Just as there are many things you can do to improve your chances of selling your house at a great price, there is an equal number of things that will drive away potential buyers and leave you scratching your head.

If you are working with a realtor, he or she will be able to make suggestions on how to make your particular home more saleable, but addressing the following problem areas is always a great place to start.

A smelly house is not an attractive house to potential buyers. The problem with odors such as cigarette smoke and pet smells is that you live with them day in and day out and may not notice them. To an outsider, however, the smell will be pungent and noticeable. You can get rid of these odors by smoking outside, keeping litter boxes fresh and in a contained area, repainting walls, shampooing and steam-cleaning carpets and opening your windows to let in fresh air. Don’t try to cover odors with an air freshener without taking steps to eliminate the problem; it won’t work and your house will still be smelly and unwelcoming to potential buyers. Removing odors from mold and mildew can be a little tougher and may require professional intervention if the affected area is not easily accessible (between walls for example).

Pets: you love them and think of them as part of the family. Your potential buyer may not share your sentiment, so like other members of the family, your furry companions should not be on site while someone is inspecting your house. Pile everyone in the family vehicle, or crate your pets in the yard so potential buyers can look around without being barked at, snarled at or pounced on.

Bathrooms are associated with hygiene, so unclean bathrooms are a major turn-off for most buyers. Make sure your toilet, tub, and sink are sparkling clean and that the drains are clear and free of wet hair and other odor-trapping debris. Shine your faucets and mirrors, de-clutter the medicine chest, empty the trash pail and launder your towels, shower curtain and floor mats.

Dark rooms look dingy and uninviting. Increase the brightness factor of your rooms by adding brighter bulbs (if appropriate), installing extra fixtures, or by placing accent lamps or cabinet lighting throughout the room. An even simpler fix is to pull back heavy curtains and lift your blinds. Trimming low-hanging branches from nearby trees can also help.

Busy wallpaper is a no-no. Too many patterns can be distracting and can date your décor. Consider removing busy wallpaper, but don’t paint over it because that will look even worse.

Wet basements are a cause for concern as they can indicate foundation leaks. More often however, damp basements are a sign of poor ventilation, plugged drains, or improperly positioned downspouts. Remove any mold or mildew that may have appeared as a result of dampness.

Bugs; they’re usually harmless, but still an obstacle to home sales. Squash what you can, clear cobwebs, and enlist professional help if you have an infestation.

Low curb appeal can discourage potential buyers from taking a closer look at your home. Spruce up your yard, entry and façade. Make sure your paint isn’t peeling, and that gardens look their best, even if out of season. Bicycles, lawn mowers and tools should be neatly stored in a shed or in the garage if necessary.

Plugged Gutters. Potential buyers may not notice blocked gutters during an initial showing, but they will turn up during a professional building or home inspection, which could be the difference between a conditional sale going ahead or not.

Clear out when someone is looking at your house. Potential buyers may feel awkward looking around your house if you are hovering over their shoulder. Working with a realtor to sell your house eliminates this problem, as they act as chaperone during the showing without intimidating your buyer.

Most of these fixes are simple and inexpensive to implement, yet can have a major impact on the saleability of your house. If possible, address any of the issues that are present in your home before you list it for sale.

The process of selling your home can differ from state to state. Before putting your house on the market, there are some important steps you must take to get the most from your investment and to protect your interests.

Step One

Get pre-approved to buy another house before you sign a contract to sell your own home. If your financial situation changed since your last purchase, it’s possible that you may no longer qualify for another loan. You may also be unable to sell your house for a price that will allow you to buy another house you want. This way, you won’t end up renting or buying a house you don’t really want. When applying for a pre-approval, be sure the lender discloses the estimated costs required for you to purchase a new home, such as: the loan price, down payment, new insurance, title and inspections fees.

Step Two

Call your lender to check the mortgage pay off and calculate the estimated proceeds. First, you will need to subtract the mortgage pay off from the fair market value of your home. Second, you will need to subtract the costs to sell your home from the remainder in order to get an idea of the proceeds you can expect to be paid at closing.

