There are lots of things you can do to help sell your home: clean up clutter, apply paint where it's needed, get the lawn in shape, and generally put the place in tip-top condition. But let's face it - once the clean-up is done, you'll need the knowledge and experience that only a professional can offer you.

In a recent Business Week article entitled "How not to sell your house," a pair of discouraged home sellers described their troubles - including a home that never sold. Their mistakes? They never checked to learn what other homes were actually selling for, they did not investigate the amenities the competing homes had to offer, and they never acknowledged the drawbacks of their own home and its location. They just read the headlines that said it was hot real estate market… and set a price so high that buyers weren't willing to pay it.

Unrealistic pricing is the biggest mistake home sellers make. "People lose perspective when dealing with what is both a home and an investment", says R. Layne Morrill, president of the National Association of Realtors. If owners set their price too low, they lose money. If the price is too high, the home won't sell.