It is overwhelming to try to figure out what you need to do to get a home ready for sale. Do I fix this, do I not fix that? Am I wasting my time and money? Will I get a good rate of return? How do I distinguish the difference?
The five things that you do not have to do when getting ready to sell your home.
So your rate of return on both money and time is not worth it. So I’m going to give you those five, along with some ideas of what you really need to do to make sure that you get the most for your home, even in this hot-selling market. So let’s get started here.
1. Don’t remodel your kitchen and bathrooms.
If you haven’t done it to enjoy while you’re living there, please don’t do it now. You’ve wanted to do it, now you think you’re going to do it for someone else. They may not like it. They may not like that you put white counters and white cabinets. They want gray and some other color. So only remodel a kitchen and bathroom if that’s something that you’ve wanted to do for the enjoyment of your home while you’ve lived there.
Now, some things you can do is paint it a nice neutral color. Change the hardware, change the knobs on the cabinets.
And clean it, thoroughly clean it. It needs to sparkle.
2. Don’t replace the flooring.
You may decide that you need to put tile. You’re going to remove the carpet, you have to install tile. But maybe a buyer wants wood, or bamboo, or something different on those floors. So unless you’ve done it for your enjoyment, don’t do it. Now, what I will say, is if your carpet is old and worn, and it just is not going to show well, we’ll take the carpet out.
Get builder-grade carpet, have it installed. It’ll look great. Doesn’t last a long time, but that’s okay. Because when you put carpet down it makes it so easy for a buyer if they decide to change the flooring, just to rip up the carpet, versus trying to get jackhammers to take out tile or the wood floors.
3. Don’t replace the roof.
If there are leaks, or it needs to be repaired, please repair it. That’s very important. But don’t replace it unless you want to do it for your enjoyment again. Because a new owner may not want the type of roof that you put in. You put in shingle, they may have wanted metal, or maybe they wanted tile. So if it’s a roof that’s the end of life and at least it’s not leaking, then give them a credit towards a new roof. In Minnesota, roofs are very important for winter protection.
4. Don’t fix beyond the value of the neighborhood you live in.
All the homes in your neighborhood have tile and carpet, and you decide to do Italian marble, you’re not going to get that rate of return for putting in that upgrade. Or you have this extravagant, beautiful landscaping, hopefully, that you put in while you were living there to enjoy. But don’t expect to get a big rate of return if everyone else in the neighborhood just has a couple of trees and very simple landscaping. So make sure that you stay with the trend of your neighborhood unless while you’re living there you’ve wanted to do these upgrades for your enjoyment.
5. Don’t fix or do a partial repair.
So for instance, you’re living in a home that probably the bathroom needs to be replaced or remodeled. And some of the tiles are awful. If it’s not in major areas where it’s going to have water intrusion, well don’t bother replacing them, let them see that this needs to be done. Let it be listed in the Multiple Listing Service at that.
Because whatever the description of the home needs to match the condition of the home. If you do a partial repair, a buyer’s going to think that this is how the entire house is. If you identify that there is a problem with whatever room it is they’re much more likely just to accept a credit, and move on, and make you a good offer for your home.
So now let’s talk about some things you should do when you are selling your home. So the five items that are a good rate of return,
Paint
1. Inside and out. Paint puts a smile on your home when it gets its photos. But do something neutral. Don’t do these wild, trendy colors. Do what we sort of call a grayish. So something very neutral that anybody who moves their furniture in can do it. And it’s clean, it refreshes the whole home, which is wonderful.
Declutter
2. Get rid of things, make it look bigger.
Less is more.
Depersonalize
3. Get you out of the house. They don’t want to see your family, unless they’re nosy, as they’re looking through when they’re buying. But let them see their selves in the home for them to make a great offer.
Clean
4. Clean it as hard as you can. If it smells, I can’t sell it. But if it’s clean, sparkles, refreshing, that really compensates for a lot of things that still need to be done in the home.
Landscaping
5. Clean up and prune your landscaping. And also add mulch.
I hope these ideas help you Happy house hunting.
