In this market, it’s not — very — often that I’m recommending to Sellers to spend money before listing their house for sale.
Let’s not candy coat it: prices continue to be ‘soft’ and a dollar spent on an upgrade that a homeowner won’t even be around to enjoy is not usually a dollar that’ll be recaptured during the sale.
But I ALWAYS recommend spending money and/or elbow grease on this one key area that will net the Seller more money on the sale.
Here it is: Repair (or remove) visible damage!
By damage I mean anything rotten, broken, cracked, falling down, leaking, peeling… you get the idea.
Why?
For two reasons:
1) Buyers who are “feeling” whether your house is right for them don’t “feel” that warm-and-fuzzy that we want, when they see damage. Remember, the key emotions we want to create in a Buyer are a) “I want to live this way!” and b) “This house solves my problems.” Damage doesn’t do either of those things.
2) Buyers who are “thinking” and calculating whether your house is right for them have a tendency to calculate an extra zero on the end of what is really costs to fix damage. Example: those rotten barge rafter tails that would really cost less than $500 to replace, look to a Buyer like a $5000 re-roof job. So they just leave.
When we meet to look at your house and talk about preparing it for the market, prepare yourself for my recommendation that we fix any and all visible damage — if we decide the resources are available to do so.
The extra money — and faster sale — will make you a VERY happy Seller in the end!
