Easy home repairs should always be completed before even thinking about putting a property on the market for sale. Major repairs and renovations must be weighed carefully, to make sure that you will see a justifiable return on your investment. However, performing small projects and DIY fixes should always be a top priority for any aspiring home seller.
Remember, you must look at the situation from a buyer’s perspective. If you were buying a home, would you want to deal with lots of items which needed immediately repair and attention? Of course, not. You would want to move right in and create your new idyllic life in a perfect house.
This dialog provides guidance on performing simple home repairs prior to listing a property for rental or sale.
Easy Home Repairs Explained
Easy repairs are classified as anything you can do yourself or anything you can hire a professional to fix for a low monetary cost. Do-it-yourself fixes are best, since they are cheap and sometimes require only sweat equity and no real money expenditure. Even showcase-quality homes typically have a few issues which might require repair and most homes have a great number of small and unfinished projects to attend to, before listing the residence.
Being that repairs take some time, effort and planning, it is wise to work on these issues before contacting a real estate agent to sell your home. This way, the house or apartment will be ready to be photographed and shown immediately, once it is listed on MLS.
Issues with Easy Home Repairs
Most easy repairs do not require much skill or even too many tools. The majority can be handled with a screwdriver, painting supplies, a hammer and some garden equipment. The reason sellers do not fix many of these concerns comes down to several factors:
The seller does not realize that many small problems add up to one big problem in the minds of prospective buyers.
Many sellers feel they can not accomplish repairs themselves. DIY is an intimidating term for many less-handy people.
Many homeowners put off everything and simply do not want to invest time and work into their property. This is the biggest mistake and also the one which costs them the most profit on their sale.
Many homeowners do not know how to look for potential problems and are actually surprised at the issues found by prospective buyers.
Many home owners lack objectivity and feel their properties are in excellent condition, despite obvious flaws.
Perform Easy Home Repairs in Advance of Trying to Sell
Hiring a home stager or home staging consultant is a sure way to identify and solve many problematic issues in your property. For every small negative factor you can fix, the overall impression of the home improves. If you can fix all the major repairs before listing your property, you are already much closer to an expeditious and more profitable sale.
I always look to the internet for advice about repair work. There are so many quality websites with step-by-step instructions on fixing almost anything. The information is free and the required tools are usually basic. For larger projects, tools can be rented for a very low fee.
You might also consider attending some of the free workshops on repairs offered by many large home stores, such as The Home Depot or Lowes. These free seminars will give you the basics of home improvement which can translate into lots of extra money in your pocket during the sale.