Hints and Tips : Courtesy of Susan Rucky - experience counts and why  you should use her to buy or sell your home.

 
1.  Stragic Marketing -  There are four key elements - Positioning, promotion, pricing and preparation.
2.  Positioning:  First you need to analyze the property's location, features, and characteristics to select  the selling or buying approach. There is  always a key feature.
For example, if your home is  located near a good school, a good promotion will center on this for family prospects. Following this, there are houses with offices- (very important in today's changing economy.); there are houses with gourmet kitchens,  near transportation and other key elements like this. Everybody looks at things from their own perspective.  A good agent must know this.
3. Cooperation with other realtors - an agent who gets the listing for your house, can not isolate the sale to their own prospects.  A good realtor has to sell their own and invite the entire brokerage community into the process... and then to the buying  public in general. A good agent can not be a  "lone ranger".
4. Pricing - An agents goal is to get you the most money , with the fewest problems in the shortest period of time.  ( My job is to get you the highest possible price and I take this responsibililty very seriously.) There is never any reason to underprice a home. ( I compare all the available statistics for any given area.)
5. Current homes for sale near yours is competition. We try to find out why houses have not sold and key any feature in your home accordingly. 
6. You don't get a second chance. "Curb appeal" is a real feature.  " A tidy home" is too.  Keep the curtains open and the lights on. Light makes rooms look bigger. Neat bedrooms add an inviting look - clean closets  too.  Make everything look larger by packing up what you do not  use. When a room is more open, buyers can visualize how they can use it better.  Any leak is a sign of bad plumbing - no drips  keeps eye off the situation.  If  you are showing on a cold  or hot day , make sure the temperature is comfortable. Freshly baked cookies create a favorable environment.  Heated vanilla does the same.  Music relaxes. Know the best way to handle a pet during a showing. It is best for owners not to be present during a showing. There are exceptions however.
7. A $100 investment in some paint and minor  repairs can multiply this small investment.  Properly Shown Houses sell faster and at higher prices.
8. A good realtor needs to  qualify possible buyers and make sure they can receive the highest possible offers from them. It works the other way working with buyers. 
9. Unfortunately, a buyer who makes numerous compliments are usually not buyers. Buyers who are interested usually state something negative for the sake of negotiating and this is the time to  talk price. ( I counter a negative feature with a positive one.)
I ask buyers how would their furniture fit in the room. - an interested home buyer is mentally decorating.)  Women usually are the ones who  make the final decision.  Being a woman, I know what it takes to attract  interest.
10. Cost of heating and ultilities should be on hand. 
11. Negotiation.  A buyer is like a rubber band. I stretch them as far as possible but I won't stretch beyond the limits. Experience leads the way. Communications throughout the  process is essential for all parties involved.  A good agent needs to be on hand during the  whole process.  Knowing when to present the contract tells the whole story. Presentation is the  key  from start to finish.