If you are thinking of selling your home, fix the place up! Sprucing up your whole house is the best way to raise the value of your property.
Spending money on the fix-up
Your pre-sale home fix-up does not have to be expensive. But every Rand spent on making your house more appealing to buyers usually come back to you, doubled or better. A neat, clean home will get more buyers interested in your property, and the more interested buyers, the better your chances of getting your asking price.
So, whether "sprucing up" means mowing the lawn for once, sweeping the patio and painting the front door, or new landscaping, a new front door, redecorating the kitchen, redecorating the bathroom and building a fence, your fix-up expenses will be rewarded. Okay, building a fence is taking it a bit far...
Some home improvements don't raise the market value or saleability of your house at all. This is a conundrum that all property sellers are faced with. Being hesitant to spend money on improving the property, because it may not improve the market value of the house, is a valid concern. You have to choose your fix-up projects carefully. But never make the mistake of underestimating what a few spruce-ups can do for the sale of your property.
Curb Appeal
Appearance is everything. That means, "curb appeal". If your house looks like a ruin from the street, most prospective buyers will not stop to attend your open house.
If the house's gutters are sagging, the paint is pealing, the garden is overgrown with weeds, or totally nonexistent, buyers will turn and run. If the lawn has bare patches, the patio pavers are cracked, loose or missing, and the sink roof is rusted a camouflage brown, potential buyers will just roll on by.
When it comes to selling a home, the prospective buyer's first impression of the property is where the breakthrough happens. Try to put yourself in the buyer's shoes.
Assessing your house
Drive slowly past your house, and look at it as if you are scouting it to buy. See anything that puts you off?
Stand in front of your home and walk up to the front door. Do you stumble over weeds, dislodge paving bricks from the pathway, or get a whiff of doggie-doo? None of those things will really do...
Be as critical as you can of your home, or even get your mother in law to come and criticize! It may be painful to face, but acknowledging everything about your house that just doesn't work right is the first step to a super home fix-up.
Do you (or mom-in-law) see any problems with the house, which a prospective buyer might notice?
Do the necessary fix-ups
Most homebuyers are not interested in buying a property with tons of work that still needs to be done. Homes are expensive enough as it is.
Buyers that are willing to take on a fixer-upper house will expect the purchase price to compensate handsomely for all their effort. And this is especially true if they have to make the home repairs that you should have made a long time ago.
What made you buy this house?
Also think back a little. What was it about the house that first attracted you, as a buyer, to purchase it? Are those characteristics still intact?
De-personalize
I like garden gnomes and pink flamingos, personally, but many potential buyers might think it kitsch and ugly. Do you have things in your yard such as garden gnomes, outdated lawn furniture, a child's rusted swing set or jungle gym, which could clash with the aesthetic values of many of your potential buyers? It may be wise to remove those things from your garden before showing your home, if at all possible.
The same principle that applies to the interior decorations of your home should be applied to the garden of your house. If buyers think garden gnomes are tacky, and you have three or twenty-four scattered about your front lawn, believe it or not, that may turn and run.
Your prospective buyers care as much about the outside appearance of their future home as you do. You should make it as easy as possible for them to picture their own things in the yard and garden.
Removing a swing set or jungle gym from your garden can be a big task. But simply moving it to an out-of-the-way corner of the garden, which is a little more difficult to see from the back door, will help.
Garden Spruce Up To Sell
An attractive garden and good curb appeal can result in a huge sale value benefit for your house. So, if you negotiate a good sales transaction, your fix-up project investment in your house should show a good return.
