49 million/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrChicago Daily Herald/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1256615524hl=ennobrall 3 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Real-Estate - Google News

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