Best Improvements To Make Your Home Sell Quickly
You don’t have to renovate your home before you put it on the market, but there are some repairs and improvements that will help you sell your home fast.
Ten of the Best Improvements to Make
The more effort you make to get your house looking clean, tidy and well maintained, the quicker you are going to be able to sell it. It's a proven fact.
Fix up the entrance
First impressions really do matter, and so if you’re selling a home it is vital that you ensure there is no evidence of neglect. If the paint on your front door or shutters is peeling, strip it and repaint. If your screen doors are sagging, have them fixed or replace them. Also trim bushes, dead-head shrubs, and mow the sidewalk. In essence, do all you can to give your home “curb appeal”.
Tidy the roof
Moss, missing tiles or shingles, and peeling paint on roof sheeting, are all an indication of roof neglect. Do whatever it takes to clean, repair and make the roof look like its been cared for.
Clear gutters and unblock drains
Gutters and drains have one thing in common: they help to remove rainwater from the house. When gutters and drains get blocked the water doesn’t flow away, and there will inevitably be telltale signs of blockages.
Patch internal nail holes
When selling a home, one of the key strategies is to declutter and get rid of personal items. This includes removing family pictures and other personal items from walls. When you do this you also need to pull out nails and fill the holes. Use DIY filler or lightweight putty; apply with a putty knife and scrape off the excess. Allow to set and harden; if there are rough edges sand them before painting the spots.
Eliminate odors
There’s nothing like a bad smell to put off a potential buyer. This applies to anything from tobacco to smelly drains, and even the smell of animals in the home. One of the best improvements to make is eliminating odors – and not with scented candles, incense, potpourri and the like. Fix any problems (like blocked drains) and then clean like you have never cleaned before. If it’s really bad you may have to repaint certain rooms. Fresh, new paint has its own “clean” smell. Once you’re done, don’t allow smoking in the house, and make sure pets are banished – at least until you have sold. There are lots of good kennels and catteries if you don’t have a friend or relative who can look after your animals temporarily, while you are selling a home.
Clean and repair flooring
The amount of work that needs to be done to sell your home fast really will depend on the state of your flooring. The worst scenario is that vinyl and/or carpeting will have to be replaced. Often though a good scrub, clean and/or polish will do the trick.
Reseal the toilet
If your toilet or toilets are obviously unsteady and obviously becoming unseated, now’s the time to replace seals or even reinstall the toilet. This doesn’t entail any plumbing, so you can take the DIY route. If you’re not handy, hire someone to do the job for you.
Fix dripping faucets
Dripping faucets draw attention to themselves visually and audibly – so fix them before you embark on selling a home. It may be as simple as washer that needs to be replaced; or you may need a new cartridge – all depending on the types of faucets in your home. Either way, this is one of the simplest and best improvements to make before you put the house on the market.
Fill and paint dingy baseboards
If your baseboards are looking dull, dreary and in need of a little TLC, this is another of the best improvements to make to move your house for sale. Clean them first and then fill dings and dents, scrapes and scratches, before repainting. This is one time when it’s not a good idea to patch. Prime the entire baseboard and then repaint, matching the color as closely as possible to the original color.
Repair cabinets and cupboards
If there are missing handles and broken hinges, fix these first. Then clean the surfaces and try one of the proprietary “scratch cover” products to improve the surface appearance.
Once all this is done, there’s a very good chance that you’re going to sell your home fast, particularly with the assistance of a good real estate agent.
If you are thinking of selling, the Don Johnson Real Estate Team has expertise and the knowledge to assist you when deciding what needs to be repaired and cleaned in order to get your home sold more quickly.
Read about my expertise here
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