5 Things Homeowners Should Do Before Selling Their Home

One of the first questions homeowners ask when they start thinking about selling is, “What should I fix before I put my house on the market?”

The answer: it depends, but maybe not much. It’s easy to assume that getting a home ready to sell means updating the kitchen, remodeling a bathroom or tackling a long list of projects you’ve put off for years. But spending more money does not always result in a higher sale price.

Some homes are perfectly fine to sell as-is. In some cases, especially with an inherited property, a home can even be sold with most or all of its contents if the goal is simply to make the process easier and move on.

Before you start writing checks, here are five things to consider. Start with what buyers notice first.

Buyers begin forming an opinion almost immediately. Curb appeal, cleanliness, natural light and how well a home has been maintained can matter more than expensive upgrades.

Cleaning windows, trimming landscaping, removing excess clutter and making rooms feel bright and inviting can dramatically improve how a home shows without requiring a major investment.

Fix the obvious problems. A leaking faucet, broken fixture, damaged screen, loose handle or peeling paint may seem minor, but several small maintenance issues can make buyers wonder what else has been neglected.

Take care of the simple things first. They are often inexpensive to repair and can make the home feel much better maintained.

Be careful with major renovations. A new kitchen or bathroom may sound like an obvious way to increase value, but renovations need to make sense with the rest of the house.

If you install a brand-new kitchen but the flooring, paint, lighting or adjoining rooms are mismatched or still feel dated, the new space can actually highlight everything that wasn’t updated.

Sometimes a clean, well-maintained original home presents better than one that feels partially remodeled.

Consider inspections before you list. One of the most useful places to spend money may be on information.

A general home inspection and termite inspection can identify potential concerns before buyers discover them. That gives sellers an opportunity to determine what should be repaired, what should be disclosed and what may not need to be addressed at all.

Providing those reports to buyers can also reduce uncertainty and help them feel more comfortable when deciding what to offer.

Know your buyer, your neighborhood and your options. Buyer expectations can vary significantly by neighborhood, streets within a neighborhood, price range and the competing homes currently for sale. What makes sense for one Long Beach property may be completely unnecessary for another.

And before putting $20,000, $50,000 or more into improvements, consider whether some of that money could be more valuable elsewhere. There are creative ways to structure buyer incentives, including closing-cost credits or interest-rate buydowns, that may be more meaningful to a buyer than a renovation they didn’t choose.

The goal is not simply to spend money getting your house “ready.” It’s to determine which investments could actually help you sell and which ones you may never get back.

Sometimes the smartest decision is knowing what to leave alone.

Contact Kristin regarding real estate questions at propertyk123@gmail.com.