The experts tell us that in human interactions, two people meeting for the first time size one another up and form an opinion of each other in the first seven seconds. In just that short span of time, each determines if the other is a friend or a foe; someone to approach or someone to avoid. Apparently, we take home-buying much more seriously. Because upon pulling up to a house for the first time, buyers take a whole EIGHT seconds to determine if they're going to get out of the car or drive on by.

What does this mean for you as a seller? It means a couple of things. First, in anticipation of all those “internet drive-by” buyers, it’s vital that you use professional photos in your MLS listing, and that the photos taken show your home at its best. As a real estate broker myself, I can tell you that when I’m searching homes for my clients, I know within the first few clicks of the mouse if I’m going to send the listing. If the pictures are unappealing, or if they indicate a complete detachment to the whole house-selling process (think: overflowing garbage bins, curtains half-hanging on windows, a sink full of dirty dishes, stained carpets, or as I saw recently, a half-empty bottle of whiskey and a shot glass), I stop clicking and move on to the next listing. Remember: you only have eight seconds to make a good impression.

Beyond the MLS photos, sellers have to address actual, physical curb appeal. What does a buyer see when he or she pulls up in front of your house? Would their first glimpse be enticing, and cause them to want to see more? The subject of curb appeal always brings to mind one particular home that I drive by every time I’m visiting my friend in New Jersey. She and her husband live in a beautiful 200-year old home in the countryside. The road to their property runs along fence-lined pastures and grazing horses and charming old barns. But just before you reach their home, on one final curve in the road, you come suddenly upon a bizarre sight. For reasons known only to God and this homeowner, the entire front yard is surrounded by a border of dozens and dozens of bowling balls of every color under the sun—orange balls, and purple and and pink balls, and blue balls with sparkly metallic flecks, and rust and cream balls with Jupiter-esque swirls. Each is perched on what looks like a gigantic golf tee, and something about the arrangement makes me think of enormous push-pins sunk in the earth.

​It is NOT attractive. And if you offered me a million dollars, I couldn’t describe the house to you, because I’ve never been able to look at anything but those odd lawn ornaments. Someone really should have been loving enough to say, “No, Bert, I do not think we should edge the front yard with bowling balls.”

Of course, you would never do such a thing. But how is your front door looking? Does it need repainting, or replacing? Is the lawn healthy, or is it full of moss? Could the garden beds use a fresh topping of bark? Did you have time last fall to cut back all the spent blooms and branches? Wouldn’t a little color look nice along the walkway? Enhancing your curb appeal doesn’t have to be an expensive or time-consuming endeavor. Start with the most obvious tasks and work down from there. A little touch-up here, a little clipping and trimming and tidying-up there can make a big difference. In fact, it can make all the difference in whether a would-be buyer lingers … or they dash.

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The year was 1989, and I was just about to learn the meaning of the word “boom.”

We’d met one afternoon with a real estate agent who advised us that if we wanted to sell our Silver Lake home, we needed to paint the living room, re-stain the deck, and put fresh bark over the flower beds. She forbade me to stencil any more walls and left with a promise to add us to the MLS first thing in the morning.

We ordered the bark to be delivered the next day, ran to the store for paint, and came home to tackle the list. First up: painting the living room. While Dave went to the garage for a drop cloth, I opened the first can of whitely-white, whitey-white-white paint … and promptly spilled the entire contents on our dark rust carpet.

Want to know the formula for getting white paint out of rust carpet? All you need is two hours + two frantic sellers with scrub brushes + about two bathtubs-worth of the hottest, soapiest water you can get your hands on. It’s that simple.

When we were done, you couldn’t tell there’d ever been a spill. (This would be a good spot to tell you about a more recent incident in which I dumped an entire bucket of white paint on my head while moving a ladder, but that will have to wait for another column.)

We ran back to the store for more paint … which Dave forbade me to touch … and I watched while he painted the room. And even though I detest white paint on principle (who doesn’t like color?), I had to admit that the room felt bigger, fresher and calmer with that simple layering of white paint. Standing in our living room late that night, I wished we had done it much sooner, and I wondered how long I might enjoy our new room before someone bought our house and took that enjoyment for themselves.

Apparently, not long. Our house hit the market at 10:00 the next morning and by noon, five buyers and their agents were standing in our yard and driveway (next to the just-delivered bark we hadn’t had time to spread), and two of them were writing up offers on the hoods of their cars. Thus, my introduction to the real estate boom of 1989.

