Their tales inspire envy: It seems that the very best flippers—more formally known as short-term real estate investors—have the ability to buy a property and quickly sell it for a profit in just about any market. So what’s their secret? Here’s what you can learn from them when it’s time to sell your own home.

Every successful flipper begins with a thorough housecleaning, and so should you. If you’re a pack rat, make your house appear roomier by getting rid of clutter and stowing away knickknacks, and temporarily store out-of-season clothing away from home to make your closets seem more spacious. If you’re living with years of accumulated stuff, you may want to hire a professional organizer; your agent can help you find one. Making your house look neat and cared for—which doesn’t require much extra time or money— gives you a lot better chance of closing the deal.

Clean and Bright

Light is extremely important. Put higher-wattage bulbs in light fixtures to make your rooms seem brighter, especially in the basement and other dark places. Install small outdoor lights that can highlight your home’s exterior at night, since some potential buyers will drive by after work. Wash your windows and screens to let in more sun, and wax the floors until they sparkle. And don’t forget to put a pot of colorful flowers near the entryway.

Tidy the bathrooms. That doesn’t just mean mopping the floors; it also includes recaulking corners and re­moving mildew. Be sure that faucets sparkle and that they don’t drip. And hang neutral-colored shower curtains (that means no world map or goldfish) to make the room seem larger and airier.

Expose your home’s most desir­able features. If there are hardwood floors, remove carpets to showcase them. If rooms have attractive mold­ings, paint them a different color from the wall to highlight their details. And don’t forget the basement.

If you use the area as a workshop, display completed projects to demonstrate that it’s a functioning area. Also, use shelves and bicycle hangers to create more open space.

Open Invitation

The majority of home buyers now begin their search online. When you’re ready to show your home to the world, take a cue from the flippers and work with your agent to hire a professional photographer.

A dozen quality photos of your home’s exterior and interior will attract far more interest than a single from the sidewalk.

On the day of an open house, adjust the temperature to match the season, using heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. Also, put on light jazz or soft New Age music; after all, grocery stores and clothing boutiques learned long ago that the right music puts people in the buying mood.

Then enhance the buying envi­ronment with pleasant aromas. Moe Veissi, a broker who has sold homes in the Miami area for 35 years, advises his investor clients to heat a pan filled with powdered cinnamon and water.

“The smell is awesome and unforgettable,” Veissi says. Other top flippers recommend the similar trick of baking bread.

Once they’re in your house, poten­tial buyers don’t like to feel crowded. If you’re using a broker, make yourself scarce during showings. That goes for your pets, too.

But most important, says a Washington, D.C. resident who successfully flips condos in neigh­borhoods such as Capitol Hill and Columbia Heights, be realistic about what you’re selling: “Don’t let your feelings convince you that your sales prices should be higher than they actually are.

The Finances of Flipping

Thinking about a short-term real estate investment? Ask your tax adviser about these tax considerations.

• Turning a home around quickly can reap windfalls, but don’t forget that you’ll have to pay a steep capital gains tax unless you hold the title for at least one year, after which the rate drops from about 45% to 15%.
• You can avoid capital gains tax by taking advantage of Section 1031 of the IRS tax code, the so-called like-kind transaction, where you don’t have to pay a tax if you reinvest your profit into a similar investment property.
• You can also avoid capital gains tax if you own and use the home as your primary residence for a total of two years within a five-year period. In this case, gains of as much as $250,000 for an individual and $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly are excluded.

Farhad Heydari