I have had bad luck with realtors, I know there are some fantastic ones out there, I just pick the wrong ones. Because of this, I have sold the last two homes myself. The first home that had previously been listed with a realtor for six months sold in two weeks, the second sold in a few days. I didnÂt give them away either, the 2nd home sold for the next to the highest in the neighborhood. ItÂs all about creating urgency though if you are going to go this route. I also eliminated phone call burnout by getting a second phone line. When you list by owner, you get every one and their mother calling to find out what your house is up for. Have a nice recorded message describing your home and the asking price with instructions to leave name and phone number if they want to schedule an appointment. This process will help with no shows because you will call ahead of time to verify appointments and you also have a record of people coming into your home. You will also get millions of real estate agents wanting the listing. When you call them back, you will tell them that they are more than welcome to sell your home at an agreed % but you are not signing a contract. However, the very most important thing you do is to schedule your appointments fifteen minutes apart to create the urgency. I chose two days a week to do showings, Wednesday and Sundays. When I called people back I would just say something like is Sunday at 4:00 good for you if not I would ask if Wednesday at 6:00 was good. When people arrived for their appointments fifteen minutes apart there was always people coming and going. In a slow market, you may have to do showings once a week in order to create the urgency. Every one told me this way of scheduling would never work because you must be available at all times, but I say its all how you do it. I used a title company that has an attorney on hand if needed, (I didnÂt) and they even gave me some contracts. Another thing worth mentioning, donÂt talk too much while showing your home, itÂs a distraction. I also did all the usual stuff like renting storage to remove the extras, fixed the broken, painted, made flyers, had for sale signs with appointment only on them and advertised locally. ItÂs a lot of work but I find it less stressful selling your self because your house only needs to be spotless on Wednesdays and Sundays.

I agree, make it a clean break and sell the house. They may feel like they're walking away from future rise in equity but no one knows what the housing market will actually do. Some economists are actually predicting another imminent bubble bust in housing prices Also, If the home is awarded to one party by the court or if the couple decide to let one buy the other out, the other party needs to know that they're still responsible for the jointly held mortgage no matter what the new owner says or what the divorce decree states. The existing contract between the couple and the bank takes precedent over the court's ruling or any private agreement between the couple. So, if the person living in the house defaults on the joint mortgage, it will ruin the credit of the other person AND the bank will come after them for the back payments to boot. A much better court ruling/private agreement would be that ownership will be awarded to the sole party once they can prove they've re-fi'd the mortgage into his or her name only. At that time only, the other party will sign the quit claim deed for his/her share of ownership.

Agree that paper booties are the best protection....but open house? How many are you expecting? Anything fewer than 40, don't stress. Those booties are for houses that are open to hundreds. And frankly when I am invited as a guest to someone's home for a party and greeted at the door with a basket of shoe coverings.....I turn around and leave. If your house is so fragile that it can't stand the wear and tear of a party....then have your partys at a hired venue.

We sold ours to our yard guy -- we traded for yard service for a length of time. He does many yards here and had been doing our house before we bought it. He does my son's yard and did my parents' last house. After 19 years, he's almost family. In fact, I chat with him more than some family members. Worked out nicely, but that's not really a solution for getting the most money in your pocket. Our salesman at the dealership told us the best way to get the best trade in was to go to Carmax or another dealer and bring in the best price.