What should you fix to help sell your house?

Last Updated: February 8, 2024Categories: General tipsTags: , 3.9 min read

Selling your house can be a very exciting prospect, as it means you will be moving to a new house really soon. Something that can ruin this however is if your house has been on the market for some time and isn’t selling. This can foil your plans of moving to your forever home, as it could be sold to someone else while you are stuck waiting.

What should you fix to help sell your house

If you are going to be selling your house, or trying to, there are many things that can be fixed to aid the process, and these are a few of those things that you can fix to help sell your house.

Understanding the different buyers

When it comes to selling your house, it’s important to know that there are two main buyers – the first are those looking for a house to fix up, the other kind are those looking for a fixed-up house. The people looking for a fixer upper probably can’t afford to pay for a relatively expensive house, or they possibly want to fix it up themselves in order to resell it when the time is right. Selling your house without fixing it might affect the price, according to top10realestateagent.com.au, depending on the fixes it needs. A real estate agent would be able to tell you exactly what changes need to be made, and what fixes will ensure your house sells for the best value. For example, there is the cost of renovations or fixes and the time it would take, all of which reduce the price, which means that your $300,000 unfixed house would only sell for $260,000.

The kitchen

Of all the rooms that need fixing, the kitchen would be at the top of the list, since it is one of the most used rooms in the house, almost as used as the bathroom. This means that is one of the rooms that buyers will look at, and one of the rooms that will influence their decision the most. The first things to fix, or ensure work, are the kitchen appliances such as dishwasher, stove and refrigerator. The next would be to make sure the cabinets are modern, which includes possibly repainting them, changing the handles and repairing any faulty hinges. Most importantly, the sink should be leak free and the hot water faucet should actually get hot.

The wiring

One of the things that are a really big inconvenience for buyers are when electrical outlets don’t work. In order to avoid this, you should go to each outlet and test if they work, as this can save you from having to drop the value of your house. Another thing to do that could save you money in the long run is to call in an electrician to make sure there is no faulty wiring in the house. Any frayed wiring should be replaced, and the junction box should be inspected to ascertain whether or not it is damaged, and if it can support more inputs, which it should. The rewiring of an average sized house would cost $10,000, and that’s not a good selling point.

What should you fix to help sell your house - sold

Flooring

Many people neglect this, or simply don’t know that the flooring is one of the biggest determining factors of a home sale. It’s easy to forget about if you own the house, but flooring takes up the largest portion of the house, especially if it’s the same flooring across the entire house. Average flooring can make the house feel old-fashioned, even if the rest of the house is great. One of the most popular finishes these days is hardwood flooring, and if you already have this you should make sure to sand and varnish it, along with all wooden flooring, and recarpet areas of the house that are in desperate need of it.

A few exterior things

Interior fixes aren’t the only thing to focus on, there are also many exterior fixes to be done. One thing to inspect is the garage door for any dents, scratches or rust, and make sure it works as it should. All exterior doors should have fully functional handles, that could be replaced to look modern, as well as being able to lock, and any broken or scratched glass panels should be replaced. If you have any sliding glass doors, they should slide in both directions with relative ease, and the locking mechanism shouldn’t be a pain to use. Any drain pipes which are broken or leaking should be replaced, and the roof should have all of its tiles.

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