Step Three

Determine your homes fair market value. Most real estate agents will gladly help you determine the market value as a courtesy and may also give you helpful hints to what you can do to increase the value of your house. You may also consider hiring a licensed appraiser, which you will have to pay for out of pocket, to perform an appraisal on the subject property.

Professional appraisers will provide you with a detailed report that will usually include: the neighboring property values in comparison to your own, an evaluation of the real estate market in your area, harmful issues to the property’s value and any defective qualities.

Step Four

Estimate what it will cost you to sell your house. If you are using a real estate agent, you may have to pay their commission. If you are planning to sell by owner, then you must consider the advertising, signs, attorney fees, closing agents and other possible fees involved. These other fees may include: appraisal, inspections, surveys, taxes and home owner association fees. Real estate agents can give you a more precise estimate of the closing costs and any other fees that may be involved. Real estate agents are professionals that deal with these transactions every day and can prove to be a valuable asset to you.

Step Five

Make repairs. Whether these repairs can be done by you or by hiring a contractor, they should be completed. If there are too many repairs that need to be done, your home will be considered a fixer upper. You want to get the most out of your house and dissuade potential buyers from submitting insultingly low offers. These repairs can range from fixing a broken window, adding a fresh coat of paint, replacing or repairing the flooring, to spackling a hole in the wall. The larger repairs may include fixing a damaged roof or repairing damaged siding. Other issues that can deter a potential buyer is mold and mildew stains and odors, leaky basements, lead based paint, broken gutters, location or type of circuit breaker, plumbing problems and old or faulty electrical wiring.

Step Six

Before you show your house, do some spring cleaning, regardless of what season it actually is. Organize your shelves and closets, wash the crayons off the wall, dust off the blinds and window sills, clean away the cob webs and wash all windows and appliances. You will want to make everything as spotless as possible and remove any offensive odors and clear the clutter. You will need to present your home in a clean and appealing way to the potential buyers.

You may also need to work on the exterior part of the house by scraping and painting porches and windows or maintaining an appealing lawn. You can also add low maintenance decorative flowering plants and shrubs to dress up your yard.

Now that your home is ready to show, make it accessible to real estate agents with potential buyers at all times. Most buyers feel more comfortable being shown a house when the owner is not present. If you decide to take a walk while your house is being showed, make a note to the agent if there are any pets on the premises. You will want to be sure that your cat doesn’t get out the door or that your dog is securely locked up in a crate or in the back yard. You want everything to go as smoothly as possible.

Imagine a 7,900-square-foot lakefront mansion in Las Vegas with six bedrooms, an in ground pool and an illustrious landscape available for purchase at a meager one million dollars. Sound impossible? Not if you look into foreclosure properties for sale. Homes like these million dollar mansions can be found all over the country through local banks after the owners have defaulted on their mortgage. Buying a million dollar or more home that is in the foreclosure process will not only save a great amount of money, but some investors agree that buying a home in foreclosure is a much easier process than a normal home sale. This way there are no prices to haggle over or move in dates to set. When you buy it, it’s yours.

With foreclosures running up to 1.27% of all mortgage loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the best place to look for a million-dollar mansion to buy may be a bank or on the court house steps. In the first five months of 2004, over 113,000 million dollar mansions came onto the market as foreclosures. This is an increase of 37% from the previous year, according to Foreclosure Free Search.

As interest rates rise, mortgage rates are more likely to inflate, thus putting pressure on financially exhausted homeowners that are barely making ends meet already. More people have been taking out loans that have been more than they could possibly afford, while maintaining a certain lifestyle, or by trying to maintain a certain lifestyle. While the lender will calculate the amount that the borrower should be able to repay, according to the borrowers yearly income, this amount can often be more than the borrower can actually afford.

A million dollar mansion foreclosure can happen to the best of people, in the best neighborhoods, in any price range. These foreclosures can and do occur in the same proportions as do other homes. A million-dollar mansion foreclosure can sometimes be a surprising steal, mostly because some lenders don’t want to price their properties to move fast. There are deals out there for those that are patient enough to look for them.

