If selling your home in the Rochester Minnesota area were easy, you wouldn't need a real estate agent.  However, every home sale is unique.  My job as a Realtor is to clearly understand the current Rochester MN area real estate market, give you straight forward advice, to help you find a buyer, and to coordinate the sale from the contract through the closing.

I understand the emotional and financial investments you have in your home, and I will do everything I can to ensure that those investments are protected by handling the sale of your home in a timely & efficient manner. 

If you've made the decision to sell your home, then it's time to get busy!  It's not difficult, honest, unless you fail to plan (Yes, sadly what "they" say is true...Fail to plan, and you plan to fail!).  Follow these steps and your home will sell in a timely fashion. 

This may not be information that you want, but it's information you need!

1. Prepare your home to sell !   This is such an important step, but yet is often forgotten about.  Your home needs to be ready to be sold.  If something is broken, fix it!  If it's dirty, clean it!  If the walls have a million holes in them and are painted a shade of orange that was considered lovely back in 1972, then patch and paint them a neutral shade of taupe...if you know how to paint, otherwise, hire a professional.  Make your home reflect that you care about it, and someone else will want to care about it too (Your Buyer!).
   
   
2. Hire a qualified Realtor to sell your home!  This is the tough part.  There are so many of us to choose from, unfortunately, and if you don't already know one you can trust, then you're going to have to do some searching.  If you cold call an agent, then make sure you intervew them....don't be afraid to ask questions, and listen to what your gut is telling you.  Each agent you talk with will most likely have a pretty slick marketing plan to present you, and the bells and whistles of that plan may seem pretty impressive, but remember, in the end, you're hiring a person, not a plan, to sell your home...and it should be a person you feel you can trust to care about what's near and dear to your heart...your home and of course, your pocket book!
   
   
3. Price your home for selling in today's market!   Just because your neighbor's home, which is just like yours, sold for let's say....$200,000 last year, doesn't mean that yours is worth more, or even the same, this year.  The real estate market changes constantly, and sadly, it's not always going to be in your favor.  Also... those improvements that you've made to your home, while most likely considered wonderful by you and your family, may not be considered as valuable to potential buyers, and therefore, may not bring you more money for your home.  And if you are adding up the costs of all the improvements you've made over the years, in anticipation of increasing your asking price, make sure you understand the difference between an "Improvement" and "Maintenance."
   
   Why real estate agents take overpriced listings
   
   
   
4. Step four....wait a minute, there is no step four!  If you've properly completed steps one through three, then you're well on your way to having your home sold.  Let that wonderful Realtor you've hired do their job, and you can now get busy looking for your new home!