5 Home Repairs or Renovations to Make Before Moving

Once you decide to sell your home you have to start thinking about how to get it ready for sale. Many homeowners do not want to spend a lot of money renovating a home they will not own for much longer.

Once you decide to sell your home you have to start thinking about how to get it ready for sale.  Many homeowners do not want to spend a lot of money renovating a home they will not own for much longer.  But, depending on market conditions as well are competing market inventory, you may want to make some repairs before listing your home.  Forbes points out one of the primary reasons you should make repairs before selling your home, “Money spent on improvements now will be far less than the cost of that first price reduction if your house sits on the market.  Even if your home doesn’t linger for long, you run the risk of a buyer asking for concessions and credits for items you didn’t fix, and the quotes from experts doing the work will almost certainly be higher than your own out-of-pocket cost.”  Why not pay someone you trust to do the repair work rather than being subject to whomever the buyer decides to utilize?  Don’t let your home sit on the market or lose out on a potential sale just because you did not want to make repairs.  Many repairs are not incredibly labor intensive so they can be done quickly and relatively inexpensively.  Below we discuss what some common repairs are that you should do before you sell your home.

1. Patch Work

• Holes and cracks in the wall are sure to be a turnoff for potential buyers so it is wise to patch any holes or cracks before listing your home for sale.   The expensive to have a contractor patch the holes and cracks and touch up paint will be minor compared to losing out on a sale.

2. Change Outdated Fixtures

• Today there are light fixtures, hardware fixtures and plumbing fixtures for any budget that look current and in style.  Rather than having a chandelier that looks like it is from the 80s distract a potential buyer from seeing the bigger picture, change out fixtures so that it is easier for a potential buyer to envision themselves living in your home.

3. Paint

• Worn out, faded, scratched, chipped, too bold, and too bright of paint has the strong potential to scare away a buyer.  Paint is often one of the first things that a buyer will notice.  If they walk into a bright orange room, they may be scared away.  When preparing a home for sale, it is best to paint the walls a light neutral color so that the room appears bright and a buyer can start to picture moving their own things into the room.  Paint is one of the least inexpensive but most impactful repairs you can make before selling.

4. Fix Anything that is Broken

• If something is obviously broke, such as a hot water heater, or obvious cracks in the floor, or the lights in the dining room do not work, it needs to be fixed.  Almost all home sales today involve an inspection so at some point the buyer will notice a major problem and it will have to be fixed.  Fix anything that is clearly broken beforehand to avoid headaches during a sale.

5. Extras

• Not everyone has the budget, time or desire to make any additional repairs but sometimes upgrades such as improved kitchen cabinetry, solid-surface countertops (i.e. granite, quartz, etc), updated bathrooms or anything else may mean the difference between your home selling quickly or not.  If your home is particularly outdated, even some small repairs and upgrades in rooms like the kitchen or bathrooms could make or break your home sale.