15 Home Listing Tips
15 Home Listing Tips:
1. Price Your Home Right
Your agent can research comparable sales in your area and advise you of the appropriate price range for your property. Pricing your home correctly is the number 1 most important thing when selling.
2. Light It Up
Maximize the light in your home. After location, good light is the one thing that every buyer cites that they want in a home. Clean the windows, change the lampshades, increase the wattage of your light bulbs and cut the bushes outside to let in sunshine. Do what you have to do to make your house bright and cheery-it will make it more sellable.
3. Take The Home Out Of Your House
One of the most important things to do when selling your home is too de-personalize it. The more personal stuff in your house, the less potential buyers can imagine themselves living there. Get rid of a third of your stuff-put it in storage. This includes family photos, memorabilia collections and personal keepsakes.
4. Stage Your Home
One of the most important real estate tips is staging your home. Consider hiring a professional home stager. Key staging tactics involve placing furniture and throw pillows invitingly. You can also set a dining room or kitchen table. Placing a vase or fresh flowers around the home is a nice touch. The purpose of staging is to show a home's potential. You want all the main rooms-kitchen, dining room, living room, bathrooms, and master bedroom- to create the feeling that they are already home.
5. The Kitchen Comes First
The benefits of remodeling your kitchen are endless. It may be a few thousand dollars to replace countertops where a buyer may knock $10,000 off the asking price if your kitchen looks dated. The fastest, most inexpensive kitchen updates include painting and new cabinet hardware. You can use a neutral- color paint so you can present buyers with a blank canvas where they can start envisioning their own style. If you have a little money buy stainless steel appliances. It will update the kitchen and make it look more expensive.
6. Make Sure Your Photos Are Exceptional
The pictures you post on your listing can make or break your sale. They are the first thing anyone sees. If you are not skilled at photography, then hire a professional. It is worth the expense. The way your home is being marketed on-line is vital, yet so many sellers underestimate the importance. Your home's photography is a gateway to a buyer's perception of the property-good or bad!
Consider a video tour. Most skilled agents are now working with professionals that make great video's tours to go along with great photos that really enhance the buyer's showing experience.
7. Re-evaluate The Marketing Plan
Re-evaluate your agent's marketing plan every ten days. Make needed adjustments based on the current market and buyers.
8. First Impressions Are Golden
No matter how good the interior of your home looks, buyers have already judged your home before they walk through the door. You never have a second chance to make a first impression. It's important to make people feel warm, welcome and safe as they approach the home. You can typically get 100- percent return on the money you put into your home's curb appeal. Sales have gone south thanks to unkept lawns, cluttered closets, unpainted front doors, hard-to-work locks, blown light bulbs, bad colors, stains, unlit areas, and foul smells. Spend time on the little things. Double up on your gardening. Keep things cleaner than usual. Take serious control of your pets during this time period.
9. Make The Right Kind Of Repairs
Before making improvements, prior to listing, consult a real estate professional. Some upgrades will not yield any real increase in value, while others may increase property value substantially. Ask for low-cost solutions to minor repairs that will yield the best profits.
10. Give The Sales Process Enough Time
Homes may take three to six months to sell in any market. Estimate how much time you have before you need to sell and then plan ahead to allow extra time. You don't want to be forced to accept a disappointing offer.
11. Screen Prospects Adequately
One of the best reasons for hiring an agent is his or her ability to pre-qualify a prospect financially so that you don't lose valuable negotiation time. Your agent may discover when a prospect has an ulterior motive for shopping homes.
12. Believe That You Can Make A Difference
The top agents in the industry report that their sellers are responsible for at least one out of every ten sales. You can network with your business and personal friends, hand out flyers, and keep your house in move in condition.
13. Always Be Ready To Show
Your house needs to be show-ready at all times. You never know when your agent is going to walk through the door. You should be available whenever they want to come see the place and it has to be in tip-top shape. Don't leave dishes in the sink, keep the dishwasher cleaned out, the bathrooms kept up and no dust around. It's a little inconvenient but will get your house sold.
