Before you put your house up for sale, there are some imported steps that need to be taken to be sure that you both protect your interests and make the most money when you sell. Fortunately, following a simple step-by-step procedure can help you make the best decisions, and here are six of the most important steps to take in the process of selling your home.

1. The very first step is the most important to protect your own interests, and that is to get pre-approved to buy your next home before you have sold your current home. This is important because you don't want to sell your home and then have the unpleasant surprise of finding out that you don't qualify to buy another house that you might want or already had in mind. Any number of things can affect your mortgage approval including a changed financial situation, or an increased debt to income ratio. So get your mortgage pre-approval first and find out for sure from your lender what price range you can afford to buy for your next home.

2. The next step is to call the lender who holds your current mortgage and find out exactly what your payoff figure will be for your current home. Knowing this will be essential for you to be able to know how much money you will be able to have to invest in your next home, as you just simply have to subtract your payoff and any costs associated with selling your home from the fair market value in order to get a general idea of how much money you will have in profit to work with.

3. The next logical step is to find out what your home's fair market value is. If you're using a real estate agent, they will often help you determine this value as a courtesy, and maybe even give you some helpful ideas on how you can increase the value of your house. However, if you want a more exact, unbiased assessment of your property's value, you may want to hire a property appraiser instead. They will usually do an exhaustive research on the property values in your area, that you can then use as a third-party verification of the value of your home in any subsequent negotiations for the sale of the home.

4. Now you need to figure out what it will cost you to sell your home. Of course, if you are using a real estate agent, you'll have to pay their commission for helping sell your house. Other fees can also include property appraisal, inspections, the cost of any repairs that you plan to make, and so on. And don't forget to include any closing costs as well.

5. With all of the information that you now have in hand, you should be able to make your final decision about whether selling your house will be a good financial decision or not. If it is, then you'll need to make the necessary repairs to your home to bring it into tip top shape. Most of the time, a home that needs little or no repairs will command a much higher price in the mind of most prospective buyers. So make your list of needed repairs and either do them yourself or hire a qualified professional to handle it instead.

6. After all needed repairs are done, the last step is to make sure that any cosmetic blemishes are taken care of and your home looks its absolute best both inside and out. When you have your lawn mowed and trimmed, and the inside of your home looking pristine, do everything in your power to keep it that way until the house is sold and the papers are signed.

If you follow the simple six step procedure listed above, it will help you organize the selling procedure to your financial benefit.