How to sell your House quickly in a down market is always the million dollar question. There are some things that you can do however to give yourself a fighting chance. The biggest thing to remember going in is to divorce yourself emotional from the house. Don't look at it as the home with the memories; look at it as a house that you want to be rid of.
The most important aspect of any market is price. Especially if you want to sell fast you need to price competitively from the get go. First determine what you need to net from the sale, from there price the sales price and whatever margin upward you are comfortable with. Remember, you are competing with foreclosures which typically sell at a 70% discount to their fixed up price.
The outside of the house is where you will win or lose on first impressions, once the first impression is negative, you will fall off the short list of houses to buy in the buyers mind. The better the outside looks the more you can offset a higher price. Buyers don't want to do work. So take a weekend or two and make the yard look stunning, power wash the outside, paint the trim and doors and make sure the lights work and are updated. The time you take to make the outside look great will make sure your payday comes quickly.
Clutter is another big turnoff, we know you live there, we as buyers just don't want to see your stuff. Besides it gives you a chance to start boxing up for your move. Everything you don't need can't get put in a box and moved to storage. Consider professionally staging or consulting with one. Houses that are staged sell much faster than empty house or house that the owner does. The goal of staging is to create an inviting, spacious feel. So if you do go it alone, if possible, use open / see through furniture.
Get a Pre-Inspection, as a first step; you should hire a home inspector for a "pre-inspection" to identify all the issues that would turn up in a buyer's inspection. Particularly if your target buyers will be financing with either FHA or VA loans; any government insured mortgage requires an inspection. Get a termite inspection, too. (The report would count toward any closing requirement.) Each will cost you $300 to $400. The inspections give you the opportunity to make repairs so buyers won't reject your home out of hand or use problems to negotiate against you.
When the house is showing, don't be there, it makes buyers nervous. Try to have the house as clean as possible. While selling in a buyer's market isn't always fun, if you follow the steps above it is doable and should be less stressful with less surprises. If you do the above you should realize a higher net price and your home will sell quicker.
