5 Days to House Selling Success - eCourse Day 2:
"Getting your house ready:
What to fix and NOT to fix!"
Before you get hung up on all the repairs you have to make before you can sell your house, it may actually work to your advantage if you don’t make any repairs at all.
It’s our nature to want to get our houses in perfect shape and make all repairs before we put our houses on the market. The thought process is that if the house is in perfect shape we can ask for more money.
In most cases this is true, but you have to consider the costs of repairs, and your time involved in making them. You may find that its more cost effective to not do the repairs and just lower the price to compensate for them.
For example, if your house needs a new roof, and it will cost you $10,000 to put it on… unless you can raise the price of your house by $20,000 then its not worth making the repairs. Basically if you can’t get back $2.00 for every $1.00 you make in repairs when you sell your house… then its not worth it to fix it.
From a buyers point of view, when they see a house that is in perfect condition, they know they are going to pay top price. And there are a lot of people (including myself) that are looking to houses that need a little bit of work because they know they will get them a little bit cheaper.
Here is something for you to consider… rather than spend $3,000 to have your house painted, perhaps you can lower your selling price by $3,000 and give the buyers the opportunity to paint it the color they want instead.
Same goes for any other area of the house. You might find that there is a larger group of do-it-yourself buyers out there that are looking for a house that they can get a sligh bit cheaper and then be able to fix it up the way they want to themselves. It will save them money, and they get exactly what they want.
If you paint the house blue, then you are limiting yourself to those who like blue houses. Not many people will buy a house that has been freshly painted, and then pay again to have it painted another color.
However, there are some things that you certainly want to take care of before you advertise it and show people. These items would include electrical, plumbing and heating problems. For example, exposed wires, leaky faucets, or heating and air problems.
The mechanical components of the house are usually what people are looking for to be in good working condition. That’s because they can move in and paint the house later, but they may not move in if the heating system is not working.
Also, if you have any pest damage (ants, termites, mice, rats, etc), make sure you get a pest control company to come out and treat those issues so you can provide a clean bill of health certificate.
Other than those major issues, I would just focus on the front of the house. Clean up any landscaping debris, and try to get the curb appeal in order. Buyers can often make a decision just by driving by to look at the house.
The key is to get them in the house, and then let them see the potential so they can imagine how they can make it look the way they want to. You would be surprised at how many people will get excited about the opportunity to buy a house that needs a little bit of TLC.
Tomorrow's tip is called:
"To stage or not to stage? What to take out,
and what to leave in your house? "
Talk to you then.
Sincerely,
John Schroeder
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