Fixing faults with your property – what are the absolute essentials before selling?

I am aware that arguing necessity of fixing faults or small problems flies in the face of conventional thinking. I have often argued this very point with friends, family & clients saying that buyers won’t see past the ‘little things’.

Even experienced renovators will use faults against the Vendor. People instinctively make a decision about anything the moment they set eyes on fixing faults and it is then very difficult to change their minds.

If you are still in doubt when it comes to fixing faults try going along to some properties when they are open for inspection and listen to what people have to say. I guarantee you will be amazed. Some common observations at poorly presented homes include, “how could anyone expect to sell a home looking like this” and “we’d have to renovate it before we could move in”. Conversely, when a place looks meticulously maintained the comments are positive and even leads buyers to excuse or minimize faults.

At this point you may wondering what it is all going to cost when fixing faults and whether the expenditure would be worthwhile. The simple answer is that proper home presentation done sensibly will always make the property easy to sell and increase the price. However you have to make a clear distinction between things that are being done for presentation, and others that really are a form of renovation which need to be separately budgeted and more importantly justified. There’s no need to go overboard either. Make sure items such as repainting are not on the list just because you are tired of the colour.

What if you can’t afford it? If you have budgetary constraints just do what you can. Every bit helps. Try to prioritise your list of things to do. The absolute essentials when fixing faults are patching cracks which are a lot more damaging to a sale than peeling paint (though I would still advocate you fixing that too) and repairing faults to fixtures such as leaking taps and toilets or broken light fittings. Only repair things yourself that you can do properly.

Often repairs and improvements are not as expensive as you might think. Once you have your list, get tradespeople in to give you quotes on everything. Always obtain more one quote unless the repair is minor. Remember, you don’t need the Rolls-Royce job, you only require the minimum. If a particular wall has a hairline crack have it fixed and painted. Remember these days it’s not always essential to repaint the surrounding wall(s) as painters can match colours quite accurately.

Vendor Marketing – Melbourne’s most qualified vendor advocates, specialises in both property marketing and real estate agent selection for property sellers within Melbourne, therefore we are able to assist you in fixing faults as part of preparing a home for sale.