There are also disadvantages of buying a million-dollar foreclosure property as well, because most of these homes come onto the market due to a financial hardship. Sometimes the former owners become bitter from the loss of their home and sabotage the home by damaging or removing doors, appliances or light fixtures. Some of these homeowners may go as far as pouring concrete down the toilets or punching holes into the walls of these million dollar homes. Sometimes the financially strapped homeowners allow the homes to fall into disrepair, because the basic foreclosure can take about four months. This allows ample time for the lawn to become seriously overgrown and a slimy green pool to grow.

There are many ways to buy a million-dollar mansion in foreclosure. On average, at least 10 properties priced $1 million and more, will fall into default every year, but only a fraction of these properties will be sold at auctions. Most of these million dollar mansions are actually sold in a pre-foreclosure sale to buyers who search legal postings for Notices of Default. All buyers will need to be financially prepared to make an offer on the pre-foreclosure home immediately and have the down payment already in hand. These buyers also need to be prepared to deal with the emotional property owners who are losing their homes and who may not want to leave willingly. There may also be furious tenants to evict, which the buyer should be readily prepared to do.

Laws can vary from state to state, but home owners normally have up to four months to pay their debts to avoid foreclosure on their property. If the homeowners can’t pay their debt in this time frame, then the lien holder of their property can force their home to be auctioned off, normally on the steps of the courthouse. These auctions are advertised in newspaper classifieds and are available for anyone to buy, so long as those buyers show up with a check of at least 10% of the anticipated purchase price. If buyers don’t have this kind of money readily available, then most often a bank will be the successful bidder. Million dollar or more foreclosure properties can be also be found through brokers who specialize in Real Estate Owned properties, or REO’s. These properties can be found by visiting the offices of these brokers or by searching the internet.

Open house is a great opportunity for both the buyer and the seller.  It gives the seller the chance to showcase their home and the buyer can view the home in all its glory.  Buyers love to scope out potential homes and many offers are made at open houses.  After all, open houses are really sales presentations. In order to have a successful open house, there are some tasks that should be completed by the seller beforehand.

The most obvious task is cleaning.  The house should be spotless, including appliances.  If you work full time and don’t have the time to get the house cleaned, hire a house cleaning service.  The money spent is well worth it if you are able to sell quickly.  It might be hard to keep it clean if you are still living there, but you must make a concentrated effort to try.  Your home presentation must be impeccable.

Keep foul and mysterious odors away.  The first thing a potential buyer will notice is an offensive odor and you will probably never see them again.  Regularly inspect your home for potential odor sources and keep a steady supply of candles and air fresheners on hand.  If you have an indoor cat, keep the litter box out of sight and scooped out daily. 

Clutter is a major turnoff to potential buyers.  It just isn’t comforting to see piles of clutter everywhere.  Keep small appliances stored instead of out on the countertops.  Remove photographs and knick-knacks.  You want people to envision their belongings in the house.  Clean out and organize the closets.  If there is no reason for something to be displayed, get rid of it.

If you can, remove non-essential furniture to make the rooms appear larger.  Spacious rooms are more appealing to the eyes.  Keep your boxes of junk stored out of sight.  It is a good idea to start figuring out what you need and what you can live without.  It would be a good idea to have a garage sale before you put the house on the market.  If you can’t bear to part with anything, rent a temporary storage unit.

You cannot ignore the outside of the house either.  The outside presentation has a major impact on the buyer.  Clean the leaves out of the drain gutter, don’t let garden hoses or other tools pile up outside.  Pick them up and store them elsewhere.  Make the effort to beautify the front entry.  If the door handle is rusty or the whole door looks junky, get a new one.  Keep the flower beds neat and free from weeds.

Look at the walls and try to put yourself in the buyers’ shoes.  How would you look at the walls in someone else’s house?  Is the paint chipping or is the color outdated?  It would be well worth your time to give the walls a fresh coat of paint.  Nothing makes a room come alive more than a fresh coat of paint.  Give the rooms a little bit of a makeover with new décor that compliments the wall colors.  If you have a garden, bring in some fresh flowers and put them in attractive vases.

