There are ten houses on your street for sale: they've sat for six months and prices are dropping. Any buyers that look at your home are asking for you to practically give it away. What are you going to do?

In a buyers' market, there are more homes for sale than buyers. Prices plummet, homes take longer to sell, and those that sell often do so with tremendous concessions made by the sellers.

You've got a home to sell. How can you gain the upper hand in a buyers' market?

If you are in a buyers' market and wish to sell your home quickly, do the following:

1. Be sure that you can sell without a loss.

Look at your financial situation, and evaluate where you would go, what kind of home you would buy if you weren't in your current home, or if you would re-buy at all. Conveying your home has to make sound economic sense. See if an equity loan would help you make your home more attractive to buyers by allowing you to make updates. Use an equity loan to consolidate your debt in the meanwhile so that you can reduce your monthly outgo while waiting for the home to sell. Reserve monies to make repairs that an inspection may reveal. Talk to a Realtor and ask his/her help in evaluating your goals and economic situation. The Realtor will know in which updates buyers are the most interested.

2. Be prepared to sell by putting your home in the best condition possible.

Improve the cosmetics and fix all obviously needed repairs. Get your home inspected so that you can decide what repairs will need to be made and which to discount off the selling price. Being up front with buyers about the condition of your home will actually put you and your home at an advantage. Buyers will wonder what they are not being told about the other homes on the market and will appreciate that you have a report to show them, especially when the findings are confirmed by their own inspector. You can explain what you have fixed or are planning to fix. (Editor's note: Even if a seller has an inspection performed, buyers should always have their inspection done.)

3. Because there are fewer buyers, it is imperative that you play the numbers in your favor.

Market your home through a REALTOR®. Unless you have all the time in the world, marketing a home yourself can turn out to be an unpleasant, thankless experience. It is a full-time job. You will have to become an instant expert in marketing, advertising, communications, diplomacy, negotiations, and law.

As a FSBO, you will be limiting the number of buyers who will see your home - not smart in an already buyer-poor selling environment. You are only one person, and one who most likely has another full time job. You won't be there to answer calls, market the home in newspapers and on the Internet, obtain financing information, show the home, search for more buyer prospects, and the hundreds of other jobs a REALTOR can do for you. If you have a REALTOR, you have the members of an entire MLS organization trying to find a buyer for your home and networking with other MLS organizations from around the country and the world to sell your home.

Since FSBO buyers are interested in saving money, they will expect you to do the jobs of a REALTOR, too. You will find yourself spending time arranging the settlement for their benefit: finding them financing, showing the home to them and their relatives and friends repeatedly, and helping them negotiate the sale of the home in their favor!

4. Even if you hire a Realtor, you can pitch in with marketing efforts.

Insist that your Realtor list your home with every home search site possible on the Internet. Ask the Realtor to tell you with which sites their MLS organizations have agreements. Most will have agreements to run listings on Realtor.com, but there are numerous other home search sites that may accept your agent's MLS listings, including HomeAdvisor, HomeSeekers, HomeScout, CyberHomes to name just a few. Some of these companies may accept listings from agents in territories where they do not have an agreement with the local MLS. For example, Northwest MLS, the MLS organization for Seattle and surrounding areas does not list homes with any on-line organization. As one of the top ten relocation destinations in the country, Seattle area homes are at a premium for all home search sites.

Also check out the free classifieds on most of the search engines such as Yahoo! and classified ad companies such as Classifieds2000. They are also free.

Most on-line FSBO organizations, such as ForSaleByOwner.com will allow you to list your home even if you are represented by a Realtor. Although their traffic is not to be compared with the MLS associated sites, they still draw a significant number of seekers. You will have to remember that the buyer who is interested in FSBO sites is typically a bargain hunter. To get this buyer to act, you will have to attract them with price.

Published: January 14, 1999

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Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.