You've entered your empty nest years.  Your youngest child has just disappeared down the street headed for that out of town university.  You notice that the five bedroom house is just too much now. So, you begin to ponder the pros and cons about selling the house your family has grown up in.  You hire a Realtor and sign all the paperwork. The sign is in the front yard, the keybox is on the front door. And you're just waiting for the house to sell.

A few weeks go by and a few people come around. Some people are interested and some are not.  A month goes by and you don't understand. What is taking so long?  The truth is, many houses stay on the market for several months before they are sold.

One way to make sure that your home is sold sooner than later is to look into "Staging." Staging is a newer concept used to help highlight the home in it's best light.  You could hire  a professional to come in and decorate the home, or you can just add a few things to highlight areas of interest in the home.

One of the things your Real Estate Agent should have you do at the beginning is to make sure you start depersonalizing your home.  You've put a lot of emotional value into your home.  From the paint job and shelves in your daughters room to the deck you built yourself.  The fact of the matter is, the buyer will not see these as any added value to the home, even though you do.  It's a pretty good idea to make the home as blank canvas as you can, so any new buyer can come in and make the memories theirs.

It's very important that you do not have any personal and family photos laying around.  This is especially imoportant if you have little children.  Almost every Realtor puts pictures of the home on the internet.  So, we would want to make sure that we don't accidently put our children in any danger by showing pictures of them and their address on the internet.

It's also a good idea to pack away the baseball, football and track trophies.  These will hold no interest to the potential buyer. Pack them and store them away.

These are just a few ideas and suggestions.  If you need help getting your house ready to sell and need a Realtor, please contact me, Eric D. Bolton at 210.918.0307 or email at eric@ericdbolton.com. I will be delighted to help you out with any of your needs.

Eric D. Bolton, REALTOR
www.ericdbolton.com