Skip to Body

Top Five Repair Mistakes Made by Sellers

Return to Blog

Category: Property Management

Published 08/25/2017

If you think that you’re saving cost and effort by selling a home with outstanding repairs, think again. Not only will this tactic decrease a home’s value, but the buyer may opt to request a credit to complete the repairs. So without ado, we present the top five repair-related mistakes made by sellers – and you’re going to want to look at this as a list of what to avoid when you put that For Sale sign in your yard. Properly Prepare the Home for Sale Your home may be your castle, but that castle better be clean as a whistle and smell good too when you go to put it on the market. Take a long, hard look at your home to determine what needs to be done. First off, odors – does your place smell like pets or cigarette smoke? If so, you need to hire a professional cleaning service to take of that, stat. Next, you’ve got to take a deep breath and declutter. Take the pictures and knick-knacks off the walls; take a scrubber to bathrooms and kitchens. In addition, you need to make sure your home has enough curb appeal to woo in potential buyers. Image matters here. But on the Other Hand … Don’t go overboard when it comes to home improvement prior to the sale. You should not fool yourself that by improving or maintaining your home, you’re adding an equal dollar value. In fact, when it comes to the latter, you’re not necessarily adding dollar value – it’s just what your buyers expect. Good Lighting Makes a Difference Sometimes selling a home comes down to whether or not you’ve got burnt-out bulbs in your lighting fixtures. In other words, if your home appears dark and dim, it will depress sellers to the point where they will move on to other prospects. This is an easy one – in addition to ensuring that you have working light fixtures, open those curtains, clean your windows, and let the sunlight in! Have Your Home Inspected No property is perfect – don’t you want to know about those flaws before the buyer discovers them? This advance notice gives you the chance to take care of important repairs, or at least communicate them to the buyer, rather than letting them find out after the fact. Home inspections – done properly and on schedule – will give your buyers the confidence they should have in you and your property. And Finally, Remember the Golden Rule Tell the truth. Providing false information – or no information at all – to buyers is lying, pure and simple. Maintain your integrity and let them know what they’re going to be dealing with if they buy your property – and assume that if you do lie, you’ll eventually be discovered anyway.

Return to Blog