Home repair books
When a home repair books gets ready to sell his property he usually cleans it up and ponders what repairs or improvements will get him back more than their cost and help sell his home quicker. Some repairs and improvements will return 100% to 200% or more of their cost, while other may not increase the value of the property at all.
The most productive improvement that can be done is to patch and paint all the rooms in the home repair books. We prefer to use a flat white primer and not tint colors at all. The rooms look like a snow storm hit but they look larger and allow the buyer a “fresh palate” to paint whatever colors he wants. If your property has some wild and crazy wall paper, it is worth the effort and cost to have it removed and the walls painted white.
Install a new kitchen
The best return on your money for an improvement cost is to install a new kitchen. We do not use custom cabinets but rather off-the-shelf cabinets from the major home warehouses. If the cabinets are in good condition but need something to liven them up, replace the counter top and backsplash.
We do this with granite 12″ x 12″ tiles that we butt them together and use the smallest grout line possible. In addition, we add the same granite as a bull nose edge finish. The cost of the granite is 1/10 to 1/20 the cost of solid granite and the backsplash can be taken all the way up the walls to the cabinet bottoms. It can also be installed in two or three days at the most using only a tile saw. This improvement will get back many times its cost and has often made the difference in the quick sale of a property.
The major mechanical systems in the property include electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling and the roof. If a fuse box is what the property has, it is best to upgrade it to circuit breakers so the buyer doesn’t have to. Plumbing repairs are a must and usually only means dripping faucets that need washers or new valves that can be screwed in by the owner.
Heating and cooling systems
Heating and cooling systems should be checked and maintained but not replaced as it is better to give the buyer a credit at the closing table or slightly reduce the selling price. If the roof isn’t leaking, clean it and leave it alone. If it is leaking, patch it and repair the stains on the ceiling or the walls as soon as possible before you advertise the property. If the buyer protests about the age of the roof, you should get the replacement and negotiate it into a reduced purchase price.
Spruce up the home repair books as it is the first thing a perspective buyer sees. An investment of a few hundred dollars can get more people inside the property and easily return many times the cost.
If there is a basement that has been partially finished or badly finished, do the best possible repair to complete the work with as little cost as possible. In some cases it may be better to take out the old work and leave it bare.
One final thing that we always do is to get an inspection report from our best home repair books. We use this as a check list of things to fix before a perspective buyer gets his inspector to do an inspection that scares him and keeps him from buying the property. Doing what is necessary to make your property clean, fresh and presentable to perspective buyers doesn’t have to cost a lot but the return in price you receive will be many times your investment.
