Here's a home selling tip that may save you a lot of grief.

You've decided to sell your house. Of course you want to sell if for as much as you can get. But how much is that?

Find out by hiring your own appraiser to appraise the value of your house. Because appraisers often work for the buyer or the bank they don't work for you. Explain to your appraiser than you are not interested in an appraisal justifying an above market price but that you want to know a fair market price so that your house will sell quickly.

Often home sellers make this mistake. They overprice the house because a real estate agent hoping to get the listing gives them a price that's out of the market. The house then hits the market and it doesn't sell. In the worst case scenario the house sits on the market so long that market conditions change and the house begins to lose value. Sound familiar?

Price the house realistically the first time so you can avoid falling into this trap.