You want to sell fast and for top dollar, right? Well, that's going to take some preparation and work on your part! Invest time in your house now and see the results when the offers come in.

• Cut emotional ties to your house

• Remove personal items to protect your privacy

• Get rid of clutter and oversized items

• Make minor repairs as needed

• Clean and stage your house for maximum space and flow

• Replace any fixtures that do not stay with the house

You've decided to sell: it's time to come to terms with the fact that your house will no longer be your home. Just because you love some aspect of your house doesn't mean you shouldn't change it so that it will appeal to more Buyers. Repeat to yourself, "This is not my home, this is not my home."

Remove personal items from plain sight, including photos, mail, and other items that leave your own distinct personal mark on the house. You want a Buyer to be able to envision their own belongings in the space, not be distracted by your stuff. You're moving anyway, right? Might as well start packing!

I call it stuff, you call it valuable personal property. Let's agree to just put it away, pack it up. The larger, more open and airy your house feels, the more Buyers it will attract. Remember step two? You are going to move. Start packing! Rent a storage unit if you must, no one wants to see those boxes piled into a spare room.

Be sure all the light bulbs work, leaky faucets no longer drip, walls are patched and painted, carpets and floors are cleaned, and doors don't stick or squeak. Take care of the little details so they don't give a Buyer the impression that you haven't maintained your house!

Now that your house is free of personal items and extra stuff, it is certainly time to clean everything. I hate cleaning. Hire a cleaning service for a few hours and be done with it, I say. Make sure you get ceiling fan blades, air registers, baseboards, the oven, in-between the sink faucets, everything. Once it's all clean, take a look around and see if you can better arrange furniture to make the room feel bigger, or to improve the flow of the room.

If a Buyer sees that stained glass fixture that you planned to move to your new home, that Buyer will want it, and want it bad. If you've got pieces affixed that you do not intend to leave at the house, take them down now and replace them. If a Buyer sees it, they'll want it, I guarantee it.

Try to look at your house objectively. Start at the curb and look at the house. Is it inviting? Does it look neat and clean and well maintained? Stop in each doorway and look at the various rooms. Do you want to go in the room or are you repulsed? Repeat step five until each room looks as clean and neat as possible.

I know this all takes time, and can also take a little money to make the appropriate fixes, paint, clean, and so on. I promise that it will be worth it. I hate having to call a Seller after a showing to let them know the potential Buyer hated their home because they thought it was dirty, or smelly, or too dark. These are usually simple fixes a Seller could have made, that might have gained them extra money in their pocket at the end.