About to sell your home? Considering listing it online on websites like Zameen.com? Wait! Have you performed all the essential repairs before selling a house?
There are six major aspects of your house that require your attention so that you can prepare your home for a sale. Ignoring home repairs before selling can be one of the biggest mistakes made by sellers so don’t join the club. Fix up your house so that you can close successful sales once your home is listed online.
Essential Repairs Before Selling a House
Let’s take a look at the things to fix before selling a house.
- Electrical
- Plumbing
- Exterior
- Interior
- Kitchen
- Bathroom
Note that the repairs mentioned above are only supposed to polish your place and make it look more presentable. Conducting home repairs before selling does not mean performing costly home renovations in an attempt to upgrade the place unless you are certain that the price of the updates will add to the value of the property and will be returned back to you when you close a sale.
Electrical
Every house has two key systems in place and flickering lights during a home viewing can turn away buyers immediately. This is why you need to ensure that the wiring system in your house is updated and repaired beyond a fault. Prepare your home for a sale by performing the following electrical repairs around the place:
- Replace fused bulbs
- Fix faulty wiring
- Repair short-circuiting outlets
- Check circuit breakers for performance issues
Plumbing
Most homebuyers will turn on the lights and the taps in every home their visit before making an offer, so plumbing repairs are just as important as electrical touch-ups. Here are some of the common plumbing repairs to consider before you sell your home:
- Fix leaky pipes, faucets, and toilets
- Replace old taps
- Check for issues with water pressure
Exterior
The essential repairs before selling a house also include improving your curb appeal and landscaping your yard, because the impression you make on potential buyers when they first see the house will stay with them when they are making their decision. Here are some of the crucial repairs that you need to perform:
Landscaping
- Mow your lawn
- Trim your bushes and trees
- Add new plants to bare patches
Exterior Finishing
- Oil all your exterior doors
- Fix broken windows
- Reseal cracks in your concrete driveway
- Replace missing roof shingles
- Check for foundation issues
- Inspect the house for pest infestations
- Add a new coat of paint as needed
Interior
You need to fix up your house before you put it up for sale and while we’ll be tackling the kitchen and bathroom repairs separately below, there’s still a lot to be done inside the house to make it perfect for a home viewing. Here are the major things to fix before selling a house:
Walls
- Remove torn and dull wallpaper
- Fill the cracks in the walls
- Paint the walls in a neutral shade
Floors
- Remove or clean the carpets
- Replace chipped or cracked tiles
- Caulk the gaps as needed
- Refinish torn or broken laminates
Lights
- Replace broken light fixtures
- Upgrade to LED or energy-efficient lighting
Interior Aesthetics
- Fix broken door locks
- Replace rusted doorknobs and cabinet handles
- Polish solid surfaces
Kitchen
The kitchen is the heart of every home and most homeowners will make their buying decisions based on the size, aesthetics, and age of the kitchen. This means that you need to upgrade your kitchen while you prepare your home for a sale. Here’s how you can do just that:
- Check the functioning of all the fitted appliances
- Upgrade to the latest fitted appliances if possible
- Refinish the doors of your kitchen cabinets
- Replace all handles and knobs in the kitchen
- Oil all drawers and pull-out storage spaces
- Polish existing counter surfaces
- Give a new coat of paint to peeling walls
- Change the light fixtures to maximise energy efficiency
- Inspect the sink for leaks
- Reseal the sink if needed
- Ensure that the kitchen is pest-free
Bathroom
One of the most-used rooms of the house, while many potential buyers might not actually enter the bathroom itself, even a glance from the door can be enough to tell them what state it’s in. This is why it is crucial to perform some basic repairs in your bathroom before you list your house for sale. Here are a few of them:
- Ensure that all the fittings work
- Check for plumbing leaks
- Get rid of water stains and mould
- Redo caulking around the tiles and sanitary fittings
- Replace missing or broken tiles
- Paint the walls if needed
- Install new shower curtains
- Polish the mirror
- Inspect the bathroom for slow water drainage
Perform these essential repairs before selling a house and see the difference in the offers your property receives. Don’t forget to use our tips to stage your home for a sale before a viewing to highlight the best features of your house and impress potential buyers.
Want to learn more tips and tricks related to home buying and selling? Keep reading at Zameen Blog! You can also reach us at blog@zameen.com for all your queries.
