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Here are some important steps you should take before you put your house on the market:

1. Home Loan Approval for your next Home
   
   You don’t want to be signing a contract to sell your house before knowing if you are qualified to buy another. Your financial circumstances may have changed since your last purchase and you may not qualify for the loan amount you seek. You’ll get a good idea of what you can afford by getting a pre-approval before selling your house. You may then take the decision of whether or not it would be reasonable to sell your house at this point of time or maybe consider renting something after selling the house instead of readily buying another.

Here are some important steps you should take before you put your house on the market:

1. Home Loan Approval for your next Home
   
   You don’t want to be signing a contract to sell your house before knowing if you are qualified to buy another. Your financial circumstances may have changed since your last purchase and you may not qualify for the loan amount you seek. You’ll get a good idea of what you can afford by getting a pre-approval before selling your house. You may then take the decision of whether or not it would be reasonable to sell your house at this point of time or maybe consider renting something after selling the house instead of readily buying another.

Why offer seller financing when you sell? A higher price, a good return on your money, a faster sale and to sell a property that is otherwise difficult to sell. Some good reasons, but how do you do it safely?

 1. Get a large downpayment. The most obvious way to be safe, and not always possible.

 2. Get other security. If they want it with little down, and you like the return you'll get, make it safe by putting a mortgage on other property the buyer owns, to be released when they've paid down the balance to a certain level.

According to the National Association of REALTORS?(NAR), a record 2.82 million second homes were sold in 2004. Given attractive interest rates, a strong housing market, and the increasingly mobile lifestyle of North Americans, it comes as no surprise that the resort and second home market is enjoying steady growth.

For some, purchasing a second home is a financial strategy to help them grow and protect their wealth -- and certainly vacation getaways may provide rental income opportunities to help savvy boomers offset the expenses of second home ownership. Others may be motivated to buy a second home because it can be used as a “family retreat,?to be later transformed into a residence after retirement, and then handed down as a family legacy.

Homeowners employ one or more of these strategies to hasten the sale of a vacant property and protect it during the process.

Give the house a lived-in look to thwart any unwelcome visits. Set a couple of lamps on timers, and have a neighbor or friend check on the house daily to take in mail, park a car in the driveway, and close and open drapes and windows. Continue using a gardening service or hire someone to cut the grass regularly. During the winter months, arrange to have snow shoveled from the walks and driveway.

Federal Fair Housing accessibility requirements for new multifamily buildings should be written in building code language certified as Fair Housing compliant by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD should be vigilant in compliance education and assistance as is NAHB. Use of Fair Housing Initiatives Program funding for enforcement actions should be curtailed. Any enforcement actions should be reasonable and reflect the lack of clear guidance available for complying with the Act.