TeamSelling a house for the right price can be a daunting task. It is messy, complicated, hard and worst of all, it is time consuming. If buyers are not interested in your house, there is always one thing we have to consider. Should we spend some cash in our house trying to freshen it up? Listen, no one wants to burn money on a place that we are leaving, but sometimes it really is necessary and you can even profit more from it.
The thing is, when we are living in a house for so long, we get totally used to it and its peculiarities and flaws. We do not even see these flaws anymore and disregard it entirely. However, when prospective buyers are looking to buy, they want something fresh, with a new look. And these little things that we do not pay any attention to anymore scream “hell, no” to potential buyers. In the end, we are left wondering what happened. I know this from experience; I spent years trying to sell my previous house and the market decline was not the only culprit.
Let’s take a look at why you should invest some money in your house before trying to sell it.
More money, a better look
Investing money in your house does not always correlate to better value, even though we would like to assume it does. For example, if you burn 20 thousand in a better AC system, sure, the living conditions improve drastically but, visually, the buyer does not see the value.
On the other hand, if the floor is just slightly damaged and the repair would just cost a couple hundred, a prospective buyer will not think like that. He will see the damaged floor and get bad vibes from the house, even if it is an easy repair. The thing is, when we are browsing houses, looks are everything. The bones rarely matter until we are actually living in it.
It might even be worth it to talk to a designer and discuss some ideas. Professionals in this field can take a small investment and double it in value with some smart decor decisions.
Hire a cleaning team
Another investment that may seem silly at first, but can be a dealbreaker. Just like those little peculiarities that we get used in our houses, cleaning presents the same problem. We all have our cleaning standards, which are different for everyone. However, when we are looking for a new house, I do not know about you, but if I see anything messy or things are dusty, it’s an instant no-no for me. It is not about the cleaning since we all can clean after buying the house; it’s the looks. The new house glamour bubble just pops and it is gone.
On top of that, despite all of us thinking that we clean pretty well, there are always spots that we forget or do not clean as well as we should. A cleaning team will make your house shine corner to corner.
Invest in a repair team
This is another investment that should not go unnoticed. Finding a potential buyer that will agree to your asking price is all about making them fall in love with the house. That new house glamour bubble that we were talking about can’t burst, and if the client is walking around with broken things around, that bubble will pop pretty fast.
Broken blinds, faucets, squeaky floors, poorly painted walls are a surefire way to let a buyer getaway.
Even if the potential buyer does not get discouraged from these small problems, he will try to undercut your price really hard.
Final thoughts
Putting more cash on a house that we are moving out from is really hard. It feels like a waste since it won’t be our house anymore! I totally get that. But if we look at it as an investment and try to make extra money, the mindset changes completely.
However, even with a new mindset, it is hard to see what needs to change in our previous home. If you can get a fresh pair of eyes to take a look and fire some ideas, you are golden! You can even ask the realtor to be extremely honest and blunt. They usually know what sells and what scares buyers away, but they are also afraid to make the seller mad and end up biting their tongue.
Take a hard look at our home needs and do not be afraid to let some money go. You just might make the deal of your life.