14. Hiring The Right Broker
A sale killer is hiring the wrong agent. Make sure you have an agent who is totally informed. They should constantly monitor the multiple listing service (MLS), know what properties are going on the market and know the comps in your neighborhood. Find an agent who embraces technology-a tech savvy one has many tools to get your house sold. Hire an agent that has experience and you feel comfortable with and trust. Selling your home is a journey and one of the most important financial decisions you will make.
15. Test The Market
Never put your property on the market unless you really want a sale! Get ready for a professional sales push when you list. If your plan harbors some indecision, resolve it before you list because success is every great agent's objective!
Testimonials
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If you want a great experience buying or selling your home, have Mark Spino represent you. He will work harder than anyone for you. He is very knowledgeable and professional. Mark sold our home and found us our dream home. He handled everything from A to Z. We could not be happier. Thank you Mark Spino.
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- Mike M
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What's my word limit? :-)
I'll give it in short:
A+ professional in every way, dilligent, follows through, excellent communication, doesn't short cut anything, available when you need him, supportive and informative, incredibly knowledgeable, hard working, funny, patient, and as honest as they come.
If you have just a minute more time, read below....
Mark is an incredible realtor, but more importantly just a wonderful man. My wife and I had spent a number of months looking for a condo in Palm Springs without a lot of luck, and not great help from an earlier realtor we engaged.
We walked into a listing appointment one day to a place we really liked, and the two listing realtors were both so engaging and warm and personable to us it really stood out. They wanted to know our story, where we'd been living and made connections to our lives through their own experiences. Though we were being shown through by our own realtor who should have had the most interest in us and our wants, these two fellas were just all class and completely non-pushy. Truly, they were just being friendly because that's who they are.
On return home to KC we decided to drop our current realtor and try reach out to these men we'd met at the listing. One of them turned out to be Mark Spino.
I can't talk highly enough about this terrific man and incredible realtor.
From being beyond pleased to take us on and find us our dream home, visiting and vetting dozens and dozens of potential homes on our behalf as we lived out of state, and to going so many extra miles and doing so much leg work we ourselves (we live in KC). He had endless patience over many many months in the search for something that would really make us happy, never once suggesting we sell our dreams short.
To sum up, Mark is just a lovely human being, a brilliant realtor who learns your needs and will save you so much time looking and visiting the wrong homes, and stays with you through the entire process - not just leaving when it seems assured that a commission has been earned.
If you need to find a home in Palm Springs and surrounding cities, there is NO ONE else I would recommend.
Thanks Mark, can't wait to see if your golf game is any good! ;-)
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- Buyer -
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Buying a home can be extremely daunting and can be the biggest decision of your life. I recently had the pleasure of working with Mark Spino to help find and purchase a home for my father and we couldn’t have been happier! He is highly knowledgeable about the local market, focused on our preferences and needs and made sure we always felt like a priority. He is always available and communicated how each part of the whole process would move forward. His negotiation skills were in our best interest, and he consistently found ways to get us the best deal possible. He is reliable and trustworthy and provided us with very helpful advice and guidance every step of the way. He always went above and beyond to ensure every detail was taken care of including setting up inspections to even arranging his own handy-man to finalize last minute touches, and the list goes on.Throughout the whole process, Mark came through with his commitment to excellence, exceeded our expectations and helped find our dream home. He demonstrated patience and understanding and made this home buying experience smooth and successful. We are forever grateful and thankful for him and highly recommend his services to anyone in the area looking for an amazing realtor!
Thanks again Mark!!
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- Jasmine B
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Mark was an amazing realtor. I would recommend him to anyone. He went above and beyond all the tasks that came our way. He made us feel like he was our ally during the entire process. Mark brings the small town feel with the big city negation tactics. Mark is honest and does not pressure you to go outside of your comfort zone. I was not the easiest client to work with due to being nervous about the process and he was extremely patient. A 5 star rating does not do him justice. Salt of the earth person. Thank you Mark.
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- Jordan B - Buyer
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Mark was very easy to work with. His knowledge of the market was very impressive . He was available at all times which was very comforting to us. Our transition went virtually smooth as silk and would recommend him highly.
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- Randy S
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Mark, was very helpful, he help us out on buying our first house, help is from 1st step to finish and in this crazy market we were able to find our first house we can call home.
