How to take the stress out of selling your house

Your home or investment property is a major asset so you need to make sure you get top dollar when you sell it. But as Money reader Alice has discovered, that's not as easy as it sounds. "Should I spend money fixing up my house to sell it? Should I bring in newer furniture to display it better and should I auction or sell by private treaty?" asks Alice. "I am confused as real estate agents have given me conflicting advice about these matters."

Selling a home is stressful because not only do you have a lot of money tied up, it's often also an emotional wrench.

When selling any asset it's commonsense to try to maximise its appeal. With property this means making sure it's in good repair and neat, clean and tidy. It's remarkable the difference a professional clean and paint job can make. And don't forget kerb appeal, so tidy up the garden.

Make sure the home is not cluttered. Put excess and badly worn furniture in storage. Hiring a few choice pieces can really improve the appearance and help people see how they could live in your home.

Watch a few episodes of Selling Houses Australia on the Lifestyle Channel and you will pick up some tips, although they often do major renovations.

This can work if you are confident you can keep to a tight renovation budget and have a relatively high-value property, but for most homes fixing up the cosmetics is the way to go.

If you are floundering it may be worth consulting a stylist who can be more objective than you about what your home needs to give it sales appeal.

Choosing a good agent is vital but again not easy. The agent that sells the most properties in your area is a good start. So is the recommendation of happy clients. Visit a few open for inspections to gain insight into how various agents operate and also get ideas about how to display your home.

Single out two to three agents to invite to your home and give you an appraisal and outline a suggested marketing plan. Don't be tempted to necessarily choose the one that gives the highest valuation - agents often over-quote to secure listings.

Talk to the agents about how flexible they are on fees. For instance, if the agent wants 2.5%, see if they will accept 2% up to an agreed value but a considerable percentage for anything above that.

I sold one property for $20,000 above the value the agent and I agreed on and although she got 20% of this, I pocketed an extra $16,000.

Whether to auction or not is something you should decide with advice from your agent, though keep in mind some agents favour auctions because it usually gives them bigger marketing budgets, not only to advertise your home but also themselves.

Generally auctions work best in areas where demand is outstripping supply, such as inner city suburbs. Check the percentage of properties that go to auction in your area and the clearance rates. If these are both high it's a good indicator to auction.

The other great advantage of auctions is they impose a time limit on buyers to make a quick decision - but bear in mind not every home sells under the hammer.

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