Occasionally, you'll receive a flyer in the mailbox from a company that advertises its interest in buying your home for cash. Even if you haven't been thinking of selling your home, this offer might seem enticing to you — especially if you could use an infusion of cash in your life. What you might not know, however, is that while these offers can be legitimate, you'll typically get nowhere near the market value for your home. In many cases, these cash buyers will offer you significantly less for houses for sale than what your home is worth, but it's easy to be tempted because the offer is in cash. Instead of agreeing to such a deal, here are some things you can do instead.

Hire A Real Estate Agent

If the idea of selling your home has now been planted in your head, it's a better idea to hire a real estate agent to pursue selling your home. An agent will help you get market value for your listing, as well as provide professional support through the entire selling process. If you were to call the number on the flyer you received in the mail to ask how much cash you'd be offered for your home, ask the same question when you hire a real estate agent. It's almost a certainty that the agent will suggest that the sale will be worth a significant amount more.

Fix Up The Home First

You might be interested in the idea of selling, but admit that the residence is nowhere near being ready to list. If this is the case, take a few months to fix up the home. While you can undertake larger renovation projects such as redoing your kitchen and bathrooms, you can also tackle smaller jobs such as painting, updating fixtures, and performing any necessary repairs. When all the work is done and you feel ready to sell, you can be confident that your home will sell for much more than you were originally offered by the company that solicited you through the mail.

Consider Renting Out Your Home

If the idea of an extra cash infusion has got you thinking, one approach to take is to buy a new home and rent out your previous home. If you have the financial situation to make a down payment on a second residence, you can turn a home into a lucrative money maker — and, over a period of several years, definitely earn more than you'd have received from selling your home for cash as a response to the offer in the mail.