Fixes To Help Your Home Sell

By Therese Goodwint


If you are preparing a house for sale, it might be necessary to spend some money on it, if you want to sell the house without delay and at your desired price. Aside from cleaning and eliminating clutter, money may need to be spent in certain areas. You might not need to spend money on every area, but some cash directed to certain spots will help sell your property.

Although it's obvious, this is a good beginning. Simply give the house a good cleaning, from top to bottom. Get rid of clutter. Things you haven't used in several months can be discarded. Wash ceilings, walls, woodwork, windows, and floors. In your tiled floors, walls, and countertops, clean the grout. Steam clean carpeting, and launder throw rugs or replace them with new colors. Fix all broken things. Replace cracked or broken windows, patch or replace screens in windows, fix or replace worn or broken window shades or blinds, replace broken light fixtures, patch holes or cracks.

Any unfinished repair work that you have left should be done. You are hindering offers if there are obvious repairs that need to be made, and the buyer's home inspector will find those issues anyway. The overall maintenance of the home looks bad when there are unfinished repairs or projects, and are a red flag for potential purchasers. A buyer will quickly pull out of a deal and run for the hills if the home inspection report is full of repairs and safety issues.

Make sure you paint. Begin on the ceilings. Buyers stare at ceilings more than you would think. You don't want them to see stains from grease or smoke and ceiling cracks, while they are looking for signs of a leaky roof. Nothing says freshness like new paint, and it's the most cost effective improvement. On large cracks, use fiberglass tape and cover it with joint compound and sand. Paint a neutral color such as light tan.

Old or stained carpet could be replaced before it goes up for sale. Often a professional cleaning is enough to get it ready to show, but sometimes that just won't do the trick. Old or dirty carpet turns off potential buyers big time, even more so if there are stains caused by your pets. No one is interested in purchasing a house with carpet stained by other peoples' pets, even if they are pet lovers themselves.

Make the most of your home's lighting. Good light is one thing that every buyer says that they want in a home, aside from location. Let in sunshine by cutting the bushes outside, remove the drapes, wash the windows, change the lampshades, and increase the wattage of your light bulbs. Do what you must to create a bright and cheery house - it will sell much easier.

With some creative planning and ideas, it can be painless and inexpensive to fix up your home yourself. You're off to a good start with these tips.




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