1. Emotional Appeal. Make sure your home looks, feels and smells its best. You may be competing with 200-300 other homes for sale. Buyers buy on emotion. Let your home be the cleanest, freshest and cheeriest, and you'll have a much faster sale...at a higher price.

2. Read My Seller's Special Report "How To Showcase Your Home" Very Carefully. If your home is logically a good value, then a buyer may just say they will make an offer. If the buyer becomes emotionally attracted to your home, then you will sell for more!! Many buyers buy on emotion, not logic. You'll want lots of people to say or think, "Wow! This is nice! I would like to live here!"

3. Lots Of Light. For maximum effect, turn every light on, even on a sunny day. Open all window shades. Clean your draperies and curtains. Make sure your windows are spotlessly clean. Let the sun in and keep those lights on. Leaving all your lights on for two hour may cost 50 cents, but makes your home look larger and more spacious.

4. Keep This Statistic In Mind. On the average, buyers are comparing your home to fifteen to twenty others. If your house is not priced competitively, then buyers may reject your home in favor of superior homes priced comparably. The longer your home is for sale, the more buyers are inclined to feel that there's something "wrong" with it.

5. Constant Exposure. Your home won't sell unless buyers know about it. To get top dollar, be sure to have your home repeatedly exposed to qualified, ready-to-buy buyers. Some brokers charge you a discount commission, but think about this. If you were a realtor, would you want to show a 5 or 6% commission listing or a 7, 8 or 9% commission listing? Currently 9 out of 10 properties for sale offer a selling commission of 7% or higher for the first $100,000 and 3% commission on the balance. Remember, buyers can't know about your home unless you or your realtor has a marketing plan to ensure that your home is brought to the attention of home buyers and other realtors.

6. Non-Traditional Advertising. 83% of buyers looking for a home in the $150-250,000 price range are first-time home buyers. Many first-time home buyers don't even know they can afford a home. They don't know that owning a home costs less than renting. They think that they need 20% for a down payment, plus closing costs! If your home is in the first-time home buyer price range, a substantial portion of your marketing dollars should be aimed directly at first-time home buyers. That is why we have alliances with mortgage consultants that can offer over 300 different mortgages...some with zero, 2% and 5% down payments and mortgage discounts of 1 - 1.25%.

7. Education. First-time home buyers are more likely to pay top dollar for your home. If your home is in the first-time home buyer price range, then make sure that your marketing program shows first-time buyers the benefits of home ownership and how affordable your home is. Design a marketing plan to get first-time home buyers to see the inside of your home. Our Buyer's Happiness Guarantee ensures that our buyers are confident in their purchase.

8. Multiple Signs. Many home buyers don't even see traditional "For Sale" signs because they aren't actively thinking of buying. They often don't realize that they can afford a much nicer home. The strategy of an additional sign in the yard shatters the "advertising protection armor" that every consumer wears. Ten years of testing by U.S. Home and Realty has proven that a second bright-yellow sign, hand-lettered, will result in more inquiries, more showings and a quicker sale. It is optional, yet works!

9. Aggressive Target Marketing. Lots of buyers will buy your home for less than it's worth. The secret in getting top dollar is to find a buyer who is perfectly "matched" to your home. Right now, there are buyers who would love to own your home, are able to afford it, and would pay a fair asking price...if only they knew about it! Some of these buyers may not even be thinking of buying yet, but if they knew about your home they would love it! It takes a lot more than just a sign in the yard and an ad in the paper to market a home effectively. Aggressive target marketing will find those buyers!

10. Create Urgency. The Rule of Full Price states that if a buyer feels the asking price is fair, and has sufficient sense of urgency, he will pay the full asking price. I have found that the more buyers that view your home, the higher the feeling of urgency. The auction effect causes people to become more excited and enthused about your home, thereby creating a sense of competition and urgency which results in a higher chance of a full price offer.

The Ernie Gardy Guarantee
Your home will be advertised 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until it is sold. Guaranteed!