We've all heard the old adage that restaurants don't sell steak, they sell the sizzle. That same adage can be true for selling houses. Here's what I mean.

Let's say you have a house on the market that just doesn't seem to be garnering any offers. The first thing you'll be tempted to do will be to drop the price, but before you do that, consider adding something interesting to the home instead. The results can put thousands of dollars into your pocket at closing!

For instance, your home is priced at $280,000, but it's not moving. Rather than dropping the price to $260,000, think about adding a nice deck to the back--something that will really make buyers say "wow" when they see it. A very nice deck can cost as little as $2,500, but its impact might be enough to prompt a buyer, who can see the happiness his family will have as they barbeque on that deck on warm summer nights, to put in a full-price offer on your home. In other words, instead of losing $20,000 on a price reduction, you've sold your home by "dropping" the price by $2,500 through the addition of the deck.

You can get a similar impact by adding things such as white picket fences to compliment a well-landscaped front yard, or crown molding and wainscoting, coupled with fresh paint, in the important rooms of your home. The "wow" factor comes into play here, too, so look to make the improvement something that is really exceptional--without breaking the bank, of course.

The bottom line here is that you will often make more money by adding something special to your home rather than just reducing the price. Adding a little class to your home is almost always worth more than what it cost to install. Remember, you're really selling the sizzle and not just the steak!

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