At one time the housing market was great for sellers and your home was increasing significantly in value every year. Now the housing market has burst its bubble, prices are decreasing and your left wondering if your equity will survive this phase. In this article let's look at how you can sell your house fast when you really need to.

The traditional way to sell your house fast is to hire a real estate company to do it for you. They have the expertise and know the proper steps that need to be taken to get your home listed and start getting potential buyers into it. However, it is possible to sale your house just quickly as a real estate company would by doing it yourself.

A very important question you will need to ask yourself is, how much should I sell my house for? Having an idea of what the market is in your area is going to be a big key on how much to list it for. One would say, a benefit of using a realtor is they can look at the comparable home sales in your area to determine what price to ask. Guess what, so can you. All you have to do is go to zillow.com, type in your address and it will give you comparables in your area. You must also remember, if your goal is to have a quick sale, be prepared to discount the price a bit.

It's not as hard as you think to get your house listed on the MLS without hiring a realtor. There are companies out there, for just a small fee, will list your home on the MLS. Once it is listed on the MLS it will also show up on Realtor.com and Catalist.com. You can also list your house on craigslist.com and ebay.com for more exposure. Another way you can advertise is by putting out some flyers, with a brief description of your house, in neighboring areas.

Here are a few basics that seem like common sense, but do get overlooked.

- Make it presentable. What do people see when they first pull up to your home? What does the front door look like? You do not have to paint the whole house, but touch up areas that are not presentable.

- Keep the inside clean, especially the kitchen. Pull the vacuum out and use it several times a week. Try fresh flowers and scented candles. You do not have to stop living in it, but you do need to help yourself sell it quicker by making a good impression.

- Turn on the lights and play soft music. This sets the mood and shows you really do care about your buyer.

- Be flexible on letting people into your home. This could be 7 days a week, almost 24 hours a day. This can really be an inconvenience, but you have to remember that the next person you let in could be your buyer.

To sell you house fast you are going to have to be able to negotiate or have someone negotiate for you. You want the best price you can get, but depending on your financial situation you may not have the leverage you once had. Selling at a lower price many times is a fact of life in a market where the bubble has burst.