The kids are back in school and the fall home selling season is underway. We’ve heard a lot of positive reports about home sales this summer, which shows that buyers are out there — and they’re hungry for deals.

The key to tapping this eager market is to prepare and price your home right before putting it on the market.

This month’s Top 10 is designed to help all you homeowners avoid the Top 10 Home Selling Mistakes That Can Cost You.

If you’re selling in this market, chances are, you’re motivated by something other than profit. But that doesn’t mean you should waste your time and money! Avoid the common mistakes sellers make and get your home sold and for top dollar (at least for this market).

Start with mistake #10: Waiting until spring to sell
http://www.frontdoor.com/Sell/Top-10-Home-Selling-Mistakes/55225/p10

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FrontDoor.com is giving you a virtual backstage pass to the new series “Real Estate Intervention,” through Twitter and Facebook.

During a special episode this Sunday, July 26, HGTV real estate expert Mike Aubrey will give you the inside scoop on his show LIVE through tweets and status updates. Tune in at 8:30 p.m. Eastern (7:30 p.m. Central).

But the best part is that you can join the conversation too!

Maybe you have a suggestion for the seller. Or you didn’t agree with Mike’s advice. Tweet and post your opinions and share them with other viewers. No more talking to the TV set alone! I’ll be adding my two cents too.

To join the interactive fun, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/HGTVFrontDoor or fan us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FrontDoor.

You can also follow along through the Facebook and Twitter streams on FrontDoor.com.

Don’t you just love social media?

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For most of my 20s, I accepted terms that were offered to me, not really knowing I could fight for what I wanted.

Perhaps it was my aversion to conflict (Libras like me seek balance, after all) or the ingrained, albeit naive, notion that people always offer a fair price.

Looking back, I wish I would have negotiated many more things in my life — career opportunities, salaries, boyfriends… but I digress.

As a first-time homebuyer, it is absolutely critical that you understand how to make a strong offer and how to negotiate with the seller to get terms you both can live with, especially if you really want the home.

Negotiating skillfully requires that you do your research — calculate the property’s fair market value from comps, understand the seller’s motivations for selling in this market, and know what concessions you are willing to make and what your deal breakers are.

Check your emotions at the door. Consider everything analytically, carefully, so you don’t get caught up in the heat of the moment and end up doing something you regret.

Think of this preparation as your training before you jump into the negotiating ring. Just because you’re in a buyer’s market doesn’t mean the seller is going to jump at your offer. You can safely assume that the seller has done their homework, so why should you come unprepared?

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I didn’t see that coming.

So it dawned on me, if an infomercial can sell blankets with sleeves, chopping devices, a metal bar you hang on your doorway (Iron Gym) and other random stuff, it can sell houses.

Now bear with me, I’m going somewhere with this.

I was up late one night and one of those “make millions in real estate” commercials came on. You’ve seen these ads — some self-proclaimed millionaire investor goes on TV to hawk their book about how to strike it rich. This particular night a guy named Dean Graziosi was on. I had never heard of him before, but he claimed to have the secret to cashing in on our turbulent housing market. Normally I would have changed the channel. But he must have said something right cause I ended up listening to what he had to say.

What struck me about Dean’s pitch was that he didn’t approach it like “Hey! This is your chance to make money off of people’s misery. Go buy a foreclosure now!” Instead, he talked as if the viewer was a homeowner in financial distress or in danger of losing their home. Sure he’s an investor trying to make a buck, but his testimonials were from people who had major debt and were able to overcome it. I did some research on him, and he generally got good reviews. In a market like this, where so many are frozen with fear, it was nice to hear a positive message of empowerment.

Okay, no, Dean wasn’t actually selling homes on his infomercial, but he was selling a strategy for buying bargain-priced homes that most people are unaware of. And doesn’t that help reduce inventory? The National Association of Realtors (NAR) says housing inventories are up 8.8 percent to nearly 4 million units. Normally, you should have no more than a six-month supply of inventory. At the current level, it would take more than 10 months to sell all these houses.

This week’s batch of housing data shows things are not as bad as they could be, but we’re in no way near recovery. (A few “positive” reports and some economists are throwing that word around again). NAR said April’s existing home sales rose 2.9 percent, with distressed properties, including foreclosures and short sales, accounting for 45 percent. That’s still putting pressure on home prices, which according to NAR, are down 15.4 percent year-over-year.

Meanwhile, the S&P/Case-Shiller National Home Price Index says home prices in March fell 18.7 percent from a year earlier, in the 20 major cities it tracks. Furthermore, home prices have fallen 32.2 percent since the market began its decline in mid-2006.

Oh and did I mention that a new wave of foreclosures are expected to hit the market through the end of this year? More ARMs are about to reset and more properties are moving through the foreclosure process, so expect the number of foreclosures to continue to rise.

Bottom line: There are so many houses for sale out there and not enough buyers to buy them. So maybe an infomercial isn’t such a bad idea. If more people knew how cheap a house can be, more people would buy one, especially if there’s an $8,000 tax credit and tax benefits. I mean if it worked for the Snuggie, maybe it’ll work for real estate.

And yes, I did buy Dean’s book. I’ll let you know how it is after I read it.

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During the height of the real estate boom, pricing a home was more like a technicality in the selling process, a suggestion to buyers. More often than not, the home would sell for more than what it was listed for, especially in hot markets. Back in the good ‘ol days, selling a home for at least your asking price was a sure thing.

Welcome to 2009. Pricing is no longer just a technicality. It means the difference between getting multiple showings or none. A home’s price can make or break a deal and affect whether your home will sell quickly or languish on the market for months.

FrontDoor’s new Pricing Guide (www.frontdoor.com/pricing) breaks down the various pricing strategies and factors you should consider to determine what your home is worth and get it sold.

One of the most common pricing faux-pas sellers make is getting emotionally involved. Sure, you may have invested a lot of time, sweat and money into your home, but if you’re selling in this market, forget about getting any love back. Pricing it below your competition will help you get it sold quickly. Learn how to avoid six common pricing mistakes and get solutions to four pricing dilemmas.

Also, special thanks to Nancy Spearrin, a seller from Solon, Maine, who shared her selling nightmare. Read her story in “My House is Worth What?” And if you’ve got a story to share, let us know by posting a comment.

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FrontDoor.com wants to hear your stories about surviving a home selling nightmare! Did your home sit on the MLS for three months without one offer? Did your real estate agent list your home too high and you had to reduce the price every week? Did the professional stager charge you an arm and a leg for some new paint and candles? Did the appraisal come back lower than your sale price? Did the home inspection reveal thousands of dollars in necessary repairs and your buyer threatened to bail?

We want to hear about it! Email your home selling nightmares to egray@scrippsnetworks.com. We could feature you on FrontDoor.com’s new Pricing Your Home Guide, due out in May!

Everyone wants to get the most money out of their home when they sell, but you can’t always get what you want. If you really have to sell now, do the research so you can price your home based on fair market value and market trends. Be realistic. You may have to do a lot of compromising to get your home sold.

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