If you have already done the necessary work of getting your house ready to sell, you now have the most important job which is getting as many people as possible inside the home.
This means MARKETING, MARKETING and more MARKETING (effective marketing that is...
) One of the biggest mistakes I have made in the past and constantly see Sellers make is believing they are saving money by cutting corners and costs on marketing.
I agree that you do not want to spend more than you have to, but at the same time you do not want your house to become an expired or stale listing while values continue to decline and holding costs go up.
The latter can be much more expensive.
Do You Want The Good News Or Bad News? Good News: You do not have to drain your savings to offer the right incentives Bad News: These costs do affect your net equity (actual profit that you walk away with from the sale) and if you try to avoid them, you will probably pay them later and lose valuable time The Bottom Line: If you want to sell your home to a qualified buyer for a good price in a slow market, you don't want to gamble, you want to make sure you get the job DONE...
Side Secret...
This may sound odd but if you can afford to, always pay MORE and do not pay LESS when it comes to marketing! Marketing Basics You Need to Understand...
Marketing is composed of 3 different elements:

1. Message (What are we going to say?)
2. Media (How will we get the word out: Realtor, Mail, Signs, Ads, etc)
3. Market (Who are we trying to target?)

Let's focus on the Message.
The message should answer this question above all else: "Why should I the prospective customer, choose your house over all the other options available to me?" 3 Proven "Must Have" Incentives:

1. Instant Equity: Know the average Buyers discount (avg 3%)
2. Little To No Money Down: Pay Their Closing Costs (avg.
   2-3%)
3. Bonus Commission to a Buyers Agent (approx.
   4-5%)

These incentives work very well because:

• Qualified Buyers know they can get more for their money and will rarely want to pay full price (before they become emotionally attached)
• Buyers are more protective of their savings in a slow economy and don't want to spend it on expensive closing costs when they buy a house
• Most Qualified Buyers use an Agent to find them a home and offering a bonus commission will undoubtedly make your house stand out to Agents (who have access to most of your target Market) as opposed to other homes that are trying to cut them out of a full commission

Now Create A Call To Action With A DEADLINE In Your Marketing Why should prospective buyers and/or their Agents choose to put your house on the list of houses they want to look at or show? Because not many Sellers (except you) can say something like this: "Agents, when your qualified buyers see that their family will proudly own and enjoy this gorgeous maintenance free home with almost no money out of pocket and $10,000 of FREE instant equity by XX date, I will give you a bonus commission of 4-5%!!!" Doesn't this answer your Home Buyer's most important question effectively? You are commanding ACTION by saying in effect "Hey, here's how you can get one of the best deals in the neighborhood, but ONLY if you act now...
don't miss out!" Be creative with how you communicate these benefits with a deadline in whatever media you choose.
(I'll talk about Media later...
) The first 30-60 days on the market are the most critical, so you'll want to offer the best incentives possible by a deadline to force ACTION! If you applied secret #1, there's a good chance that you could receive multiple bids for your house which will cause you to have to take less of a "Buyer's Discount".
This is a big key in getting the top dollar value for your house fast!