[Vinny]

My wife has been a real estate agent for a very long time and I also was at one time. We have sold 8 of our own homes over the years so we know a thing or two about it. There are very good tips here especially about staging your home and offering agents an incentive to get them to come to your home initially. If they like it they will tell their co-workers.

Now for the bad news. August is not a good month to sell a home in due to many people on vacation and the start of a new school year. Many analysis say that the housing market will not bottom out until the first quarter next year and it will be a slow climb back up over the next few years. Some claim that homes may not even reach the level of a few years ago. Of course, your market area may be different.Then you have to consider that the new and repeat home buyer tax credit just expired at the end of April and that greatly decreased the number of buyers out there as many bought homes then. Add the fear of losing your job to the equation and the decrease in your investments and you do not have the same market as there was a few years ago. In the 46 showings we had over 7 months, we did not see one prospect that was looking for a bigger and better home unlike our previous home sales. In fact, our first two buyers could not get mortgages even though one of them worked for the federal government with a very secure job.

From conversations at the pool here, I am hearing some people saying that they sold their home very quickly, even in the same day they listed it, and others who just decided to pull their home off the market and move here anyway. So despite the generally bad time of year and housing market, there is always the chance that you can sell quickly. Follow the good advice here and you will increase your odds. Sorry if I sound gloomy but I am not saying anything that is not being said by others far more knowledgeable than me. It is not impossible to sell your home; only harder. Go to Zillow.com and see what they think your home is worth. Zillow is pretty accurate at estimating market value of homes when they have the right information and you can see what they think the homes around yours are worth and price accordingly.

P.S. - Real estate agents will naturally try to sell the homes that produce the largest commission for them. This makes commission spliting a negative. It is even worse when there are many more homes for sale than buyers as they can often meet their buyer's needs without sacrificing their full commission. 6 months is a long time for a listing contract but what is done is done. I strongly suggest that you offer the selling agent a bonus to offset the fact that they have to split their commission. This will greatly increase your odds. Good luck.