Category: Home Improvement

Why Maintaining your House is Important for a Successful Sale

Household problems that need fixing can be enough to make a homeowner cringe. But how about when you’re preparing to sell your house and the inspection revealed issues with your roof, HVAC, or windows? Now on top of listing the property, you’re also dealing with shingles falling off or a giant hole in the roof, drafty windows, a leaking toilet, or a broken furnace no longer blowing hot air. It might be easy to shrug it off thinking it’s not worth it to spend money on household repairs before selling because “you won’t be there long anyway” and if that’s the case, it’s time to shift your thought process. Yes, you may have to fork over hundreds or thousands of dollars to tend to these issues but in the end, it IS worth it.

Sell your Home Faster

When you’re browsing through real estate listings, pay attention and you’ll notice something that appears in nearly every one: it’s almost always mentioned if the roof was recently replaced, when the furnace was installed, and whether or not there’s new windows in the home. A huge selling factor in real estate is ensuring big ticket items are updated. Why? Because it’ll ensure the new home-owner is saving money.

When someone is on the market for a new house, remember they aren’t only looking at yours. Before making an investment, they are considering plenty of options and researching what will be the best bang for their buck. Real estate seekers are looking for places that will save them money, typically through energy-efficient components in the home. When deciding on a property option, if the house has dated windows or an ancient furnace, they’ll be spending more money on heating costs in the winter. Even worse, if a big ticket item needs to be repaired or replaced (and you didn’t do that before listing the property) they’ll likely move on to the next one and say good riddance to yours.

It’s risky to wait for someone looking for a “fixer upper”, especially when the pieces that need fixing are extremely costly. Want to sell your home faster? Fork over the cash and repair or replace what needs to be fixed.

Increases Value

This one is simple. Existing home-owners who took the time to replace their big ticket items generally saw an increase in value. Property hunters see that your listing has a brand new roof and they know they won’t need to worry about it for years to come, saving them money. If you installed a new furnace last year, your home now becomes an energy efficient option, a HUGE benefit to closing the sale. In this competitive market, when you’ve recently updated cash-saving items in your home, your house becomes a desirable option and this is good news for you. Buyers generally won’t simply offer the asking price, they’ll increase it.

If you’ve noticed a problem with expensive items like your roof, it’s best to just get it fixed by a certified company you can trust. By repairing the issue, potential home-owners won’t deem your listing as a risky purchase and you’ll have a better chance of being offered your asking price. By replacing the item, you’ve increased the value of your home and you’ll likely see a higher offer. Leave broken items alone and you’ll be waiting a long time before successfully selling or experience a decrease in value.

If you’d like to know more on how maintaining big ticket items can help you sell your house faster and/or increase your property value, contact Danielle! She’d be happy to go over the many beneficial reasons with you along with other tips on how you can successfully sell your property.

As a home-owner, it’s important for you to understand the responsibility is about more than simply living inside four walls. You must take care of your investment so you can successfully improve the home’s value. Remembering that putting in the hard work now by upgrading, maintaining and repairing will help you in earning you a generous profit when it comes time to sell.

Upgrade Fixtures and Faucets

Giving your house a modern look often starts with upgrading your fixtures and faucets. When potential buyers are searching for a place that doesn’t constitute as a fixer-upper, they typically are looking for fresh features that will help save money and provides a contemporary and fresh look and feel to each room. Think about it: If you walk into someone’s bathroom, and you see that the sink has rusted faucets or the lights are outdated, it makes for an unattractive room. You’d be surprised as to how much fixtures and faucet upgrades can increase your property value, both financially and cosmetically.

Freshen up the Paint Job

Unless a property seeker wants to invest in real estate with the purpose of flipping the house, not many people will consider a place that has an out of date paint job. People definitely judge a book by its cover, so you need to make sure every room in your house makes a good impression. Have chipped paint in your living-room? A bathroom wall colour that looks like it’s been there since the 1940s? Then it’s absolutely necessary to freshen up the paint job. To increase the likelihood that you’ll generate a better profit, try for a neutral colour. Light greys and whites are usually your best bet! To add a flare of personality, add a statement colour to one wall!

Renovate the Floors

Ugly or outdated flooring is sometimes a make or break for potential buyers. If you have 1970s shag carpet in your living room or bright orange tile in your kitchen, it’s time to get rid of it immediately! Don’t be intimidated by cost – oftentimes you can find affordable flooring options that still offer great quality. A nice laminate is usually a great bet! You’ll feel relieved when you realize what a difference nice flooring makes to the worth of the house.

Open up the Space

Nowadays, almost everyone wants an open concept living space. People want a kitchen where they’re not isolated when entertaining or they can keep a closer eye on their kids while cooking dinner. Have a wall separating your living room from your kitchen? Research your options on knocking down that pesky barrier and watch the dollar signs appear in terms of property value.

Ensuring you’re keeping up with what makes a home valuable is important for your real estate sale. If you’d like to know more about protecting and improving your investment, contact Danielle. She has effective tips, tricks and advice on increasing the value of your home to ensure when it comes time to put the house up on the market, you’re making a generous profit.