If you’re considering selling your home in 2015, my suggestion is this: make those repairs sooner rather than later so you get a chance to enjoy them yourself.

You probably have a good list going in your head. There’s the burned out light bulb in the pantry. There’s that one window with the big ding where your son threw an errant poker chip two summers ago. (Not that I have firsthand experience or anything.) There’s the door knob that jiggles, and the rickety cupboard door, and the missing hardware on a kitchen drawer. Those things are driving you crazy, aren’t they? You’d never sell your house with those little irritants in place, because if they annoy you, they’ll annoy your buyers. I recently took some clients to an otherwise lovely home which unfortunately had a kitchen full of barely-clinging cupboard doors. The husband opened one door (and they all open doors, just so you know), felt the wiggle, and proceeded to test each and every cupboard door. He and I are still talking about those cupboard doors.

Maybe your list includes more substantial items, like replacing the garage door or laying new carpet. (Actually, how about if we go with hardwood? Most buyers love hardwood.)

There’s no good reason why you shouldn’t have a little time with the new window and the fresh paint and the fixed cupboard doors before someone else owns them. So do yourself a favor and tackle the list one item at a time. At the very least, you’ll be in a great position to sell when the time comes.

And who knows? With all those problems gone and a facelift in place, you may just fall in love with your home all over again and decide to keep it for yourself.

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Anyone thinking of selling their home in December inevitably wrestles with the decision. “Is it all right to go ahead and list my house now,” they ask, “or would it be wiser to wait till all the holiday madness is over?”

Many real estate agents counsel their clients to wait. Their reasons are understandable; December is, after all, the busiest month on the calendar. The thinking is that with all the hurry and scurry and hustle and bustle and shopping and spending, buyers won’t have the time or energy to focus on the house-hunt.

But the fact is, there are always buyers out looking for houses. People relocate. People downsize. People decide they can’t live for one more minute in their too-tiny home. So the market will never lack for buyers — not even during December. And this time of year offers a few benefits that outweigh the short list of concerns. Here are just a few reasons for listing or keeping your home on the market during the holidays:

Reduction in inventory means less competition for your house. Unlike the spring-into-summer season, when the market ramps up and there’s a big spike in inventory, the market winds down during December and January. With fewer homes for sale, yours has a better chance of shining.

December buyers are motivated buyers. Anyone willing to trudge through rain or snow or slush to look at houses is serious about buying. That means that if you do your part (and your part is setting a competitive price and making sure your home is in top condition), you will likely get the attention of those serious-minded buyers.

You’ve already done a lot of the work. There’s probably not another time of the year when your house looks more festive, so why not get some mileage out of the decorations you’ve put up? When my daughter was young, she always told me our house was “magical” during the holidays. That’s not a bad effect when you’re trying to put your best foot forward. So how do you make your home shine during this slower home-buying season?

—Skip the inflatable penguins. Enough said.

—Keep it simple. When I was growing up, everyone had the same Christmas lights in the same five colors: red, green, blue, orange and white. They were big and blisteringly hot — and we put them on our trees. it’s really amazing that any of our homes made it through unscorched. Today, you can probably buy taupe lights and chartreuse lights and flamingo pink lights. But should you? No. If your house is on the market this season, the wild lights need to stay in the attic. This is a year for white lights, which will not clash with your year-round furniture and will not distract buyers’ eyes from what they should be looking at.

—Highlight your home’s best architectural features. Every window looks beautiful framed in lights, as do porch rails, the front door and the eaves of your roof. Take a little time to dress up the front of your home, stepping back now and then to check it from the curb. Highlight the landscaping too, but remember not to overdo it.

—Switch to warm lights. Even though those bulbs may be quite small, there’s a big difference between “cool white” and “warm white.” Cool white are harsher than the warm white lights, in my opinion, and less-than-welcoming. They make me feel like I’m strapped to an uncomfortable chair with a giant “cool white” light bulb hanging over my head and a foul-breathed interrogator hunkered tortuously close to me yelling, “Where were YOU on the night of June 3rd?” Warm white lights, on the other hand, make me feel like I’m in my Grandma’s kitchen eating a fourth warm-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookie and watching the flickering flame in her antique kerosene lamp.

And on the subject of cookies … bake a batch, and arrange them on your prettiest holiday plate with a note that says, “Please help yourself.” What says “Welcome Home” like a plate of freshly baked cookies?