5 Home Repairs You Should Complete Before Listing Your Indianapolis Home for Sale.
When you're considering listing your home for sale, not only do you have to understand what is going on with the Indianapolis market, you will want to know what repairs you should do before listing your home for sale.
Making repairs ahead of time before you go on the market will save you a headache down the road. Buyers will buy with their eyes. If your foundation has cracks on it, or exterior trim paint is peeling, the buyer will assume there are other major issues with your home.
Your agent should be able to do a walk through ahead of time and point out to you what things should get repaired and also what things you can skip.
Here are my top 5 Home repairs you should complete before listing your home for sale:
1) Exterior
Your curb appeal should be an area that you put the most focus on. You need to step outside and take a good look at the outside of your home. How does the exterior look today? Is there any noticeable wood rot or peeling paint? Do your gutters need cleaned?
Not only will the buyer look at these issues when they show up to tour your house, but these are things that will show up in your listing photos online, and also things that an inspector will point out. I would spend a good amount of attention outside and also a little bit of money making the necessary repairs.
2. Mechanics of your home
When I am out showing houses to buyers, they always want to know the age of the roof and the HVAC. No matter what, this comes up at almost every property. They will look at the bigger ticket items. You should have your HVAC serviced by a licensed HVAC company before listing your home for sale. Most buyers will request this anyways to ensure it is working, so why not have this taken care of before hand?
If you know of any issues with your roof, it wouldn't hurt to have it evaluated by a roofing contractor and make repairs as needed. Hang onto that invoice so you can present it to the buyer when they ask about the roof!
3. Cosmetic Repairs
Once you get the curb appeal up to par, you will want to put your focus on the interior. You will want to make cosmetic repairs to your home that will allow it to show better.
If you have a pink bedroom, a purple bedroom, and scuffs on all of your doors and trim, it wouldn't hurt to slap on a fresh coat of paint. You will want to go with something neutral here. You would be surprised how many buyers can't get past a bold color.
4. Kitchen and bathrooms
I am sure you have seen all of the Reality T.V. shows that are mainly focused on home buyers. The main areas they tend to look at are the bathrooms and the kitchen. You may not have to do anything major to them in order to get your home sold.
Focus on what the comps are telling you. If a home sold for the price you were hoping to get and didn't have an updated kitchen or bath, then you may be in good hands.
Sometimes updating these areas could be as simple as adding hardware to the cabinets, or installing new sink fixtures. Making these simple fixes will get your eyes off the outdated cabinets.
Also, make sure all of your appliances are good in appearance. If you have a white stove and refrigerator but your dishwasher is black, this can throw off your kitchen. Try to at least have all of your kitchen appliances matching in color.
5. Deep Cleaning
No one loves looking at a messy home. Deep cleaning your house prior to your first set of showings is huge. This would include wiping down all base boards and light fixtures, cleaning the grout in your kitchen and baths, cleaning the windows, and deep cleaning the appliances.
Your agent probably has a great cleaner they can recommend. It may possibly be best money spent before you start showing your home.
I have seen buyers walk out of a home without touring it entirely because it was too messy.
First impressions are very important!
Going through this checklist is pretty simple. And make sure you talk with your agent about what items you should do and what items you may be able to skip so you don't waste your time and money on things that don't really matter.
There are definitely other things you should look at, but these are some of the top things I always look at before listing a home for sale.