The first step is also the most important. The one critical error that causes more sellers to foul up their sale and lose thousands of dollars is failing to understand market conditions. You need to know exactly what is going on in your real estate market. Not just your neighborhood, either...your whole area. Research active, under agreement, and closed sales to determine vital statistics of your area such as: Average list price Average sales price Percentage of listed homes that actually sell List to sales price ratio Average days on the market What is happening in your area? Are home sales brisk or a bit on the slow side? Are there factors such as new businesses or factory openings/closings that are affecting your market? The value of anything, including houses, is determined by the supply and demand. If there are lots of sellers and few buyers, prices tend to go down and houses take longer to sell. This is referred to as a "Buyers Market". On the other hand, if there are many eager buyers, but few homes for sale, prices will rise and houses will sell very quickly. This is a "Seller's Market". Your area may be at one extreme or the other, but most likely is somewhere in between. Next, take a look at your neighborhood. Compare your home to others based on criteria such as style, size, number of bedrooms and baths, garage, basement, pool, view, lot size, etc. You should soon get a good feel for what price your home should bring given the current market conditions. Remember: Keep your emotions in check and just look at the facts! "But where the heck do you get all of this information?" The easiest place to look is a real estate broker; he/she will be able to provide you with a variety of facts about your market. You can have a FREE market analysis e-mailed/mailed to you if you wish by clicking here. Also, all of the information about closed sales is public record, so you could obtain it from your city or county records.