It's always good to have a map when you're traveling unfamiliar roads. It's easy to get lost or to make a wrong turn. Having a good map is doubly important when you are traversing the roads of real estate.

Having a real estate wish list ready before you venture into the market will help you avoid impulsive decisions, delayed decision making, and spending too much time looking at homes you'd never consider.

Everyone wants something a little different when it comes to their dream home. Some people must have beautiful hardwoods while others prefer carpet. Some buyers want a home in a great school district while older couples may prefer to be near their favorite restaurants or theaters.

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Who knew that getting rid of family photos and clearing off countertops could help you snag top dollar for your house? These are just two secrets from Debra Gould, founder of Staging Diva. Gould, a professional home stager, has helped scores of homeowners clean up, rearrange, and style their homes to command top price. That can mean anything from putting extra books in storage to getting rid of moldy caulk in bathrooms to renting furniture to fill up too-bare spaces. "The goal is to make your home clean, organized, and welcoming so potential buyers can picture living there," says Gould. Thus the no-family-photos rule: "They make people feel like they're invading your space," she explains.

Based in Toronto, Gould has trained a network of 800+ home stagers across the U.S. "Most owners aren't seeing bidding wars the way they were a few years ago," she says. "But with the right staging, you can get close to your asking price."

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Deciding to list your home for sale is a momentous time. It means you will be moving on to a new stage of life, no matter if you’re moving up or sizing down. Take a moment to look over these tips for what every seller should do before they put their home on the market.

Organize Your Paperwork: Every homeowner should have a detailed list of all past repairs, updates, and upgrades they’ve made. This will help your agent know what should be mentioned on the MLS. Did you put on a new roof in 2010 or a install a new water heater in 2009? These are great selling features because they means less work in the future for the prospective buyer.

Also included in this list should be any home warranty information. These warranties will most likely transfer with title of the home.

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WASHINGTON — If you're one of the estimated 11 million homeowners burdened with an underwater mortgage, a new federal policy change could be good news: Starting in June, when you want to do a short sale to shed your mortgage and avoid foreclosure, you may not have to wait for months to hear back from your bank when you submit an offer from a potential purchaser.

Instead, if your loan is owned or securitized by either of the dominant conventional mortgage market players — Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac — you can expect a response within 30 business days, with a final decision taking no more than 60 days. If you don't hear back during the first 30 days, the bank will be required to send you weekly updates telling you precisely where the holdups are and when they are likely to be resolved. None of this is typical of short-sale procedures today. Banks and loan servicers that don't comply will face monetary and other penalties.

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A new development is catching home buyers off guard as the spring sales season gets under way: Bidding wars are back.

From California to Florida, many buyers are increasingly competing for the same house. Unlike the bidding wars that typified the go-go years and largely reflected surging sales, today's are a result of supply shortages.

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If you're trying to sell your home right now, you face two big problems: Prices are at rock bottom, and when you do find buyers, they often can't find financing.

According to the National Association of Home Builders, more than three-quarters of homes sold between October and December "were affordable to families earning the national median income of $64,200" — the highest percentage since the association started keeping track two decades ago. But "overly restrictive lending conditions" are frustrating both buyers and sellers.

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If you're waiting for home prices to go up, then you're missing signs the troubled housing market has finally turned around.

FORTUNE – Over the past few months, many economists have concluded that that the U.S. housing market has reached a turning point and is healing. This may sound hard to believe, since home prices have continued their downward trend. In 2011, prices fell by 4% following nearly a 30% decline since the property bubble paeked in June 2006. They ended the year at a 10-year low.

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(MONEY Magazine) — For some would-be buyers and refinancers, today's mortgage rates are the ultimate tease. While ads tout the lowest rates in history (recently under 4% for a 30-year fixed), qualifying for a mortgage that cheap can be an exercise in frustration or futility.

Less-than-perfect credit will hurt, of course, but you may also find yourself struggling if your situation is deemed at all unusual — which could mean anything from owning a business to buying a condo instead of a single-family home. Read on for the best ways to get a deal.

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"The most important thing to most buyers is the financial stability of a neighborhood," says Leisa Frye, a Realtor with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Metro Brokers in Roswell, Ga. "Buyers want to make sure their home won't be worth less in the future, so while they are focused on getting a good deal, they are looking for some control over not losing value in the future. They want a discount on already low prices as an insurance against potential declining value."  Read more… 

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Every good buyer knows that once you are truly interested in a home you need to a have a thorough inspection done. This important step can keep you from making a big mistake or on the opposite hand give you some peace of mind about your purchase.

Did you know there are things you can look for, even as a novice, before an inspection, though, that can clue you into the health of a house? It's true. Here are five things that all home buyers should be on the lookout for when viewing a home.  More…

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