You may have to look hard to find the good economic news, but it’s there.

And just so you understand that I’m not the only one who believes that the economy is improving measurably, which means good news for both commercial and residential real estate, here is the opening paragraph of the most recent “Financial Page,” a regular column by James Surowiecki in The New Yorker magazine:

“The U.S. economy has finally started to create jobs at a reasonable clip. Inflation is still low. Corporate profits are healthy, and surveys of business conditions suggest that the recovery is, as the Federal Reserve recently put it, ‘on firmer footing.’” This news may or may not be enough to shake more home buyers loose, but it should, particularly when we realize just how cheap mortgages are today. A few weeks ago, I wrote about the compliment I received from the escrow agent when we bought our first home in 1987. When he saw the loan details, he looked at me and said, “How did you get such a good rate?” A few days ago, I came across the loan documents for a new car my wife and I purchased in 1991. The loan rate was 15%. Today, cheap money can get you a car loan for around 4%.

With all of this good news, it is important to remember two things when selling your home.

First, don’t get caught flat footed. If you want to sell your house but are waiting for prices to rise, forget about it. The news you need now is not that prices are rising — they will not be rising in any meaningful way for at least a couple of years — but that people are once again out shopping for homes. When you see that data, it is time to sell, unless, of course, there is no urgency about selling your home, in which case you can hold out for your price.

The other thing to remember is that while your home is likely to be the biggest purchase you will ever make, it is also likely to be the biggest thing you’ve ever sold. And with so much at stake you need to plan.

Your sales plan is not one you carry around in your head. That’s for buyers who will purchase a home by the “I’ll know it when I see it” theory of shopping.

You don’t have the leverage or the luxury of waiting, so you need to write out a plan to sell your home. You need to think like Nike or Apple or Coca-Cola and create a document that is your road map to your successful sale. The home sales plan is not set in stone; it’s flexible, as all good plans are, but changes to the plan come not from mistakes you’ve made, but from forces you can’t control, such as another Wall Street meltdown, massive corporate layoffs, or a tsunami at the San Onofre nuclear power plant.

Your plan should include the following elements:

1) Timeline. Using comparable home sales as your guide, estimate how long it will take you to sell. Along the timeline, list the date of every activity related to the final sale. Examples could include the date when the painter arrives, the date of your open house, etc.

2) Assignment of duties. For each activity in item number one, indicate who is taking the lead on getting it done.

3) Communication. Establish regular phone calls, e-mails or face-to-face meetings with those involved in the sale so that everyone is held accountable and to ensure that the plan progresses.

And if your plan starts to fall apart, remember that just like those successful corporations, it’s always good to have a plan B.

STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer. Send story ideas to smi161@aol.com.