Make some effort to make sure your house is presentable and attractive. Replace the old, beat up mail box with a new one ($25 to $200), and plant a few attractive flowers or plants at the base ($3 to $15). Clean the lawn and front porch area, remove any distracting little items you have collected over the years and pack them away (0$ - just your labor) Paint the front door, replace the hardware if it is old and tarnished ($5 to $45). Don't forget to keep your yard mowed and manicured!

This will give your house "Curb Appeal" and help encourage a prospective buyer to view the inside.

2. Clean your house.

When you come home in the evening, you are looking at the same place you have lived in for years and you are not looking for flaws or faults, though you can be sure the new buyer is. Now that you are putting it up for sale, they are the ones you need to please. Prospective buyers are looking at your home to see what they can find wrong, just as you would for a new purchase.

Spend the time and effort to freshen up your home. Start in your bathroom and make sure it is clean and presentable, add air fresheners to assure there are no smells you might have grown accustom to over the years, odors that others might pick out. Clean baseboards, fan blades, all your appliances, shampoo the carpets and polish the floors. The more presentable your Florida home, the greater the possibility of receiving an offer for the price you want.

3. Pack up your house when you prepare it for sale.

The object of selling your home is to move so, why wait until you receive an offer to get ready? You don't want a prospective buyer to judge your house by its contents, but by the home itself. You enjoy those photos of Aunt Tilly and Uncle Buck in Tampa, but buyers have no interest in those and that velvet painting of Elvis will just make it harder for them to visualize their own items in the house.

Take down the photos, paintings and wall hangings, patch the holes and paint the walls. You are competing with new homes that are fresh, clean and professionally decorated for your buyer, so try and make your house a model home also.

It also makes sense because the prospective buyer will be able to see you are serious about selling and moving, and that is an encouragement to them to make you an offer.

4. Prepare a House Book.

Every new home builder has a House Book for their buyers. This is generally a three-ring binder that holds all the warranty pamphlets, operational manuals for the appliances, certificates of work that has been done and much more.

You need to assemble the same documents for your home when you decide to sell. If you bought a dishwasher five years ago, include the manual. If you had the roof repaired, include the receipt. If you have a termite contract, lawn service agreement or pool cleaning service, then include copies of the receipts and place it out so the prospective buyer can view it. Any information about your Florida home shows pride of ownership and helps a new owner understand what has been done to the house in the past is helpful, as well as providing valuable contacts for service persons they can use in the future.

5. Gather copies of your original purchase documents.

You went through a closing at a lawyer's or title company when you purchased your home. At that time, you should have received a survey, title policy, home inspection and many other documents that your lender and the State of Florida require. By having these available, the new buyer can make his closing happen faster. The original surveyor can up date the existing survey, the appraiser still has the file and can update the appraisal and even a title company can knock off some fees if they are doing the title insurance again.

This will also answer a lot of question for the buyer. If you have the original builders documents and sales materials, include those in the package as well.

6. Make sure you know what you owe on your property.

Many sellers have accepted an offer for the sale of their property only to find that they owe more money on the property than they thought they did. This can happen for a number of reasons; there were taxes due on the property, a lien was filed for work that was done to the property by a contractor and not released, you cross-collateralized the property and the lender still has a lien against it, even an unpaid doctor's bill might be listed against your property.

You can go to your county tax office and look up your property and see what liens are placed against it. That will allow you to correct any problems before you go to the closing table.

7. Finding a new home for yourself.

Now that you are going to sell your home, you will need to find a new home for yourself. You should start this process by getting "Pre-Qualified" by a lender so you know how much you can afford to spend on a new home. The lender will take into consideration that you are selling your existing home and that will remove the financial obligation and monthly commitments you presently have.

When you do find the home you want you will want to consider making the offer "Contingent" on you selling your present home FIRST. This will protect you from having to close on the new home and make two payments until your existing home is sold.

8. Make a list of all the things you need to do when you sell.

Selling your house is just a part of what you need to prepare for. You will want to have a list of all the utility companies' addresses and account numbers available so you can terminate service efficiently. You will want to possibly move your phone number with you to your new location. Don't forget to make sure your mail is forwarded and change the addresses on all of your mail as soon as possible. Cancel any services in writing such as lawn service, pool service, etc. Request any refunds for deposits you may have made or any pre-paid items that you will not be using.

9. Make sure your new home owners insurance is in place.

One of the most difficult areas for Floridian's now is home owner insurance policies. If you have a good relationship with your existing carrier, notify them in advance of your sale and purchase and see if you can get a commitment to have them insure your new Florida home. As an existing policy holder you may qualify for valuable discounts on your new policy.

10. Use a professional Realtor®!

Real Estate is a highly regulated industry and many laws are written to protect the consumer. Once you decide to sell your home, you are now subject to all of those laws, rules and regulations, and the penalties are extreme. A professional Florida Realtor® knows the laws and has passed the exams and has access to all the forms, documents and information necessary to ensure both you and the buyer are protected.

It is also important to know that when a buyer is looking for a new home, they will generally choose to use a Realtor® to assist them. Those Realtors® will use the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and other professional marketing tools to help them find the right property. You, as an individual, do not have access to all of those resources.

Realtors can also assist in many other areas to make sure the transaction is legal and efficient.