The moment you decide to sell your home is a crucial point in your life. Relocating is a huge step and often it can be quite confusing, especially for those people who are moving out the first time. To sell your home for its real value, you will need to do some careful planning. Consequently, you should prepare for this turbulent period, full of sleepless nights and stress.
The biggest factor when selling a home is the price. The right price should attract a fair amount of buyers. Meanwhile, if you ask for too much money, you may hear crickets. On the other hand, setting the price too low will attract a lot of potential buyers. However, the question remains: “Do you want to sell your home for less money than you can actually get?”
To make sure the entire process goes smoothly, you will need to find a highly-qualified real estate agency. A professional real estate agent can help with lots of things, but it is you who needs to get your home in the good condition before selling it. Before we check what the important things to repair before you sell your home are, see what shouldn’t take your attention first:
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Fixes You Can Skip
It is unrealistic for people to expect that everything is functional in their new home. No matter the price range, every house comes with its own set of problems, and sometimes, there isn’t much that you can do about it. For example, the lack of natural light, the lack of space, or faulty pipelines are some of the issues that are common.
Below is a list of problems that are common and which you can avoid when you prepare your home for sale:
- Broken Switches;
- Loose Tiles;
- Minor cracks in the ceiling or walls;
- Smaller Cracks on the Pavement;
- etc.
These aren’t the only problems that you should not bother to fix before you sell your home and you can read more on this topic in a great article composed by Premier Real Estate.
Now, moving on to what you must do!
1. Paint Job
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One easy way to refresh your home is to paint it. Although this will cost you money for the materials and a painter, it will definitely pay off. When potential buyers enter your home to check it out, they will see a clean environment and responsible homeowners.
The beauty of it is that you can make this a DIY project. You don’t need to hire a professional painter – you can refresh your home with a few strokes yourself.
When it comes to the color choice, try sticking with neutral and light colors. Some of the darker shades may throw the buyers off and instead of entering a clean and freshly-painted home, they could end up thinking about repainting the whole thing.
Painting doesn’t have to be a MUST especially if you’ve done it recently. However, if you haven’t painted your home in a year or two, it is much better to set aside a few days and do it.
2. Kitchen
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The kitchen is one of the most important rooms in your home and you want to focus on solving any potential problems before the sale. Imagine moving into a home without a functional kitchen. This is what we mean by “important”. Having said that, you should check all the appliances and see if they are working. Your refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, and microwave should all be working flawlessly.
On the other hand, make sure that the plumbing is fine and there are no any leaks around the dishwasher.
As for the cabinets, they should be quite stable and they need to open and close without any problems. Fix loose hinges if there are any and replace the knobs that are broken. Those may be some minor issues individually, but having a few of such problems may raise some red flags for the buyers.
3. Bathroom
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Other than the kitchen, you need to focus on your bathroom as well. Double-check for any potential leaks and unclog the pipes from the shower drain. The faucets should run leak-free and your bathtub shouldn’t overfill when you let the water run.
Furthermore, having hot water and switching between hot and cold is a must. Imagine coming into a new home and you don’t have any hot water. That means no showering and doing laundry until you fix it. Nobody looks forward to that.
The washing machine should be working properly and so does the dryer. If they are not functional, you could either inform the potential buyers or call someone to fix the issue, or simply reduce the price by the price of the machine.
While for some jobs you might need to contact the experts, you will be able to do most of these by yourself. The buyers should see that the home has been taken care of and even though you will never be able to solve all the problems. Investing in these major fixes shows that you are a diligent owner and you’ve maintained your home over the years.
4. Exterior
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The exterior is the first thing everyone sees when they come to check your home out. If the house doesn’t look good from the outside, it might immediately turn some people off and they will come out of respect, without the real intent to commit to the purchase.
Therefore, clean things up, at least to a degree. Fix the broken fence and if there’s any junk in the yard, store it in your shed or have it taken away. Clean the pathway and make sure that the grass is mowed and there aren’t any weeds alongside your fence. Planting flowers isn’t a must, but you can do it to make the place look cozier and simply inviting to the newcomers.
5. Refinish Hardwood Floors
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If you have hardwood floors, make sure that they are looking their best. Hardwood floors can be the home’s strongest asset or they can be its biggest flaw. And the difference between the two is a small one. If you have them refinished, everyone will love them, but if they remain in a poor shape, it is a letdown.
Refinishing is something nobody wants to do, but it falls down to you as someone who is selling their home.
Conclusion
Doing everything that’s included here should help you sell your home effectively. Also, not focusing on some other issues will give you enough time to handle everything accordingly. Last but not least, you can inspect the electrical wires and fix any damage there and check for the functionality of your home as well and see how the new homeowners can use it to its full potential. Good luck!
