If you are preparing to list your house, you will have to make some repairs – it’s inevitable. But where do you start, what repairs do you need to make, and when is enough good enough. The rule of thumb here is to make just those repairs that will help you make more money at sale time and not cause you to lose money by dumping more into the repairs than you can recover. To help you out, then, here is our checklist of things to repair before listing your house in Frankfort.
Interior
While not strictly a repair to make before listing your house in Frankfort, brightening the interior is important nevertheless. The easiest and cheapest way to brighten and update the inside of your house is painting. Fresh paint can change the look entirely.
Just make sure to use lighter, neutral tones for the widest buyer appeal. You also don’t have to paint the walls in every room. Just paint those rooms with dirty, dingy, or damaged paint and those in bright, weird colors.
Exterior
The exterior of your house is just as important as the interior because it’s the first thing buyers see when they pull up. So check the roof and replace missing shingles, make sure the guttering looks good, and touch up paint on siding and fascia. Replacing the main entry door is a fairly inexpensive way to give your house a new look, and it usually yields a good return on investment.
And don’t forget curb appeal. You don’t have to go in for a full-blown landscaping job, but you do need to mow, rake, trim shrubs and trees, and lay down new mulch. It’s also a good idea to plant some flowers in beds for colorful outdoor accents. And be sure to repair and/or replace any fencing that isn’t in tip-top shape.
Bathroom
It’s a surprise to many sellers, but bathrooms are very important to buyers. So whatever isn’t functioning properly in the bathrooms should definitely be on your list of things to repair before listing your house in Frankfort.
Start by fixing all the dripping faucets and running toilets, and then make sure all the toilets have a good flush and that all the sinks and tubs drain well. Stained, moldy grout is a big buyer turn-off, so if you have tile in your bathrooms, it’s a good idea to re-grout it. If you don’t want to replace old toilets, just install a new seat to make them look newer. Repainting will also do a lot to give this area of buyer focus a newer, brighter look as well.
Kitchen
The kitchen will be even more important to buyers than the bathrooms, so it too needs to be on your list of things to repair before listing your house in Frankfort. First, replace dated lighting, countertops, and appliances – at least as much as you comfortably can financially. If your appliances are fairly up to date, make sure they are all functioning optimally and fix those that aren’t. After refinishing cabinet doors and painting walls, you should probably consider installing a new kitchen faucet.
Just keep in mind that you shouldn’t do a complete kitchen upgrade or renovation unless your agent thinks you will recoup your money when you sell. Find out more about this by calling (502) 352-2650.
Lighting and Electrical
All the repairs you make before listing your house in Frankfort have to be seen by buyers when they come to view your house. So among those repairs should repairs and upgrades to lighting. Repair non-operating fixtures, replace those that are dated and install additional ones where more light is needed to make your house bright and appealing to buyers. A cheap and easy way to brighten things up is to install new switch and outlet plates throughout the house. And, of course, you should fix any dead or faulty outlets.
Finally, it goes without saying that anything broken, damaged, or not working properly should be on your list things to repair before listing your house in Frankfort. You do have to spend some money to get your house ready for showings, but you shouldn’t invest more than you can recover when you sell.
