If you are planning to sell your house, it is time to take all the necessary repairs. Many sellers do not want to invest money and repair their house, but some repairs save money in the long term – today money which is spent on house improvements is far less than the price of house while it is on the market. If you try to sell a non-repaired house, potential buyers may ask you for concessions or credits for items which are not fixed, but quotes from experts are certainly higher than your own costs for repairs. If you still need convincing, read our 10 reasons why you should make repairs before selling your house.
1. You will have to choose – repairs or concessions
Every buyer does an inspection, where inspector identifies all the issues and suggests necessary repairs. You cannot avoid this process, therefore, fix any problems in your house, otherwise you will have to drop your price to compensate buyer’s expenses or credit money back to the buyer.
2. Paradoxically, but repairs will save your money
The majority of common repairs are inexpensive and easy to solve in couple of days. Usually these are those things which are already on our to do lists for the past year. If these problems bother you, they will also bother a buyer. Cracked ceilings, leaky faucets, ripped window frames – these problems may seem inessential, but if your house is full of problems like these, the actual price of your house drops.
3. Your home will be the focus
If you eliminate all the flaws, your home, not its flaws, is the focus. Repaired house allows buyers to focus on its positive, not negative, features, creating positive impression and experience.
4. The better is condition of house, the better are offers
If your house is completely prepared and ready for selling, its value in the market increases, because your house is well-maintained.
5. You will be able to stick to your price
If you resolve all the issues, you are able to stick to your price, namely, you do not have to do a price reduction to compensate costs of repairs.
6. Last-minute works cost more
Works which are done in the last moment are always more costly, because you do not have time to shop around for estimates and tradespeople charge higher rush fees for squeezing their work into shorter period of time.
7. Estimate and actual costs do not always match
Actual costs to fix items always are less than buyer’s estimate after inspection, but if you do not fix everything before house selling and do not agree to the estimate, you risk losing the sale.
8. You will prevent a risk of losing the deal
By resolving all the problems you avoid credits back to the buyer for flaws which are identified during inspection. Bargaining for a price when your house is full of defects can cost you the deal. It is silly to stick to your price, standing beneath a cracked ceiling.
9. You will attract more potential buyers
It is not a secret, that not only buyers, but also real estate agents love impeccable houses. There is no doubt that repaired houses bring more potential buyers, providing more chances of finding the right one which will pay original price.
10. You will be able to sell your house faster
Impeccable houses are sold not only faster, but also for higher prices.