5 Reasons Why You Should Finish Renovations Before Selling Your Home
Renovating your house is a big undertaking and sometimes things come up before you can finish all the projects you had in mind. You might even have a life change like getting a new job to deal with in the middle of a big renovation. If something comes up and causes you to consider selling your home finishing the renovations might not seem important any longer. The truth is trying to sell your house when you still have renovations waiting to be finished can be pretty challenging. Think about the process of buying a house. Would you want to look at a house and see everything that isn’t completed yet? Probably not. It would feel like you’re taking on someone else’s problems which is really overwhelming as a buyer.
If you aren’t sure whether you are going to finish your renovations or not, you might want to reconsider your hesitation. Finishing home renovations before you sell your house is a good idea. There are a lot of reasons you may not have considered yet that you should take into account. Here are five reasons why you should finish renovations before selling your home.
1. You Get A Better Return On Your Investment
Buyers aren’t looking to pay top dollar for a home that needs to be repaired in any manner. They already know they could pay full price and get a home that’s move-in ready with no repairs needed. If they’re looking at a fixer-upper it’s because they want a good deal. That means they aren’t going to offer what you’re asking and in some cases may offer substantially less. You could leave your renovations for someone else to finish but you can’t expect to get full price then. Renovations that are finished and new will be far more likely to bring in top dollar and give you a decent return on both the time and money you’ve invested. This is a huge reason why finishing any renovations is important to selling your home successfully.
2. Your Home Will Show Better
Maybe you don’t have huge renovation projects going on. Maybe you are just considering selling and looking around to see what a potential home buyer sees. Renovating includes minor repairs and things like roofing repairs too. Remember, your buyers aren’t going to want to pay for a home if they know it’s going to need some updating. Your home is going to look better and be more pleasing to buyers during showings if you’ve taken care of even minor repairs. Fix sinks, repair wall damage, paint over colors that are too dark or bright. Have your roof inspected or repaired if you need to have that done too. All of these are smaller renovation projects but they add up.
A home that shows better will sell faster and attract more potential buyers. You don’t need to take on an entirely new project just to attract buyers but you should think about those minor renovations you can take care of. It’s the difference between a selling experience that goes smoothly and one that lasts too long and feels extremely stressful.
3. Even Small Upgrades Make A Huge Impact
Renovating your home tells buyers that the house is something they should be expecting upgraded features from. Buyers love having updated looks in a home and they tend to express more interest in homes that feel updated. You can achieve that feeling with even minor upgrades. Minor upgrades are things like faucets, the hardware on cabinets, backsplashes in the kitchen or a new trendy looking bathroom sink. They’re things that aren’t going to require days to do or an excessive amount of money. Even if you aren’t going to be doing an entire rehaul of your home you can do these smaller things to make your home feel upgraded and entice buyers.
4. You Could Save Some Money
By now you’re aware that finished renovations appeal to buyers. Although getting to that point seems like a money pit at times, in the end, you could end up saving money. Sometimes when you’re selling a house it ends up sitting on the market for longer than you’d like. At some point, you could even end up paying on two mortgages while you’re waiting for your home to sell. Think about the renovations as a way to be more cost-efficient by decreasing the time your home spends on the market. You may have to spend some money to get to that point but if the alternative is sitting with two mortgages for several months the savings add up quickly. Yes, renovations can get expensive but so does having two houses to care for.
The faster a buyer becomes interested in the home the faster you can sell it. Use the renovations as a way to show off why your home is better than other houses they’ve seen. You don’t want to wind up with unexpected surprises if you can avoid it. One way to avoid the dreaded surprise of a double mortgage payment is to finish your renovations before you sell.
5. Your Home Will Stand Out
Building on the last reason, consider your renovations a way to make your home stand out in the minds of buyers. They are going to be looking at more than one house and if yours is somewhere in the middle they may be fuzzy on the details. Homes that don’t have anything special can blur together and cause the buyer to pick something they actually remember. Think about ways your home is unique and remember that those things are what a buyer will wind up thinking of too. Finishing out any remodels or doing those minor upgrades you read about earlier are both great ways to make sure your home stands out from the pack.
Conclusion:
As you can see there are a lot of benefits to renovating before selling your home. Don’t give in to the temptation to leave the renovations for the next person. Selling your house is a process you want to avoid any undue stress during. Finishing up renovations and taking on those minor repair projects are just one way you can avoid inviting extra stress. Keep these things in mind and finish up any projects you have going on. You’ll be glad you did when your home sells.