According to the Federal Housing Finance Board:... As of October 2004, The U.S. national average purchase price for a single-family home reached $264,540. If your house is worth at least the U.S. average and you can add an additional 1.25% in value to your home's selling price, you'd pocket an extra $3,306.75. Minor changes can really add up.

1) Know your market. If it's down, consider holding on. If it's up, consider selling. Markets like California and Boston have had a sky high price increases over the last few years. Can they keep going? Maybe. Figure out what's really going on in your market and then sell if you think it's peaked. Just because everyone is going into real estate in your local area doesn't mean that you should be to. After all, a lot of the best investors only buy when things are out of favor. Your goal should not be to go with the crowd, your goal should be to maximize the amount of money that your house commands.

2) Use an agent. Yes, the fee is high. Yes, using the wrong agent can be a disaster. But, using the right agent can make a world of difference. Good agents are worth their weight in gold. Find one and outsource the job of selling your home to her. An accomplished agent can really move your house better than you can. It's what they do and finding a pro is well worth the fee.

3) Fix it up. Fix it all up. Everything you think of that might be a little dirty or broken you will want to fix. Anything that you notice, potential buyers will notice 10 times more than you will. A cracked window is probably no more than $100 to fix, but keeping it broken will scream to potential purchasers that you don't didn't take care of your house. If the window is cracked, is your plumbing leaky? Is your foundation not on good footing? The details will often indicate the owner's behavior.