If you are buying a new home after the sale, know what you can afford first. Visit your lender and make the arrangements for your new mortgage prior to listing your home for sale. Since almost all home purchases use a lender, it makes sense to do this prior to anything else. HomeIncentive has savings available with mortgage lenders in the area.

Get your home ready for the sale. This means clean,clean,clean. We can''t stress this enough, a clean, neat home will usually sell faster and for more money. You need to remove an much clutter as possible. It is a great time to make donations to your favorite charity, clean out all you unused things from the basement, attic, and garage. Remove as much as possible from your closets to give the impression of more room. Keep bathroom and kitchen counters as clear as possible. If you leave items out, it give the impression that you don''t have enough storage available.

It may be a good idea to rent a storage space if you still have a lot of items left in the house. Once you get rid of the clutter, then you clean. Everything. You may even think about haveing a professional cleaner come in to do everything for you. It is money well spent.

Pay attention to the exterior. Curb appeal can sell a home. If a home looks inviting and well kept from the outside, buyers can be much less critical of some issues on the inside. A home that looks good from the street makes people want to buy it. That is the first step to getting an offer. Make sure the landscaping looks good, the exterior of the house is cleaned, the gutters and windows are in good repair.

Make repairs where needed If you have a plumbing leak or an electrical problem, get it fixed as soon as possible. Use a professional so you can provide a receipt and warranty. Buyers understand that items may break after they buy a home, but they do want the basic mechanical systems in sound condition when they make a purchase.

On to a more sensitve issue. Smell. If you smoke or have animals, you may have some issues to deal with concerning smell. Many older homes also have a musty odor in the basement. Buyers do not want a home with an odor. Non-smokers may not even consider a home with even a faint smoke smell, and issues from cats and dogs can be just as bad. If you have pets or smoke, it would be a good idea to have a professional cleaner come in, and you may want to look into a company that can do air duct cleaning and ozone treatment to remove any smell from the home.

Use HomeIncentive to find your agent and your incentive will help pay for some or all of the cleaning and repairs. HomeIncentive will find you an agent to sell your home and help you find a new home, and you will earn cash at closing. When you sell a home and buy a new home, you earn incentives on each transaction. We can save you thousands of dollars. Sign up today, there is no cost and no obligation.