Smell can have a huge and immediate impact on prospective buyers. The two most common sources of unpleasant odors are smoking and pets. While your home is on the market, avoid smoking indoors. Keep pets clean and change cat litter frequently. Doing some of the other types of improvements can help your house smell better, too.
Fresh paint helps make a home smell new.
It is easy to see why a seller would be motivated to try selling his home on his own. That is a tremendous amount of money, and no sane person would want to part with such a princely sum if he could easily avoid doing so. In fact, I believe that the average homeowner probably has a higher IQ than the average real estate agent. Unfortunately, that makes it all the more frustrating for intellectually gifted property owners who must often seek help from intellectually bankrupt agents at such a huge cost. Real estate is OUR life.