Before you put your home up on the market, you should make sure that it is market ready. If you were a prospective home buyer, would you choose your house? There are some key tasks that should be done before you plant a “For Sale” sign in the yard.
Fix Electrical and Plumbing Issues
We will lump these together because they are equally important and should both be done before your home is considered ready for sale. You should inspect your home for any kind of leak or other plumbing issue as well as any electrical issue.
These can include burst pipes, leaky taps, nonworking switches, flickering lights, dead outlets, and anything else that needs fixing. These are all little problems that you might have tolerated over the years but that new buyers will not tolerate. Each small problem will detract from the value of the home and make it less appealing to buyers.
If necessary, have your home inspected for issues like these and then hire a handyman to fix them. If you have everything in working order, then your home will be far more appealing to anyone looking to buy.
Clean Up Mould
One of the key cleanliness problems in any home that needs to be addressed is mould. If there is any mildew or mould spores in the home, then they need to be completely removed. This is not as easy as it may seem since the microscopic spores are undetectable to the human eye and can hang around in the air while you are cleaning the hard surfaces where there is visible mould.
So, even if you clean up mould, it may come back quickly since you didn’t get rid of the spores. This is why we recommend bringing in a mould remediation specialist to handle this kind of issue. The experts will be able to get rid of mould even at the microscopic level and ensure that it doesn’t come back.
Some prospective buyers will take one look at mould and decide they are not interested in the house at all. They may suspect that if they see some mould that there is more hiding in places they cannot see, and they know that mould can destroy structural materials and devalue the house considerably.
Declutter Your Property
How tidy does the property look that you are planning to sell? Is it cluttered up with all of your belongings or is it neat and organized? You may be forced to remain on the property while you are trying to sell it, but that does not mean it has to look lived in.
One of the best things you can do to enhance the appeal of a property that you are residing at is to declutter it. Start with one room and then work your way through the entire house, focusing first on the rooms that you can have the most impact on. That would be the rooms that are the largest and the most cluttered.
Determine what items you can get rid of, which ones can go into storage, and what you could sell off or trash. You can sort items into piles based on what you are going to do with them, and that will save you work later on. Like any of the tasks in this article, decluttering increases property value. It allows buyers to see more of the floor space and wall space and makes the place look far more attractive.
Keep the Property Clean
One cleaning is not going to be enough when you are preparing to sell your property. You will need to have it cleaned periodically, even if you are not living there still. That is because pests can come in and dirty up the place and dust can accumulate over time. Now, if no one resides there, then the property will stay neater and cleaner for longer, but it will need to be cleaned every so often anyways.
You can use a Dallas professional cleaning service for that or hire cleaners for wherever the property is located, and that way, you do not have to be the one to keep up with the cleaning. This can be helpful if you do not live anywhere close to the property but still want to keep it looking attractive and still want to sell it.
If you do reside at the property you are trying to sell, then it is even more important to make it look tidy. Do regular cleaning to ensure that the property is up to mark and to keep it looking nice for potential buyers. You never know when someone might come by to take a look at the property, so be sure to clean it often and then perform periodic deep cleaning for a nicer, cleaner appearance.
Repaint Tired Looking Areas
One of the cheapest fixes you can make for your property is to repaint key areas. You may not need to repaint the entire house, but if you choose the rooms that are the most in need of painting, then you can focus on them and get your money’s worth.
Consider the room in the house that looks the most rundown. The walls may be stained and the paint may be peeling. This room is an eyesore, and it will detract from the entire property. Now, imagine taking that one room and repairing it. The room will be invigorated, and by extension, the entire house will look fresher and more appealing.
This is the power of painting a single space, and the more repainting you do, the fresher the property will look. Consider your time and your budget as you plan your repainting and see if you can do the work yourself to save some money. But do paint any spaces that need it because this will give you an excellent return on your investment and will greatly increase the property’s appeal.
