The answer to your question on if it’s worth repairing your home before selling it? The short answer is a resounding no. The longer, more complicated answer is, well, it depends…
In most cases, repairing a home is way more costly than the resulting increased sale price.
Of course, every rule in real estate has its exceptions, but if you are stuck with a significantly damaged home, chances are it’s not worth fixing up, especially if you are trying to sell your house fast.
According to Remodeling Magazines annual Cost v Value Report for 2017, which lists national and regional averages for home repairs and upgrades costs and expected returns, the only repair you could make that would give a positive return on investment is new attic insulation.
Just about any fix or improvement that you can think of has an expected return of anywhere from half the money you spent to around 90%.
For the sake of selling a home fast, it may be worthwhile to lose a little bit of money to widen your pool of potential buyers and raise the chance of a quick sale, but as the list of repairs grows, so do the number of lost dollars.
But Aren’t There Home Buyers Want a Fixer-Upper?
Most homebuyers that say they want a fixer-upper are looking to get a house at a reduced price that needs minor or merely cosmetic repairs that they can do themselves.
Virtually no non-investor home buyer is looking for a place that has a damaged foundation, water damage, plumbing issues, or nearly any complicated or expensive problem. Though they might get the property at an incredibly generous price, they will either have to spend more money than the house will be ultimately worth (sound familiar?) or a substantial amount of time conducting the repairs themselves before they can move in.
What Repairs ARE Worth it?
When asking which repairs are worth doing, think small.
1. Painting and Walls
If you have damaged paint, your home has an outdated color pallet, or even worse- wallpaper, it is almost always worth repainting. Painting and replacing the wallpaper is a cheap fix that can be done by almost anybody.
Cracks and small knicks in your walls and ceiling are also inexpensive to patch up and can make a home much more appealing on the market.
2. Lawn Care
Lawn care is also simple to do yourself and makes a big enough difference to be worthwhile. Giving your front and backyards a makeover with some mowing, trimming, and some light landscaping goes a long way for a relatively low price.
Also, power washing your driveway and siding gives the home much broader appeal. If you don’t own a home power washer, you can rent them for pretty cheap from places such as Home Depot or Lowes.
3. Appliance Repair
Broken appliances are a deal-killer, and often they can be repaired at low cost. However, don’t go replacing all your appliances with brand new high-end models or remodel your whole kitchen. They are just making sure that they will give you value for your investment.
While you are in the kitchen, replace any damaged cabinet hardware and hinges. Hardware is very inexpensive, and you would be surprised what a difference it can make.
4. Roof Replacement
If your home repairs entail getting a new roof, you are going to have to replace it if you want to put the property on the market. It doesn’t return any value because home buyers expect a home to have an undamaged roof, but you won’t be able to sell the house by traditional means if your roof is damaged.
If your roof is in disrepair, weigh the cost of replacing versus selling your home as-is.
5. Light Fixtures and Ceiling Fans
If you have faulty or outdated light fixtures, replacing them with new, modern ones are just a few hundred bucks if you can replace them yourself.
6. Carpet Cleaning and Replacement
Most modern home buyers prefer hardwood and other products, particularly in common areas. However, installing these flooring products is expensive, and likely won’t give you a positive return on investment.
If you have damaged or stained carpet, either have them professionally cleaned, rent a carpet cleaner, and clean them yourself or just replace them. Though it isn’t the most appealing option, it’s affordable, and many homebuyers don’t mind replacing them with the flooring of their choice.
Each of these minor fixes and improvements on its own is an affordable way to make your home more palatable to the real estate market. However, if you add them all up, or if there are a few bigger problems present, it just isn’t worth the money and effort.
Luckily, you don’t have to take your damaged home to market and wait for months just to end up selling your home for far less than it’s worth.
Selling Your House As Is
You can put your house on the market as is, but your pool of potential buyers will be incredibly small, limited near-exclusively to investment real estate buyers who plan to fix, remodel, and turn a profit on the home. As your home sits on the market, these profiteers will give you lower and lower offers, taking advantage of your situation, and hope to get a great deal at your expense.
The vast majority of home buyers, even investment buyers, need to finance through a bank to buy a house. When a house is in disrepair, banks are hesitant to grant these loans or charge high-interest rates due to the risks involved. Thus, the investor needs to get as low a price as possible to make the venture worth it.
But you have another option. We are a group based out of Washington DC and are experienced real estate investors who have the cash on hand and the industry contacts to purchase homes quickly at a fair price, and still remodel and repair them at a profit.
How You Can Sell Your Home Fast
By partnering with a cash home buyer, you can sell your home fast without needing to worry about making any repairs or upgrades.
We can do this because we have the resources to skip the realtors, skip the financing, and get a closing in the quickest amount of time the state allows. With no realtor fees or high-interest loans, we can make fair offers on any home in any condition.
If you put your house on the market in poor condition, you will get offers from various real estate investors making use of risky, high-interest loans will be responsible for closing costs, and will have to wait months before closing the deal.
Because we have the flexibility to purchase New York homes without needing a bank or credit union’s approval, we can buy houses quickly and in any condition. We cover all the repairs, pay all the closing costs, and don’t make you lift a finger to get a fair cash offer for your home.
Our goal is to help homeowners get out of their damaged, ugly, or unwanted houses without any hassle. We make the quick home sale process as easy as possible and help DC-area homeowners move out of their homes and move on with their lives.
Instead of laboring over your home, spending even more money that you will not get back on the sale, and waiting months to move forward with your life, why wouldn’t you just walk away with a check-in your pocket in as little as a few weeks?
Get Your 24-Hour Cash Offer Today.
We will provide a cash offer on any home in 24 hours or less. Fill out our contact form or give us a call today and one of our real estate experts will provide you with a cash offer within 24 hours, it’s that simple.
Our cash offers come with zero obligation. If you aren’t happy with it, you’ve only spent a few minutes of your time exploring your options.
