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People trying to sell their home tell me this all the time. I just can’t sell my home on my own, particularly in this housing market. But your average real estate agent may not be successful in selling your house either. If you are hoping you don’t need to do anything but list your house with a real estate agency, you may be disappointed. The more difficult the market, the more you need to cover all the angles to sell your home. And you know what, you still have to do these things whether you sell through a Realtor or sell the home on your on.

Recent home sales are slower than they have been since the 1980s when rates were in the teens, in spite of today’s record low interest rates, however there are a number of tasks you can do to help your home sell and sell quickly, too.

1. First, add some great street appeal before you put your home on the market. Without good curb appeal, most prospects won’t bother to come inside

2. Set the price for your house right. The key here is a realistic view of your competition. An overpriced home is the most common issue that results in a slow sale whether you are going to sell your house yourself or through an real estate agent.

3. Put a fresh coat of paint on the outside and inside of your home if it’s been some time since you’ve painted. Neutral, fresh paint will look good to potential home buyers. Skip exotic or wild paint treatments and wallpaper. Buyers don’t go for them. Do it yourself if you can do a good job. The big home centers can help you with these important tasks.

4. Clear out all that excess clutter and junk, enough to leave your closets, the garage and even interior rooms a bit empty. Closets should also have nothing on the floor.

5. Give your home a thorough cleaning and stage your house like a model home. Have it available for a prospect with virtually no notice. The previous item will make this process much easier.

6. Make everyone aware your home is listed for sale. You never know, your neighbors may want to pick their new neighbor and help themselves as well as help you. This worked great for one of our homes in the slow upper Midwest real estate market. Our home was sold and closed in 4 weeks surprising the selling agent we hired who had nothing to do with finding our buyer. To show just how slow the market was, the home across the street from ours had been for sale for over a year and was still on the market when our moving van left.

7. Put an advertisement for your home in the local papers. It worked for us again in a slow market. We didn’t bother with a real estate agent this time. We received an offer from the first looker and closed within 6 weeks.

8. If your area’s real estate market is really slow, consider offering owner financing if possible. Those two little words can do more than nearly anything else to get tons of prospective buyers. Many home buyers in the current real estate market, even ones with decent credit have difficulty getting a loan. This is particularly true for self-employed buyers who many times have enough money for a good down payment. Solve their problem if possible. You can still effectively get all cash for your home by selling your private mortgage note to a mortgage buyer. One thing to keep in mind. You may have to hold the note for 60 to 90 days for it to “season” a many private mortgage note want this seasoning before you sell a note or sell private mortgage to them.

We are in DIY times and home selling is no different. If the normal sales just aren’t happening you can take charge and make things happen for you through FSBO! Take that last point seriously. Your work can have a much greater impact on selling your house than any real estate company or agent.