How important is preparing your property for sale?

So you're thinking of putting your house on the real estate market soon. But how important is it, really, to do some preparation work first?

Somewhere between pretty important and essential.

In a hot sellers' market, you want to make the best first impression with the potential buyers coming through.

But on the other hand, in a slower buyers' market, you have more competition for fewer buyers.
Either way, if you want to sell quickly and for top dollar, you will need to give some serious thought to what is needed to prepare your property.

And a half-way job won't do either. There's no point in de-cluttering if you're not going to keep the property clean for showings, and even the cleanest property can take longer to sell if small repair jobs are left as eyesores. And I have personally seen a property that was completely prepared on the inside flounder on the market because the seller left a major curb appeal issue un-resolved.

If you're not sure what to do, my best advice is... get advice.

Ask a professional real estate agent (I'm happy to help with this) or hire a professional stager. Get that honest outside evaluation and make a list of stuff that needs to be done before listing for sale. Then make like Nike and just do it.