"People should remember this is a business, even when dealing with their home, which has a lot of emotion attached to it. This is probably your biggest asset—but you need to stay cool."

Staying cool, the experts say, is the key to getting top dollar for your home. And whether you own a mansion, a single- or multiple-family house, a co-op, or a condo, the same rules apply.

Getting your home ready to sell. The first piece of advice most real estate professionals offer is to clean up the home and repair obvious minor defects. For example, two houses in the same subdivision, with the same square footage, sold for a 25 percent difference because one house was cluttered and dirty and the yard was let go, "Anybody who doesn't clean up is just plain foolish. Do the same thing you'd do if you were selling your car—wax it…get the candy wrappers out the back seat."

If you're selling, "clean ruthlessly and get rid of clutter—particularly in closets. Closets that are overly cluttered look like they're not big enough, and that makes buyers concerned." Sellers should "throw away or give away everything you haven't used in three years to five years. It'll not only help you sell your home, but it will make packing easier later on."

After you've cleaned, depersonalize your home. "Once you make the decision to sell, you have to change the way you think about your home. When you're a homeowner, you have the luxury of controlling your space. But when you're a seller, you're just the caretaker waiting for the next buyer." Get ride of excessive personal touches—too many family photos, collections, your children's posters. Keep children, pets and litter boxes out of the way. With reminders of your family absent, prospective buyers "can envision for themselves what it would be like to live in your house."

Next, make minor repairs. Get rid of any obvious eyesores—broken windows, peeling paint, torn wallpaper. "It's a major mistake to let these things go. It gives the whole place a run-down appearance," Apply a fresh coat of paint in neutral colors, such as linen or antique white. Clean your carpets—or replace them if they're especially worn. Sand or buff hardwood floors.

However, most professionals warn against doing major renovations. "In general, it's not worth renovating a place to sell it. It's too complicated and too time-consuming, and you're not going to get that much of a higher price. The difference isn't worth it to you."

Choosing between having a broker sell your house and selling it yourself. Many sellers try to sell their homes to avoid paying a broker's commission. "You could get an extra chunk of money in your pocket, but you'll work for it. You have to decide if it's worth it to you." In a soft market doing it alone can be tough.

Choosing a broker. Some professionals recommend choosing a large, established brokerage house, while others recommend using a smaller company. Large brokerages are likely to have access to more buyers, especially in the city, where many areas have no multiple listing service or other formal sharing of listings among brokerages. A larger broker has resources for advertising, and can provide a full range of services. But small brokers may be more familiar with your corner of the market, and may offer more personal attention.

"Whatever you do, you need to do a little research. Find out who is actually selling homes in your area. Look in the paper to see who's advertising. Talk to neighbors who've sold or listed homes. Then interview several brokers."

Setting a fair price. Determining the asking price is one of the trickiest parts of any real estate transaction. "It's not a precise science. You'll only know if you priced it appropriately if the market responds."

Nevertheless, there are guidelines. First, "don't make the mistake of pricing your house based on what you paid. You have to base it on what the market will bear. There's a buyer for every house—but not at every price."

Before settling on a broker, you can ask several to do comparative market analyses, giving you the recent selling prices of comparable homes in your area. You can check the newspaper ads for listing prices, and this and other newspapers regularly print information on recent sales.

One caveat to sellers: Watch out for brokers who try to get your business by inflating the amount of your home is worth. "Of course a seller likes to hear a higher price. However, setting a price too high can limit traffic and make it much harder for you to sell your home." The fewer people that see your home, the rarer the offers will be, and even if you'd be willing to accept an amount far lower than your asking price, buyers may be reluctant to bid if they think they're too far off the asking price.

Negotiating a price. "Often your first offer is your best offer because there's a maturity level for a buyer. Once a buyer has been looking for six months, the buyer knows the market and knows the inventory. When your house comes to the market, they often know what it's worth better than you do."

While there are no exact formulas, "if you think you've got a serious buyer, it's usually a good idea to make a counter-offer, even if you only drop down slightly. That at least gets them talking. The person who has the willingness to walk away—whether it's the buyer or the seller—has the edge." You'll need to weigh how important it is to you to sell your home right away.

For those who are anxious about whether they're getting a good price, feel reassured that in general, things sell for what they should sell for.