- April 11, 2022
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You may have heard the common advice when you’re trying to list your house on the market. “Make sure your house looks clean!” “Make sure to have decluttered!”. Most advice centers around making your home look clean and presentable to draw in future buyers in droves. However, what are you supposed to do when your house is entirely unpresentable? How can you fix up and sell a home that seems unsellable? Those may be some of your concerns and these are all perfectly valid. You may feel as though there are very few options out there for you – either paying for major renovation or selling your home as-is. However, we would like to reassure you that there are way more options than you think there are! Read on to find out how to sell a house that is in need of major repair.
Be Honest
Having open and honest communication with your potential buyers is extremely important. You should speak to them and understand what they’re looking for during their purchase. Are they willing to buy the house as-is? Or are they looking to buy a house with some repairs needed? Understanding their needs should be your utmost priority because they are ultimately the ones who will be purchasing the home.
Remember to protect your interests as well and get written confirmation from your buyer about their commitment to your home. It would be a shame if you began investing time and money into fixing up your house, only for them to back out at the last minute.
What Should You Fix?
After initial conversations, your buyer may ask you to fix certain damages in the house. If you are planning on fixing certain features of your house before you list it on the market, here are mainly two types of home improvements that you can carry out.
Highest Priority Repairs
If you are on a tight budget and are pressed for time, fixing up the entire house will be a challenging task for you. Therefore, we recommend finding out what are the major damages in your house and prioritizing where you’re going to funnel your money and energy. Here is what we deem as high-priority repairs: replacing roofs, fixing any sort of mold/water damage/termite, repairing pipes, installing a new water heater. By fixing these items, you will be able to perhaps fetch a higher price for your home.
Minor Cosmetic Damages
High-priority repairs are usually very expensive and time-consuming. Many times, buyers who are purchasing a home as-is are not interested in serious repairs because they might be purchasing the house just to flip it. Hence, you should consider just doing minor repairs so that the overall aesthetic value of your home is higher. These repairs are usually faster to complete and do not require so much investment of your time. Here is what we deem as minor cosmetic damages worth fixing up: a fresh coat of paint, adding fixtures, professional polishing of marble, replacing bulbs, professional cleaning of carpets.