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- Mark B
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Selling and buying homes are stressful. However, Mark was able to make the selling of our house stress-free and anxiety-free. He helped us through every step, including staging the home, setting up open house events, advertising, and making paperwork/documentation simple and easy. Our house sold within 24 hours of listing. And that is heavily due to Mr Spino's professional work.
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- Learned G
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Mark was a great realtor! Knowledgeable and professional with high standards of care and ethics and with focus to get the job done! Mark went above and beyond from the start to the close of escrow! We could not have achieved our success without Mark leading the effort! Selling is stressful but Mark guided us and helped smooth out the process by taking ownership for exceeding our expectations! We highly recommend Mark for your real estate needs!
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- Seller - Rancho Mirage 2023
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Mark was an outstanding Real Estate Agent
He went beyond what any real estate agent would do such as taking care of inspection problems and made sure everything was in order for pictures and was definitely cleaned including carpet and every little detail he did was impeccable
He sold it and got a buyer in 2 weeks and was the highest sold in the neighborhood
The escrow was closed and we got the money in no time!!
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- Josefina K
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Very Good Experience with Mark Spino as my realtor.
Not only did he help me find my home he made sure it was a good fit and stressless.
He has a great personality and great availability.
Thank You Mark!
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- Debbi R
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Immediately responded to calls. Very knowledgeable about properties.
Detail oriented and easy to work with. Without his advice I am not sure
we would have secured our property. I have recommended him to
other friends and they have all been extremely happy. He goes above
and beyond what is required.
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- Barbara B
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He is a personable, highly professional real estate agent which goes above and beyond his duties!
I highly recommend Mark Spino!
He sold my house over asking price and within one day!
Thank you!
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- Seller - Rancho Mirage
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I recommend Mark as a great real estate agent. He was able to find the perfect condo for our needs. He also helped us throughout the process of the sale to ensure the sale was conducted in an efficient and cost effective manner. Mark’s stellar professionalism and good attitude makes him one of the best real estate agents I dealt with.
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- Buyer- Palm Desert
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Mark Spino is one of the good guys! Super proactive and experienced with a high degree of patience for his clients. My family and I will never forget his kindness and support. We couldn't be happier in our new home thanks to Mark. He is the only agent we will ever use again!
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- Joe Thaete
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Mark was wonderful . He was knowledgeable , personable and so easy to work with. He was always available to answer any questions and supportive in our time challenges in getting to the Desert [ we did not live in the area .] He was eager to determine the style of house we were looking for and once he had that knowledge , he ' zeroed in' on our taste of houses and he was successful in helping us find the perfect home! I highly recommend Mark Spino !
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- Frank F
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Mark Spino is an excellent realtor and we could not be more pleased with the way he guided us through the sale of the house. He clearly is well versed in the Coachella Valley market. He was willing to hold as many open houses as we wanted and he advised us on how to optimally stage our home. Mark assisted us and at times managed the repairs required of the inspection report and handled all the paperwork quickly and efficiently. We would not hesitate to call Mark to sell another house of ours in the future."
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- Noreen Hughes
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Mark is the reason we found the home of our dreams! In a hot, fast-moving market, he reacted quickly and efficiently, and provided excellent guidance to get us through the process quickly and with no missteps. He is personable, professional, understood our needs and did a wonderful job for us. We would recommend him highly to anyone that needs a conscientious, experienced realtor!
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- CJ Sweeper
Based on information from California Regional Multiple Listing Service, Inc. as of September 12, 2026 1:43 AM UTC This information is for your personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties you may be interested in purchasing. Display of MLS data is usually deemed reliable but is NOT guaranteed accurate by the MLS. Buyers are responsible for verifying the accuracy of all information and should investigate the data themselves or retain appropriate professionals. Information from sources other than the Listing Agent may have been included in the MLS data. Unless otherwise specified in writing, Broker/Agent has not and will not verify any information obtained from other sources. The Broker/Agent providing the information contained herein may or may not have been the Listing and/or Selling Agent.
Information should be deemed reliable but not guaranteed, all representations are approximate, and individual verification is recommended. Copyright ©2017 All rights reserved.
