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Home Improvement

4 Things To Fix Before Selling Your Home

Selling a home can be a complex process. While you might be thinking about how you’re going to market your home to get the best price, you might be forgetting an important part of selling your home – making repairs. While there are likely a few things that you have learned to live with over the course of your residence, new buyers won’t be nearly so forgiving. Before you put your home on the market, it’s a great idea to improve your home’s value by doing some repairs. Below are four things that you can fix before selling your home to raise buyer interest and to get a better price.

Exterior Paint

It’s hard to notice when the exterior paint is a problem. You see your home every day, and to you, it looks much the same as it did the day before. When a potential buyer comes by, though, they’ll see year’s worth of wear and tear all at once. The good news is that exterior paint repair is incredibly easy and is often very inexpensive.

When checking your outside paint, make sure you check areas around windows and entry points, as these will have the most wear and tear on the paint. Corners can also suffer from weathering over time. These areas often only require simple touch-ups, but it can make a big difference in the overall appearance of your home.

Baseboards

When was the last time you looked at your baseboards? Other than a basic cleaning, it’s probably been years since you have done any work on them. These simple pieces of wood can get dinged up and damaged quickly and they’re often the culprit when it comes to lingering pet or smoke odors. If your baseboards have absorbed any smells, it will be impossible to remove the odors. If this is the case, you should replace your baseboards entirely.

A fresh coat of paint on your baseboards can also work wonders in sprucing up a room. Most baseboards are painted in neutral colors or to match the walls or floor. If your baseboards are light in color, scuffs will show up easily. If your baseboards are dark, dings and paint chips stand out and tend to draw the eye. Touching up these areas of your baseboards makes a room look nicer without being too obvious or expensive.

Fencing

A good fence can be a major selling point for a home. A fence in disrepair, though, will turn off buyers very quickly. If your fence is in decent condition, you might be able to get away with replacing a few boards or putting on a new coat of paint. If your fence isn’t in good condition, it might be better to completely remove it than to leave it standing.

If you choose to replace your fence, think about the different kinds of fencing available and what the best kinds of fencing for your home. Wooden fences are popular, but the height will make a difference in appearance. A short fence is pretty but doesn’t keep much out. Taller fences are better for keeping things out or in, but it can block the view of the backyard or surrounding area.

HVAC Systems

Your HVAC system is an expensive and necessary part of your home. When it is functioning correctly, the HVAC system keeps your home comfortable and in good shape. When it is not working properly, your home may overheat or be too cold, causing additional problems or extra expenses. A properly functioning HVAC system is one of the non-negotiable parts of selling your home.

Before you start bringing around buyers, make sure you have the system thoroughly checked out. Most potential owners will have an independent inspector go through your home before they close on the house and any problems with your HVAC system will be discovered by the inspector. This could lead to more expensive repairs, lost time in the closing process, or even the buyers pulling out of the process altogether.

While it may seem like just another item on a long list of things to do, making sure that you present the best picture of your home is vital to making sure you get a good sale. While these things are the basics you should be looking at, make sure you don’t neglect other areas of your home as well. Your realtor can advise you on the best things to focus on. While the issues might be minor, they are important to new buyers. Remember, you only get one shot at a first impression – make sure your house looks great from the first day it goes on the market.

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