What you should Repair before Selling your Home

It's time to get your home ready to sell and you want to make it more attractive to buyers.  Now is the time to look around and think about all of those little (or big) issues in your house that you just have not quite gotten around to repairing.   We all have them - I have a window in the front of my house that I haven't been able to open for 4 years! - but this is not the time to ignore them.

A short list of common items you should be repairing before listing your home. 

1. Peeling or worn paint
2. Leaks (time to get rid of the bucket under the sink!)
3. Loose tile and missing grout and caulking.
4. Worn or Stained Carpet
5. Loose railings
6. Closet doors that don't work properly
7. Cracked or broken windows and missing or damaged screens
8. Holes in the walls (or anywhere else)
9. Anything held together with duct tape!

Walk around the house and make a list of these items. 

There is no way that I can list everything, but you get the idea.  We call this "Deferred Maintenance" and if the buyer does not notice these items, the home inspector probably will, and you will be asked to fix them AFTER you have already negotiated the deal.  Or even worse, if you have too many of these things going on in your house, the buyer either won't want to buy it, or will offer you less money, based on condition.

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You can hire a home inspector to inspect your home before you list, and share the report with prospective buyers.  Please note that many cities require a pre-listing inspection before you can sell your home, and they may give you a list of items to fix before it can go on the market.

If you have a well and septic, you should get those tested and certified - before you list. Nothing worse than negotiating a price with the buyer, and THEN finding out you need to put in a new septic system in order to close.

If you don't want to fix the deferred maintenance items, then you will want to price your home accordingly.  If you want to get the most money for your home, fix it! 

Selling in the Twin Cities?  Contact Myra today for your complimentary staging and marketing consultation or fill out the form below - I can show you what you need to do to get your home ready for the market.