When you are preparing to sell your home, there are many improvements you can make. While you’ll get many suggestions for things you can do to make your home easier to sell, people rarely suggest things you don’t need to fix.
Fixing up your home can be costly, and you might not get the return on investment you expect with every improvement you can make. We look at the things you should avoid fixing when selling your home.
Partial Upgrades
Though you might think you can improve your bathroom or kitchen by replacing a few items, this rarely works. Fully renovating a bathroom or kitchen is expensive, but spending a little to change a few things doesn’t make much difference.
A homebuyer will still see the problems in these rooms despite minor changes and factor that into their decision. You are better off deep cleaning and decluttering the room instead of taking half-measures.
You can either completely remodel or leave the room as it is. The buyer will have ideas for what they want to do with the room anyway, so there’s little point in spending the money to make small changes.
Electrical and Plumbing Systems
When you put it on the market, it is easy to think your home needs to meet all relevant codes. However, only brand-new properties must meet the current electrical, plumbing, and HVAC system code requirements.
Even if your water heater or electrical panel is old, you don’t need to replace them unless they aren’t functioning. There isn’t any need to replace expensive items like this when they still work.
However, you shouldn’t sell a home with dangerous faults; you must reveal any serious problems in the seller’s disclosure statement.
Windows
If the window treatments in your home look tired, you might be tempted to replace them to improve the appearance of your rooms. However, it is often better to take them down and not replace them.
Buyers might want to replace them with the blinds or curtains they favor, even if you fit new ones. And without blinds, your rooms will benefit from more light, making the space appear larger.
With blinds removed, it will be easier to clean the windows, which you need to do. While the windows and frames might not appear dirty, you will be surprised at how much better they will look after cleaning.
Floors
If you have worn or outdated carpet in your home, you might think changing it is a good option. Even if you do, there’s no guarantee that potential buyers will like your carpet choice. Steam cleaning your current carpet is better than replacing it with one the buyer won’t like.
If you have pets and this has caused an unpleasant odor, replacing the carpets might be the best option if the cleaning hasn’t worked. Stains could be another cause of replacing a carpet that will put off buyers.
Should You Fix It?
There are a few reasons why it might be better to repair issues in the home. If you are unsure whether you should fix it or not, consider the following questions:
- Is it likely to prevent a buyer from making an offer?
- Will it mean your home sells for less than similar properties?
- Are the costs of repair more than the possible price increase?
- Is the buyer likely to want to change the issue anyway?
What Should You Fix Before Selling Your Home?
We’ve looked at the things you don’t need to fix, but what should you deal with before your home is listed?
Obvious Problems
Though you don’t need to fix many minor issues, more serious things must be repaired. Anything that will affect living in the home, like a broken water heater, non-functioning HVAC, or broken locks, should be repaired before the home is listed.
Landscaping
Curb appeal is crucial to creating the right first impression, so spending some money on landscaping can pay off.
You don’t need to embark on a vast landscaping project, however. There are simple tasks that will make a significant improvement at a low cost. New plants and flowers and trimming trees and bushes are cheap improvements to your yard that will increase curb appeal.
Neutral Colors
If you have some unusual or bold colors on your walls, repainting with more neutral tones will help the home sell. Avoid dark colors and choose off-white or gray as safer colors that won’t be off-putting for buyers. Avoiding painting mistakes is essential.
Curtains
While it is often better not to replace window treatments, there are some situations where it can help. If you don’t want to go without anything covering the windows, neutral curtains and a good curtain rod can be a worthwhile improvement.
Light Fixtures and Fans
Replacing outdated light fixtures or fans is a cost-effective way to transform a room. A small change like this could help your home spend less time on the market.
Your Home Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect
You want to ensure your home sells for the best price, but this doesn’t mean you must make it perfect by repairing everything. While you have got to know all the problems, no matter how minor, in your time living in the home, a potential buyer might not notice these things or even care if they see them.
When buyers are shown your home, they will be drawn to the more prominent features rather than picking out minor issues.
Instead of trying to fix everything, you should choose more noticeable improvements to improve buyers’ appeal.
