Fix
Small Issues Before You Put Your Home on the Market.
Thinking
about selling a property? It is always better to prepare well, and part of the
preparation involves doing some repairs in the house that will bring a good
return on the investment.
One
question that always comes up is whether it is better to do the repairs before or after doing the inspections. You can do it
either way, but I personally like to have the
inspections done ahead of time. There are 2 advantages:
1/
you have a list that you can give to a contractor, so this part is easier to
deal with: you just highlight what you choose to address,
2/
you can annotate the inspections later, and show to the buyers what you have
done to make it easier for them to move in.
I find that this is something that my clients buyers like a lot, and
react well to (unless they do prefer to do the work themselves).
In
general, and it depends on the market you are in, and the type of property
you are selling, it is best to repair some of the following items, because it
is often much less expensive than one thinks and will bring in a much higher
sales price, by showing the house has been cared for:
-
Small
plumbing items (leaky faucets, frozen valves, missing P traps …),
-
Painting,
(which typically includes repairing cracks, and holes),
-
Small
electrical items (broken GFCI outlets, broken cover plates…),
-
Small
termite damage, and possibly larger ones depending on the cost and ease,
-
Hard
to operate or broken locks,
-
Small
roof repairs,
-
Window
/ door adjustments,
-
Ventilation
screens,
-
And of course a large dose of cleaning (including
windows and appliances).
As
a seller, you also have to think hard about addressing safety items (think “gas,
water, and electrical”) - anything that is currently noted as a safety hazard by
the inspector.
In my experience this translates into a much higher final sales price. Either because the buyers do feel better about the property and have fewer questions about its condition (hence a higher offer price) or because, more importantly, it brings another buyer to the table. We all know that this simple "little" fact can add tens of thousands of dollars to the sales price.
thank you for reading,
Francis
In my experience this translates into a much higher final sales price. Either because the buyers do feel better about the property and have fewer questions about its condition (hence a higher offer price) or because, more importantly, it brings another buyer to the table. We all know that this simple "little" fact can add tens of thousands of dollars to the sales price.
thank you for reading,
Francis
