The good times of the real estate market earlier this decade have been followed up by very bad times. You are going to face a lot of competition if you want to sell your home. The following tips can help and they won’t cost you a bundle.

Many homeowners forget about the sense of smell when listing their home. If your home has a smoker in residence, buyers will notice. Clean the walls with ammonia and have a go at the carpets with a steam cleaner rental.

Dripping faucets in the middle of the night are a form of torture. They also turn off buyers. Check all your faucets. If they leak, replace the washers. If they are beaten up or don’t turn well, replace the entire faucet.

They say the eyes are the path to the soul of a person. In a home, the same is true for baseboards. They tell a story. If yours are beaten up, they tell a scary tale to a potential buyer. Replace and paint as necessary.

Walls are a flat single color surface. This makes them a natural target and they get beat up over the years. If yours are dinged up, fix them. Cracks should be repaired. Make sure the paint blends naturally with the rest of the wall.

It always amazes me when people spend big dollars on beautiful doors and windows, but then go cheap on screens. Screens are cheap and easy to replace. If yours are beaten up, bent, have holes or rusty, change them out.

The entrance to your home is an important area. It’s the first place where buyers step from the exterior to the interior. Don’t you think the front door should be in good shape? Paint, repair or do whatever is necessary to make sure it is!

And then there is sweat equity. Yep, landscaping. You might have a thing for the jungle look, but most potential buyers will not. Cut back the jungle. Cut the grass. Edge the pathways. Plant some flowers. Just have at it.

Neither buyers nor sellers know much about roofs. Still, both know that broken shingles are bad news. If you have them, get the fixed. In fact, pay a roofer a small fee to have the entire roof inspected.

A cold real estate market is not a frozen one. By this, I mean that homes are being bought and sold each day. You can be successful at selling your home. Follow these suggestions and you’ll be on your way.