When preparing your home for sale, the little things count to make you sell quicker!
To the seller, it may be more of a nuisance to fix a piece of wood rot, replace carpet, or paint some exterior trim. To the buyer it looks to them that this is deferred maintenance. They see some rot, and then begin to think, “What else have the sellers not taken care of?” Then they start picking apart the house instead of saying, “Wow this seller really takes care of his house.”
Also, the buyers think that it costs a lot more to do the improvements than it actually does. Replacing carpet may only cost $2000 – $3500, but a buyer may think it costs $5,000 – $10,000. Most buyers these days have enough money for their down payment or closing costs, but not both. They certainly do not have cash set aside to make these improvements after closing.
Most buyers I see in the market want to move into a house and do nothing. I had a listing recently where I advised them to repaint the exterior trim. I got a quote from my painter, and it was $3500. My seller was resistant and said that he would negotiate that in the contract if necessary. We later had a potential buyer come look at the house for a second time. I called to get feedback and the agent told me the biggest drawback to the buyer was that the exterior trim needed to be painted. To the buyer it was a huge deal and he thought it was too big of an undertaking. I told the agent I had a quote for only $3500 and they came back to take a third look. Had we prepared the house perfectly prior to listing, and painted the outside, we could have possibly received the offer on the first or second look. The moral of the story is if there are things that you know need to be updated, fixed, or improved, do so before listing. It is going to make your home show better, sell quicker, and quite possibly sell for more money!
I hope you enjoyed the article. I encourage everyone (from novices to experts) to post a comment or question in the comments section below. This will help us all learn more about this topic.
Nina Harris and The Suits Team with Keller Williams Realty Peachtree Road collectively have over 10 years real estate experience in the Atlanta market. Year after year they sell 50-75 homes, rank in the top 5 in their office, and continue to be top producers within Keller Williams Realty. They work with both buyers and sellers, and have a team in place to help provide clients the most efficient service, a no fluff approach to buying and selling, and all the while making it an enjoyable process! 
Great article, Nina. I like the idea of going through the house ahead of time and making sure that the “punch list” of to-do’s is taken care of early. What seems like an easy fix to a seller may seem like a huge job to a buyer – not something you want the buyer thinking about when they are looking at the home.
Keep selling them fast!
I couldn’t agree more Nina. There is something magical about the first few months on the market. You want to take advantage of that initial momentum by putting your best product out from the beginning. If you wait 2 or 3 months to make necessary fixes, you take the risk of your house becoming a stale listing. Even with some additional cost on the front end, the seller will save in the end with a quicker sale and less holding costs (and headache!).
Makes sense to get the stuff done before listing it.
So many things to do to our place, so little time!
Well written and informative article! It makes a ton of sense but it seems like most sellers don’t want to spend the money for the repairs up-front. Not doing the repairs could absolutely scare away a few buyers.
It’s a tough call either way. You don’t want to scare off buyers with lots of repairs. However you also don’t want to spend money on items the buyer might change anyway.