Buyer beware? These days it's "seller beware".

Buyer beware? These days it's "seller beware".

Caveat emptor? Not these days. No, now it's caveat vendor: "let the seller beware". Tell people you're thinking of selling your home and you may quickly attract the unhealthy attention usually showered on lottery winners, first-round draft picks and anyone else in line for sudden money.

You may be inundated with "helpful" suggestions for selling your home, sometimes from people looking to make a quick buck at your expense. They'll tempt you with the many wrong ways to sell, all of them "quick", "easy" and "cheap".

There's just one right way to sell: hire a good agent, one who doesn't stay in business by giving away sub-par services to unsophisticated sellers.

Then let that agent guide you through the trying, tedious job of filling out the many mandatory seller disclosure forms and recognizing the red flags that can derail a transaction or cause expensive legal trouble after the sale.

Do the inexpensive cosmetic repairs that make your home a stand out to buyers and give you back more dollars than your spend. A good agent will know what to do and what not to do, and have a team of reliable tradespeople ready to do it.

Then put your home on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and Internet so that hundreds of potential buyers know what a great value it is.

Take your time, do it right, and you'll net the most money with the least risk. Do it right, and you'll maximize the number of buyers competing for your home, while minimizing the chance of making a critical misstep in the elaborate legal ritual that home selling has become in our pro-consumer, pro-buyer state.

That's the right way to sell your home. What's the wrong way? "Don't bother putting your home on the market, or fixing it up, or paying an agent. I'll save you money". You could be dealing with a real estate shark. They can smell your money like a Great White smells blood.

One couple, relocating to be with family, recently ran this obstacle course of "quick", "easy" and "cheap" alternatives to selling the right way:

A friend, with a brother-in-law in real estate, who tried to set them up for the brother-in-law's low-ball offer
A neighbor, also in real estate, who wanted to buy the house cheap so she could "flip" it for a quick profit
Not one but two neighboring renters (and yes, one was in real estate) who "just loved" the house, and would've just loved to buy it off the market so they could steal it for less than it was worth
A neighbor who recommended an agent who "sells homes for 1.5% commission", without bothering to read the fine print that says this agent has never and will never sell a house for 1.5%.
And finally, an agent who knocked on their door offering to sell their home. If they wouldn't buy a magazine subscription from this guy, why let him sell their biggest asset?

"Quick". "Easy". "Cheap". Seller beware.