Have you ever stopped by a garage sale with lots of items in the open garage and on the driveway? Everybody loves a good garage sale now and then, right? I've found that one way to sell a house fast is to have a big garage sale and invite everyone who stops by to look inside the house, too. It's like getting paid to have an open house, and you also get the advantage of having a number of other people who can promote your house for you.

Here's a great idea I've used when my tenants were having a garage sale before they moved out, and we used the idea I just described to basically have an open house as well. I had a big fish tank filled with small Halloween-size bags of chocolates, and everybody who toured the home got free candy! It got a lot of people in the door, and they all walked away with my business card attached to the candy. As it turns out, a friend of one of the garage sale visitors gave me a call a few days later and eventually bought the house. I can tell you one thing for sure, that candy was an excellent investment in marketing my house. I'll try that idea again when I want to sell a house fast someday.

When a real estate agent holds an open house, if you decide to hire an agent to market your house for you, it's a good idea to make sure all the neighbors know about the open house in advance. Waiting until an Open House sign goes up the same day isn't enough notice. You really want the whole neighborhood to have a chance to plan on stopping by if they are interested. And remember, neighbors may not be looking at your house for themselves. They may very well have family members or even friends who want to relocate. Everybody knows somebody who is looking for a new home, and of course everybody likes to have a good tip to share with friends.

So, if your agent isn't willing to do so, you need research the names and addresses of property owners nearby and send them all a postcard inviting them to your open house. You want to be sure to include the address, date and time of the open house, but not your asking price. They need motivation to come over and see the house, and lots of people are just curious about prices in the neighborhood.

So, stage your own garage sale and open house, or get your agent to hold an open house with plenty of advance notice to neighbors. When you want to sell a house fast you need to get people in the door to see the house, that's the first step to sell a house fast.