Are you wondering what to fix up when selling a house? Here are the 6 key renovations to make in order to successfully sell your house in 2020.
Are you trying to sell your home?
Well, there’s good news and bad news.
The good news is that it only takes 3 weeks, on average, to sell a home in the US. The bad news is that a swift sale is never guaranteed.
Selling a house can be a struggle—especially in cold markets and less sought-after areas. Throw bad luck into the equation and you can face an agonizing wait to find a buyer.
In these situations, sprucing up your property can make a significant difference. Knowing what to fix up when selling a house (and then making it happen) will help make it more appealing. You address the flaws, improve the aesthetics, and speed up the sale as a result.
Are you looking for advice on which parts of the house to fix up first?
Read on to discover 6 essential house renovations to make before selling it.
1. Address Significant Structural Issues
Structural flaws will be a significant obstacle in your bid to sell.
Problems with the roof (such as leaks and damaged beams) or foundations (such as cracks and instability), for example, are inevitably discouraging. They’re expensive to fix and promise numerous challenges down the line.
Buyers are usually unwilling to take on such cost and responsibility. With hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line, they want to buy a house that’s free from possible ‘hiccups’.
Consider hiring a housing inspector to identify any problems and estimate the cost of repairs.
From there, it’s a matter of deciding whether or not to complete the work! You might decide that the effort and expense required to fix up the property isn’t worth it. Instead, you could reduce the asking price and/or offer to contribute to a buyer’s closing costs to incentivize the sale.
2. Clean up the Exterior
The exterior of your home is key to making a good first impression.
This is the first thing prospective buyers will see. Everything from the state of the yard to the paintwork on the front door will impact their initial feelings about the house.
It’s your job to ensure everything looks as good as possible!
Clear up any debris that’s accumulated over the years, mow the lawns, fix up the letterbox, and trim the hedges. Cast a critical eye over the front of the house itself. You could think about repainting the whole exterior to give it a new lease of life.
3. Repaint the Interior
Make sure the inside of your property looks just as good as the outside!
There’s nothing more disappointing than a beautiful façade giving way to an ugly and outdated interior. Any number of steps can give the inside a boost in aesthetic appeal.
However, a primary goal to keep in mind is to make the house seem as light and spacious as possible. Applying a fresh coat of paint is one of the simplest and cheapest ways to do it!
Be sure to use a neutral color, such as white or beige. This will enliven the home and make it seem more open/airy at the same time. Even better, the neutral color will endear the space to more would-be buyers.
4. Address Any Plumbing Problems
The plumbing system in your house should be fully functional.
Diligent buyers will check to see if everything’s up and running as it should be. Now’s the time to fix up the leaky faucets and clogged drains you’ve put off for so long! Make sure the boiler works and the temperature controls operate as intended too.
Cast an eye over the bathroom while you’re at it.
Think about replacing outdated fixtures, re-grouting dirty tiles, and replacing any cracked ones. A good clean and a lick of paint later, and you can revolutionize the appearance of this key room in the house.
5. Modernize the Kitchen
A quality kitchen will be a major selling point for your home.
It’s a vital room in any house—the soul of the property, where people cook, dine together, and entertain guests. Do your best to make it as attractive as possible.
Hold back on a full-scale renovation, though. It doesn’t make financial sense to spend more money than you’d expect to get back from the sale. A kitchen remodel is sure to add value to the house, but there’s no guarantee it’ll recoup the investment you made in it.
Thankfully, simple steps can make a significant impact. Install new kitchen cabinets (or sand down and paint the old ones), purchase new countertops (if your current ones have become outdated), and buy new appliances. Each and every step you take to modernize the kitchen will endear it to would-be buyers.
6. Focus on the Flooring
The quality and aesthetic appeal of your flooring can make or break the sale of a house.
Nobody wants to buy a house with threadbare carpets in garish colors. The very thought of having to re-carpet a property can be enough to put people off. The same goes for poorly-laid laminate or scratched/tarnished hardwood.
Do your best to resolve any obvious flooring issues. Invest in new carpets where they’ve worn down (once again, neutral colors rule the roost), lay new laminate, and refinish the hardwood.
Investing in the flooring may not be cheap. Yet you can guarantee that it will have a positive impact on prospective buyers. They’ll appreciate the effort you went to and enjoy the new aesthetic value you added in the process.
What to Fix up When Selling a House This Year
Anybody selling their home can benefit from fixing up the property’s flaws beforehand.
By improving the house’s visual appeal and structural integrity, they facilitate the sale. Buyers are naturally more attracted to the property and more willing to make an offer.
The real trick is knowing which issues should be addressed first. Hopefully, this post has highlighted exactly what to fix up when selling a house in 2020!
Are you in a hurry to sell your home in Boise, Idaho? We can help. Click here to get a fair cash offer today.