It is crucial in today’s real estate market to properly prepare your home for sale. The day’s of just calling your Real Estate agent and listing your home on the multiple listing are long over. Properties have been languishing on the marketing for months and the property prices are plummeting.

You do not have control over the economic climate that our country is facing. The Case-Schiller price index for your region is also well beyond your control. After you have purchased your home you do not have control over the location of the property either.

As a seller you should focus on what you can control. There are a few things you can control, the local listing price, and your property conditions are within your control. You can also decide what the final terms and conditions of the purchase and sale are.

The following are some pricing strategies that you want to consider. You need to be aware of your local towns sold homes prices and property inventory. Prior to calling a real estate agent to come out to your home to conduct a comparative market analysis (CMA) for your home, do your property research on line.

Here in New England you can look at the Bankers and Tradesman on line magazine listings. That magazine keeps records of recently sold homes, and mortgages that either were a refinance or a purchase of the home. The Bankers and Tradesman will cover the Mass, RI, and Conn areas. You can also look up on Zillow.com what the sold homes have gone for. Contact your Registry of Deeds, to view the sold homes that closed in the past 6 months. Also review your local newspapers real estate section under sold homes.

After you have completed your on line research, contact your local real estate agent and have those agents do a free comparative market analysis (CMA) for your property. Compare your on line research with the results of the (CMA). You can get a pretty good idea of what price range your home should be in.

Property condition is also crucial to your success in the selling of your home. Your properties condition can either increase the value of your home or it can dramatically decrease the value of your home. The property condition can also cause a purchase and sale to collapse due to findings in the buyers home inspection report. It would be a wise thing for a seller to consider hiring their own home inspection prior to listing the home for sale.

That home inspector could discover major hidden defects in the property that were not visible to the home owner. Some major areas to be concerned with are the electrical systems. Make sure that you are up to your local code standards for GFE protectors in your kitchen and bathroom areas. Also check your heating and air conditioner systems and other major kitchen appliances. As a home owner you want to address those issues prior to your listing your home.

As a former real estate agent my self, I still keep my Real estate sales license active and up to date with continuing real estate education classes. I have witnessed many a deal fall apart due to home Inspection results. Better to be safe than be pound foolish. You do not want to loose a purchase and sale over something that can be easily prevented.

In addition to having a home inspection done, a home owner should focus on the landscaping and exterior of their home. What I am referring to is of course called “Curb appeal”. As a home owner you have the control over how your home appears. Keep your front lawn cut and trimmed. Ensure that there are no brown spots that are visible. If you need to hire a professional landscaping crew to keep your front lawn in good shape and your bushes trimmed and neat.

You should also focus on the side walks and your walkway entrance to your home. Make sure that those areas are fixed and kept cleaned and neat. Also look at your roof to see if it needs to be fixed. Keep your trim painted. Power cleans your homes exterior.

When your potential buyers and their real estate agents enter your home, when of the first impressions will be your entrance way. You want to keep that entrance way free of clutter as well as clean and in good working order.

As a home owner you want to keep your kitchen clean, uniformed and as up to date as possible. You also want to clear out the clutter in the kitchen cabinets as well. Your kitchen appliances need to be energy efficient as possible. If your appliances, washers and dryers, and heating and air conditioning systems are old; consider offering a 1 year home warranty. This will provide the buyer some piece of mind when they are considering your home versus another home.

Another thing that a home owner should consider is to hire a professional home design stage person. That way you can put a shine to your home. One of the free advice that I can offer is to keep your home and closets, free of clutter, and keep your home clean and painted with a neutral color.

Those cost of home repairs, the hiring of your home inspector, the home designer, the commissions from your real estate agent are all tax deductible items. Always consult with your tax adviser for the latest updates and tax rules.

One of the secrets to selling your home is for the home owner to be flexible with scheduling appointments to show their home to buyers. A seller also has to be flexible with the terms and conditions of the sale of their home. Property condition is a priority now days in determining the successful outcome of the sale of your home. It is the one thing that a home owner has full control over. Your pricing strategy is the second thing that is important as well.

Are you a man who’s intimidated by joining a group fitness class because you’d be the only man among all those women? We often hear of intimidation when it comes to women venturing in the free weights area of a gym. But men can be equally intimidated in a group fitness class, since these classes are often exclusively women: step, high or low impact aerobics, yoga, and of course, classes that utilize dance movements.

I spoke with three men who experienced that intimidating feeling when they ventured into a group fitness class. Guys can get bored with the same cardio routines on treadmills, ellipticals and jogging on a track, and thus may want to try a group fitness class. But let’s face it; it can indeed be intimidating and very awkward for some men to be the only male in a fitness class full of women.

Dan Collins was one such individual. He’s the senior director of media relations at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore. The hospital had a step aerobics class a few years ago. “I was the only man in the room,” says Collins, who was 39 at the time. “And yes, it is a tad uncomfortable at first.”

I used to participate in step aerobics quite often at varying gyms, and sometimes there’d be a man in there. It wasn’t uncommon to see a man fumbling with the moves and getting confused and not being able to keep up, while the rest of the class — all women — followed the instructor in perfect unison.

Collins says, “There are ways to cope. One, all things being equal, I find women to be more self-conscious about their appearance than men. I’ve had many women friends tell me how they aren’t big fans of going to the gym because they feel they have to look great. So my message to men is, likely the ladies are going to be at least as uncomfortable as you are.”

“Secondly, some might say that that’s actually a plus for men, particularly single men — you are one man among all these health and fitness conscious women. No competition! What’s not to like about that?”

“Finally, it’s the kind of uneasiness that wears off in just a few minutes. Once you start the workout, I find the mind gets focused on the exercise.”

I’m a certified personal trainer. My advice to men contemplating foraging into that all-women step class: Don’t get ahead of yourself by setting your step platform higher than you can handle. If you’re not conditioned to stepping exercise (which includes uphill hiking), then use one “riser” level to start. Otherwise, two risers may tax you quickly, since many of the moves involve kicking the knees up high, pivoting and lunge motions.

Maik Wiedenbach, 34, owns Adlertraining TM in New York City, which services high-end clients. He actually experienced some intimidation when clients, who teach at Exhale Spa, invited him to take a class. “This caused me some anxiety,” says Wiedenbach, because he is much larger than the average woman — larger, as in gloriously adorned with rock hard muscle.

However, he also has this to say: “I was worried about being perceived as a ‘weirdo’ who is looking for a date in class (I am happily married). So I entered the spa, being the only male in sight, and yes, I did draw looks, but nothing as I expected.”

“The class itself was fun. However, things like ‘Hold your arms over head’ are harder when you are 230 lbs. Then there is the flexibility issue. My advice: Girls just are limber, so do not try to do everything they do. Overall, it was a fun experience, which I intend to repeat.”

Berj Alexanian was 19 when he ventured into a spin class for the first time. Alexanian, an account executive from Chicago, says, “Going into the room on the first day was definitely intimidating. As I walked into the class the majority of people there were women that I could tell right away took this class very seriously. I felt awkward walking into the class with just a t-shirt and gym shorts while everyone else was wearing compression shorts and special bike jerseys.”

For guys who feel awkward about the idea of trying a spin class full of women, nowadays more and more men are participating in spin classes.

Alexanian says, “My advice is to do some research into what the appropriate attire is for these different types of group exercise classes. Also, it is important to focus on what you personally want to get out of these sessions, as it will help you feel less intimidated if you have a specific game plan coming in.”