Some people just seem to have the time and skill to do everything themselves.

They bypass the regular steps of getting in touch with a professional, setting up an appointment and, of course, paying up to make them take care of it which again saves them a lot of money, in the long run. But there is no point trying if you don’t know what you’re doing. You might end up doing yourself an injustice if you skip the researching and just dive in, head first.

If you’re considering selling your home in the near future, you can feel a bit more empowered by starting with this article. It won’t teach you all the ropes, but you’ll be able to grasp the basics and move on from there – with your savings intact, of course, and with a lot more control than you used to have.

And, best of all, selling your home yourself is a lot easier than you might think!

First: Find the right price.

The first steps of selling your home is kind of like selling anything online. You need to find an agreeable price before those offers start knocking down your door and the best way to do this is, naturally, to look at what other sellers are asking for homes in your area. In other words, hit the search engine and have a look at what other sellers are asking.

You need to keep the size of your home in mind, though, as well as other features it might have that other recently sold homes in your area are lacking. The biggest mistake many homeowners do when attempting to sell it by themselves is to overprice it; you simply won’t get the offers you’re hoping for if you’re asking too much.

The market dictates what your home will sell for – not what you may think it’s worth.

Lastly, remember to round it slightly down so that it is just under a round number. It’s the easiest trick in the book and you’ll be able to attract a lot more offers this way.

Next: Put it on the market!

Finally, you know what you’re expecting to get out of selling your home and it’s time to let the rest of the world know about it. You need to get some ads out there, in other words, and should write up a short but precise description of your home to go with it. If you have never done this before, it’s a good idea to read through some of the descriptions of homes online. Like with most things in life, you simply follow the steps of those who know what they’re doing and hope you come off as both professional and experienced.

You want to keep the most critical facts of your home in mind, first of all, when writing up the ad such as the number of bathrooms, bedrooms, and the standard of your kitchen. By reading a few of these before crafting your own, you’ll probably notice that prompt no-nonsense language is preferred over the lengthy flowery ones.

Waiting for the offers to come in is often the most tedious process for homeowners, so keep in mind that there are companies that might want to buy your home directly; have a look at Rapid Housing Solutions, for example, and you may be able to save yourself some time and effort.

Before the show: Make it pretty

When you’re working with a real estate agent, they will usually take care of hosting an open house for you. This is where they really do have an expertise and you should put some careful thought into how you go about with this; a home doesn’t sell at the best possible price simply due to an open house.

It takes a bit of skill to, firstly, make your home look as appealing as possible and you need to put your best foot forward as well. Start by cleaning every room from top to bottom – we’re talking deep spring cleaning and pay extra attention to the kitchen and the bathroom. Some real estate agents will suggest that you give your home a fresh layer of paint before inviting prospective buyers in and this is a good idea if you have some time and money to spare. It can, in fact, push the price up slightly if it looks good enough.

Next, you’d want to think about what a prospective buyer wants to see when considering to buy a home.

They want to see themselves living there, of course, and any personal items or clutter is going to ruin that image completely. Stack away your kids’ toys, pictures hanging on the fridge, heaps of shoes in the hallways, etc – they don’t want to think about anyone else living there.

Think about it as if you’re putting your ex out on the market; prospective buyers know very well that the person has a history but they’d rather not think about it. Tidy up all of your personal belongings before they arrive and pretend that your home has never loved anyone before.

Before the sale: Get an inspection

If everything went according to plan, you should have an offer that makes sense to both parties. But it’s not over yet, though – the buyer will want to have his or her future home inspected and you might be obliged to pay for some repairs such as plumbing and electrical systems. While this is normal and there’s really no way out if it, you can always arrange an inspection before a potential buyer does it so get in touch with a local inspection to address the problems right away.

You won’t avoid any potential repairs or costs but it could give you a sense of extra control and you’ll be in-the-know about the costs long before the buyer points it out. Now, all you have to do is to hire a lawyer and make sure the rest of the sale goes as it should.

Good luck and let me know how it goes!