LOS ANGELES — The rebound in U.S. home values over the past couple of years has placed many homeowners in a better position to sell their home for a profit. Still, getting a home sold can be challenging. Here are tips on how to get your home sold for the best price:

Study the market

Most homeowners enlist the services of a real estate agent to market their home and perform a variety of tasks, including reaching out to a network of buyers’ agents, preparing the home for viewing and dealing directly with prospective buyers.

However, that shouldn’t preclude sellers from being knowledgeable about the process.

“The most important thing in pricing and getting your house sold fast is to do your homework,” said Michael Corbett, a real estate expert at Trulia, a housing information and listing website.

Be patient

Some sellers may be tempted to press their agent to list their home well above comparable sales. Others may want to briefly test the market with a high price only to relist the home later. This strategy can backfire.

“Ideally your goal is to price it perfectly so that it sells immediately,” Corbett said. “The longer a property stays on the market, the more it becomes stale, and it’s very hard to garner momentum once a property is stale.”

Set a deadline

One strategy that can help create competing bids among potential buyers is to require that any offers be made within the first week or two the home is on the market.

The approach, coupled with hosting an open house as soon as the home goes on sale, works best on homes that are priced competitively, said Karen Krupsaw, vice president of real estate operations for Redfin.

Stick with local agents

When it comes to selling your home, the ideal agent should be an expert on your neighborhood. They will be in position to know even which transactions might be in the works but not yet available on public records.

When evaluating prospective agents, find out the pricing of their recent sales to see whether the homes sold for less or more than initially priced.

“You want to get their track record, you want to understand their philosophy and what that listing agent has done in the past, because it’s highly likely they’re going to repeat that same success or failure,” Krupsaw said.