Successful Sellers Know How to Think Like Buyers

· Visit a few open houses in your neighborhood and price range to get a sense of what other sellers are doing.

· Try to imagine what you'd want in a house. How do you want to live?

· Talk with your agent about what kinds of properties and amenities she is looking for on behalf of her buyers.

· Visit model homes in new-construction developments to get a sense of what developers are trying to showcase.

Once you're thinking like a home buyer, you can use that information to help you retool as a home seller. How can you change your house so that when you list it for sale, there's real interest from buyers? If you owned the house I saw last week, you might spend $10,000 to open up the wall from the kitchen and switch out the dining room and family room.

But don't go out and make major repairs or renovations to your home until you understand what impact those repairs or renovations will have on your ability to sell the home and recover the money you put into it.

Your home could sell faster with a new kitchen, but that doesn't mean you should go ahead and renovate if the cost would be $65,000 and you wouldn't profit from the investment.

Remember, the trick to selling your house is to remove any possible objections a buyer might have to purchasing it. By thinking like a buyer, you're much more likely to change your "for sale" sign into one that says "sold."

Q I own a home with a lady; we are not married. We have children that are all older than 18. I now want to sell the house, but she does not. She has never made a mortgage payment. I worked two jobs to pay the down payment. I just want to sell the house, split the proceeds and go on my way. The house was bought in March 1986 for $84,500. I owe $32,000. There is only the first mortgage on the property.

ALet's address the elephant in the room -- you're ready to break off this long-term relationship that you've had with your lady friend. You don't say whether you have children together or whether each of you brought children to the relationship, and now they are all out of the house. In any case, it's clear that you're ready to move on.

What you haven't made clear is whether you and your lady friend have actually had a conversation about your desire to end the relationship. If you haven't had that conversation, you need to have it. Perhaps her interest in staying in the house will change if you tell her you're ready to move on. It will certainly change how you and she react to each other as you divide your assets.

Speaking of which, when you buy property with someone else and that person's name goes on the deed, he or she may own half the property -- whether or not they have contributed to the mortgage. You didn't mention whether your lady friend also has her name on the mortgage. If she does, then at least she is legally responsible for the payments. If not, then you've made a foolish decision -- to give her half of the house without having her be legally liable for the mortgage.