Selling your home requires some thought and a clear plan of action. Here are five things to consider when you're getting ready to sell your home:

1) Know Your Buyers

Are most of the homes in your neighborhood being bought by first-time or move-up buyers? Depending on which group will be looking at your home, you'll want to do the things that will make your home appealing to those buyers.

First-time buyers are hoping to gain more control of their environment by making the move from renter to homeowner. Their psychological needs include such things as safety and security, comfort, and control of their living space.

Moving-up buyers want those things, too, of course, but they're generally looking for more room and increased prestige. Regardless of which group is buying homes in your area, you'll want to concentrate your improvement efforts toward attracting them.

2) Know Your Selling Season

The time of year you'll be marketing your home will dictate your decorating choices and color scheme. Use cool colors like blue, green, and grey when selling in spring and summer, and warm colors like yellow, red, maroon if you'll be marketing your home in the fall and winter. Envision your final product as either a cooling desert oasis or a warm haven, depending upon the selling season.

3) Clean up, Fix up

Get rid of all non-essential clutter in your home that will limit a buyer's imagination. You want them to be able to envision themselves in your home. Once you've packed all personal knickknacks, take a look at your house from a stranger's perspective. Then address whatever repairs will make your home appeal to a stranger by either doing the work yourself or having it done professionally.

4) Stage Your Home

The staging of your home can be the most fun part of the selling process. If any interior space feels too empty, add plants to bring nature indoors. Delicate green ferns, spiky grey foliage, and cut flowers will support the emotional atmosphere you're trying to create for potential buyers. You can also support the buyer's sense of smell by spraying a mixture of natural essential oils and water into the air.

5) Make Showing a Joy for Buyers

When you show your home to potential buyers, you want the experience to be as enjoyable as possible. For the sake of safety, it's wise to have someone with you when you're showing your home, but always send any small children or annoying pets to a friend's house until potential buyers have gone.

Taking the time to work out a selling strategy, and then following these five simple, but important, steps can help sell your home faster, and for substantially more money.

(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.

Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/pages/5/index.htm