No one was more surprised (and pleasantly so) than I was that my home sold so quickly.  I was expecting to have more time to get my life in order for my relocation from Colorado to Idaho.  Being a Realtor, I knew what it takes and figured I better practice what I preach.  I had been watching the neighborhood comps closely for about 6 months.  I needed a quick sale, which meant I needed to PRICE my home correctly.  Like everyone else, I didn't want to leave any money on the table. But the happy circumstances of my son, daughter-in-law and darling granddaughter unexpectedly relocating back to Colorado and moving in with me until we found THEM a house lead to a looooong delay in getting my house listed.  I had already missed the peak selling season.   

After settling on a realistic listing price I went to work.  I had several adult kids who had mass quantities of furnature, clothes and misc. stuff throughout the house and garage.  CLEAR IT OUT!  I was met with resistance, eyes rolled, time went by and my house was still full of their accumulated debris.  After calling in some teenage reinforcements to start hauling loads to the garage, and a visit from the Epilepsy Foundation charitable truck, and a U-Haul rental, I succeeded in clearing it out!  Phew!  Next, I scheduled a deep cleaning from top to bottom.  A top-notch carpet cleaning, then professional window washers who removed all the screens for cleaning and even cleaned the tracks. 

I went through the house and removed 2/3 of the knick knacks, personal photos, and anything that didn't NEED to be there. For showings, I even stashed the kitchen trash can under the BBQ cover on the deck!  I set the stage for showings with soft music, all the lights on, & curtains pulled back to let the light in through my sparkling clean windows.  By the end of the first week I had competing offers.  One was nearly full price but had a 2 month contingency.  The other was about 5% under full price with no contingencies.  I countered that at 99.5% of full price and was under contract a week after listing with a closing date set in just three weeks! 

It has been my experience that Sellers will pick and choose which suggestions I give them that they accept and act on.  My experience proved to me that doing it by the book really DOES pay off.  You can be certain that the more closely you follow the staging advice of your Realtor, the greater your chances for success!