Establish a pleasant atmosphere by baking bread or cookies.  Candles add a nice touch along with background music.  Classical or jazz music are both good choices.  You want to convey style and elegance to your audience.  First impressions go a long way.

When trying to sell your house, you should be prepared for a showing at any time.  Last minute requests are very common and can turn into offers.  You have the option to request 24 hours notice before a showing, but in doing so you limit your home’s exposure.  Try to be as flexible as possible.  Accommodating the hectic schedules of a potential buyer will make you and your home look that much better.

It is a good idea to not be present for the showing.  Buyers might not feel comfortable in your presence or they might be afraid to ask a particular question for fear of offending you.  If they can’t view the house fully, they will probably just move on to the next one.  You don’t want that.  They are supposed to fall in love with your house.

If you decide to sell your home yourself, instead of working with a real estate agency, then there are some very important things you should know before placing your first “For Sale by Owner” (FSBO) advertisement. First, you would have to do your own marketing analysis and develop a reasonable asking price for your house. Then you will also have to work on the home’s interior and curb appeal and repair any minor problems.

Some states’ haves laws that require the seller to give the potential buyers at least one property disclosure when you sell the home. These disclosures basically pertain to the condition of the property or location. Some of these disclosures may be as simple as how old the house is and whether there are problems existing within the house that the potential buyer needs to be made aware of. But these disclosures can also extend to property disputes and whether the house is located in a flood zone, on an earthquake fault or near an airport. There may be other issues depending on your location.

Most houses built before 1978 may have lead-based paint. Federal law requires the sellers of FSBO houses to disclose this information and provide details to the potential owners about past lead tests or offer the opportunity for the buyers to do their own testing. Many buyers and sellers won’t perform the lead tests, but the seller should at least provide the buyers with a lead paint pamphlet, that is available for free of charge from the Environmental Protection Agency.

When selling your home, the property’s exterior, or ‘curb appeal’ can greatly affect the buyer’s decision on looking at the inside of your house. If buyers see a cluttered, unkept yard, they are most likely to assume that the inside of the house has nothing better to offer. Therefore, you will be losing a potential buyer. You want to get the best possible offer on your house, which may require you to take a look around and clean up your house’s general appearance.

Curb Appeal not only includes your front yard, but also applies to your back yard as well. Buyers will eventually want to view the back yard as they are shown the rest of your house. In order to have an attractive curb appeal, you can:

1. Mow the lawn and pull all the weeds by hand or by the use of a weed eater.

2. Rake leaves and dispose properly of the leaves, so there aren’t any unsightly leaf piles in the yard.

3. Pick up any debris and properly dispose of.

4. Trim bushes, shrubs or tree’s that are overgrown. Trees’ with branches extending toward your roof should be trimmed back to avoid damage to the house.

5. Store your lawn mower or other unnecessary lawn maintenance tools or garden implements out of sight to avoid a cluttered lawn.

6. Clean all windows, siding and decks with a pressure washer to brighten the appearance of the house.

7. Clean all gutters and make sure they are all attached and working properly.

8. Clean up any animal waste on a regular basis.

9. For those with children, keep the yard free of toy clutter and wash away any chalk marks or other art mad by children on the sidewalk or concrete.

Now that your home has curb appeal that is attractive enough to entice potential buyers, you must apply the same care and attention to the inside of your home to make it just as appealing. Making the inside of your home appealing to buyers can be done by simply maintaining a clean and clutter free appearance, killing any odors and possibly making a few minor repairs.

Now you are ready to open your home to all those frisky real estate agents and their potential buyers. Although showing your home isn’t very difficult, it can be very time consuming because as the seller, you will have to flexible. You will have to be prepared for same day requests to show your home and for those last minute requests, when the real estate agent or buyer is calling you from your front porch. Granting these requests can make a huge difference between the buying and selling of your home.

If you are showing the house yourself, be prepared to answer all questions as politely, truthfully and accurately as possible. What is most important, never get too personal or let your emotions take over when showing your house. The buyers are there to look at your house as a possible purchase and not to discuss your love of collecting clown figurines or how great your nifty little sports car runs.