Dont Excessively Improve Your Home Before Selling
Posted on February 17, 2008
Filed Under Business |
Once you make the decision to sell your house, the first thing you should think about is fixing up the rough spots. You want your house to look good, but don’t over do it unless you want to be disappointed.
I have to admit something that I find rather humorous and aggravating. My home has always been at its absolute best before I moved out. This is true for rentals and homes I have owned. Why? Because you want to look its best for the next person so they don’t think negatively about you.
When selling your abode, there is a second reason as well to fix it up. What is it? Money, of course. Simply put, fixing up the rough spots can help you sell the property and do so at a higher price. What could be better than that?
While fixing up your property makes sense, it is vital that you keep in mind there is a cap to what you can do and see a corresponding result in the price and sales time. Many sellers make the mistake of over improving their home at the last moment. They then find they really can’t recover the cost when they sell the property.
The key to avoiding this problem is to know your market. First determine what comparables around you are selling for. Now determine where you home reasonably sits in that market. You should now be able to tell the difference between the price you can reasonably expect to get for the home if you improve it and the amount you can spend on those improvements. Let’s look at an example.
The comparable homes in your area are selling for between $275,000 and $325,000. You have lived in your home for 20 years and it definitely needs some buffing. It looks like you could sell for $290,000, but painting, landscaping and a new bathroom could probably put you in the $310,000 range.
The question is whether such improvements can be done for less than $20,000. If they can, they do them. If they are going to run $30,000, don’t since you will not be able to recover the money when the house is sold.
Make no mistake - cleaning up your home before selling makes absolute sense. Just make sure you will be able to recover the money you spend.
Sell your home with a free 1 month listing at at FSBOAmerica.org.
Tags: budget, clean, homes, house, improve, landscaping, paint, prepare, price, real estate, sell, spend
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