If you want to sell your house, you need to know the importance of home repairs. Fortunately, in this article you’re going to find useful tips you can use to sell your house without issues.
By following our recommendations, your house will become the center of attraction in your neighborhood.
Guide for essential home repairs and upgrades before to sell hide
Importance of home repairs
Many sellers put too much money into repairing their homes before listing them. They repair issues that most of the buyers would never notice or just won’t pay too much attention to them.
Before you start repairing your house, consider the following:
The current state of the real estate-market
In a hot real-estate market, homes might sell in days, and plenty of buyers are going to present their offers, meaning a bidding war could start. In a seller’s market, you can get away with fewer repairs right before selling.
Nonetheless, if your house requires a lot of repairs, you won’t make much money out of it. In slow markets, buyers may not even turn their heads to a property that needs repairs.
The condition of competing properties for sale
Thanks to a comparative market analysis, we are able to have an overview of recently sold houses in any area. A real-estate agent could provide you with this kind of analysis to help you gain a sense of whether your house has chances of selling or not compared to similar homes.
Return of your investment
Some home repairs are more likely to pay off than others. For instance, a simple kitchen remodel can add up to $15.000 to the value of your property, while getting a new garage door can increase the cost by over $3,000.
How to repair your home?
Now that you know the importance of repairing your home before selling it, here are some of the things you can do to sell your home faster.
Home interiors
We are going to start with the interior repairs you have to pay attention to:
Kitchen and bathrooms
If your house has more than one bathroom, you need to keep in mind that the bathrooms and the kitchen have the most mechanical systems, such as plumbing. This means that they have a likelihood of damage.
What you should double-check is:
Kitchen appliances
Make sure the fridge, stove, dishwasher and your microwave are working correctly. Fix any possible leaks, and if you have to, replace the coolant in your freezer.
Cabinets
In both the kitchen and bathrooms, everything needs to be in perfect condition. Cabinet doors and drawers should open without problems. On top of that, you have to fix loose hinges, replace the old tuck drawer tracks and change broken knobs. Most of these tasks are easy to do, and all you need is a screwdriver and to go to the most convenient hardware store.
On the other hand, if the cabinets are painted, you need to make sure the paint is not peeling. If it is, apply a fresh coat.
Sinks
Sinks can’t have leaks. Plus, every drain in the house has to operate properly. If you have a bathtub, make sure its overflow drain works correctly.
Shower and bathtub
The shower head should be fully functional, and drains need to be free of clogs. In case you have an acrylic tub and it’s peeling, you’ll need to resurface the bathtub or even replace it. Furthermore, the exhaust vent, which removes the steam from your shower, has to be fully operational.
Walls and ceilings
In case you notice discoloration, like water damage that was repaired before, repaint the walls. Painting is amazingly cheap, and it’s one of the most effective ways to remodel a room.
You can’t forget about the ceilings. Take a proper look at the ceilings in your house to see if you can spot discoloration, and if you do, you need to do something about it.
Flooring
Hiding the floor’s issues with a carpet is not the most elegant solution in these scenarios. You have to replace any cracked floor tiles, as well as torn carpeting. If you have pets, you’ll need to replace the carpets.
Circuit breakers
In this case, professional assistance is needed. Call an electrician if you have issues with your circuit breakers. Additionally, if you have an older system, such as one that needs a fuse box, you can get it checked, since it may be difficult to find new parts.
Carbon and smoke monoxide detectors
Your house detectors should work without issues, and they have to be less than 10 years old. Whenever you can, test your detectors and get new batteries if you need to.
Home exteriors
Home exteriors are vital when you want to sell your house. Internal repairs matter just as much as the external ones, but the appearance of your home is what captures the attention of potential buyers.
When it comes to your home exteriors, you have to pay attention to the following:
Garage door
In case your house has a garage door, it needs to work. Another crucial aspect about a garage door is that it should meet all safety criteria. If you notice that the door doesn’t open properly, replace the mechanism.
Doors
Check if the door handles are in good condition, and if not, you can easily change them yourself. If you have sliding glass doors, you may want to give a contractor a call so that he replaces your doors or slide tracks.
Roof
Your house’s roof shouldn’t miss any tile or ridge caps. All of these components secure your property from water damage. This means you have to replace them immediately.
Moreover, fix any damage that causes the water to leak inside the house. Not only will you have issues with water leaks, but you’ll also have to invest more money to get your roof repaired.
Drainage
If water collects by the drainage whenever it rains, you’ll likely need to do a skilled job to fix the issue. In the same way, if the downspouts take care of the rainwater at the foundation of your house but there’s extra water, then the problems will come.
Foundation
Your home foundation consists of the stem wall and retaining wall, two parts of the house that need to be resistant. You can always hire a contractor so that you have a professional opinion.
A contractor will inform you if there’s any indicator of an unbalanced foundation like horizontal cracks in the foundation. With this information, you can start working on improving your house’s imperfections.
Yard
As for the yard, you have to divide your priorities. At the beginning, you can repair the deck patio. The deck shouldn’t have any water damage. You could apply a layer of polyurethane over your deck to prevent the water from damaging it.
In addition, you also have to take good care of the landscaping. Any type of vegetation around the property shouldn’t interfere with your selling plans. For instance, if your house is next to a tall tree and the branches are too long, they could cause you trouble.
Other tips to upgrade your home before selling it
Before we finish, we have some extra tips for you. With this information, you’ll be able to sell your home quicker:
Don’t forget to declutter
Once you finish with all of the necessary home repairs, it’s time to focus on staging your house. Staging is the process of getting your house ready for showings when the market is at its best moment.
This process includes:
- Decluttering.
- Rearranging the furniture.
- Adding the final decorative touches.
By doing this, your home will look more appealing to more and more buyers. The purpose of staging is to make your house look like the best house of the neighborhood, so that potential buyers picture themselves living there.
However, not everyone knows how to start staging a house, and if this is the case for you, there are plenty of qualified stagers who would be happy to assist you in getting your home ready for sale.
Hire a real-estate agent
The answer to your prayers will be a real-estate agent. These professionals can help you determine the best asking price for your property based on the most recent sales of similar homes in the area.
A real-estate agent can also provide you with advice and guidance throughout the process. If you don’t know where to find a real-estate agent, you can ask a friend or a relative.
On the other hand, you can use the internet to read about real-estate agents near your area.
Final thoughts
Finally, with our guide of essential home repairs and upgrades, you won’t be caught off guard, and you’ll know what to do to repair each section of the house, whether it’s the interior or the exterior of the property.
Besides, you need to think of your house as an investment that needs regular repairs. If you decide to sell it, you have to think about the reason why you chose that house in the first place, so that the person who decides to purchase your home experiences what you did back in the day.
