Hire a real estate broker to sell your home and one of the first things he'll likely suggest is hosting an open house, so potential buyers can casually check out your property on a weekend afternoon. While open houses are promoted as a great way of finding a buyer, a National Association of Realtors study found that their success rate is a mere 2%. No matter. Having an open house serves another important purpose - for the broker. "It gives him a database of clients," says Sean McNeill, an independent real estate broker based in New York City who says that he buyers. "At open houses, you get all kinds of people walking in. Some are [trying] to see how much they should sell their own places for; others just want to get a look at what's out there." All are perfect pickings for a broker looking to increase his roster of buyers and sellers. "Think about it," McNeill says. "The broker is devoting a couple hours of a weekend. He won't do that unless it helps him in a big way."

It's that quality that makes you say "wow," when you first see it. You feel good when you pull into the driveway. You want to walk in the front door. Whether the home is yours or one that you're considering, curb appeal can make a big difference in how you feel about the property. If your home has that star quality, you not only won't have any trouble getting more for it than similar homes in the same neighborhood. It also means you won't have any trouble getting potential buyers into the home.

For home sellers, a little extra work can mean not only a difference in how smoothly the sale goes, or how much they can ask for their home, but also if they get to the closing table at all in an uncertain market. "Talk to Realtors and they will tell you anything you do cosmetically to increase curb appeal is going to help the resale value," says Sal Alfano, editor of Remodeling magazine. In addition, many home buyers stretch economically to get into a home, says David Lupberger, home-improvement expert for ServiceMagic.com, an online company that connects homeowners with screened home-service professionals. Sensing work needs to be done will cause many to take a pass.

This is the biggest stumbling block for most first-time home buyers. Offering to pay a full or partial down payment on the home may make the difference if you're looking to sell your home. Now, keep in mind that covering the cost of a down payment can be a very expensive proposition. Consider this move only if you're in a very depressed housing market.

America's housing market has gone from robust to just plain bust in the past 18 months. Real estate agents, home builders, mortgage lenders and anyone whose income is derived from home selling has been using words like "transitioning" and "stabilizing" to describe -- or perhaps spin -- the soft housing market that has slowed to the point of rigor mortis in some locales. These are the times that try the skills of real estate professionals, says Jim Crawford, a real estate coach in Atlanta. "It's a buyer's market without buyers," he says. "Of the top 40 markets, 36 are down. In Atlanta at this time of year, we should have a maximum of 52,000 homes for sale; we have 114,000. What's happened is, if you can't sell in Chicago, you can't buy in Atlanta. If you can't sell in Boston, you can't buy in Florida."

You're planning to sell your home, and wondering whether to use a realtor. Realtors used to point out: "You won't get anywhere without MLS (multiple listing service)." Then along came the Internet and services like Iggys House, which will list your home on MLS for free, and Zillow, which connects sellers to buyers and pricing information. Realtors used to argue: "You'll never be able to stage your home properly." Then along came home stagers and specialized firms offering sell-it-yourself assistance.

Are you selling your home? Then you should know what -- or whom -- you're dealing with, advises Michael Corbett, the author of "Find It, Fix It, Flip It!" and the new "Ready, Set, Sold!" guide to selling a home. Most buyers fall into one of three categories, he says. You'll find buyers searching for a dream home, buyers looking for a great home at a fair price and buyers scouring for the next bargain. The dream-home searchers will probably pay full price if they find the place they want. The great-home shoppers aren't going to offer full price but will be especially willing to negotiate. The bargain hunters? They thrive on finding the best price and may be looking for a fixer-upper.

Fresh paint, a new front door and colorful landscaping are often sure-fire ways to tease potential buyers over the threshold of a home for sale. Yet sometimes, no matter how perfect your pansies, nothing can draw their gaze past the tired-looking two-story buried in weeds next door. More than 60% of 900 people surveyed by contractor-referral site ServiceMagic.com said they have or have had neighbors who make the street look bad by not taking care of the outside of their homes (21% admitted they were the culprit). Common problems: tall weeds and grass, imposing trees or a dying lawn; piled-up junk, particularly old cars; and peeling paint or a visible defect in the exterior, such as a broken window.

If you are selling your primary home, the tax law allows you a very generous exclusion for the profit you have made. In fact, most home sales escape taxation altogether. So when you sell your home, you'll probably find packing up and unpacking in your new home to be a much harder task than calculating your income-tax bill from the sale. There's a good chance, in fact, that you won't even have to report the transaction to the IRS.

The Council of Better Business Bureaus ranks moving and storage companies as the 17th most troublesome business out of the 327 it ranked in its 1995 survey, says Holly Cherico, the Council's director of communications. Part of the problem: The federal and state rules and regulations governing the moving industry are largely unenforced. Interstate movers used to be regulated by the Interstate Commerce Commission, but thanks to the ICC Termination Act of 1995, they are now under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation. Movers must register with the DOT and receive an identification number, but that does not mean they are "competent" movers, says John Grimm, director of the DOT's Office of Motorcarrier Information Analysis. "The license we give them makes them licensed movers, but only in the sense of their driving record. We do not have anything to do with evaluating their record as movers."