75 easy things to sell your house for more money

Last updated on July 24th, 2022 at 07:33 pm

Last Updated on July 24, 2022 by

Home buyers will pay a higher price if the house is in good condition, and it is clean and tidy. If you want to earn the listing price for your house it must look attractive inside and out. The value of your home is in part based on its condition. We have listed 75 easy things to sell your house for more money. 

There is no need to spend lots of money to prepare your house for sale. Almost all of the items on the list below represent minor repairs that will give you the best bang for your dollar. Follow the items on our list to improve the curb appeal of your house.

The title of this blog, 75 easy things to sell your house for more money is just that, easy. The list below are things you should not do just before selling your house:

-1. Don’t remodel

-2. Don’t replace the AC, water heater, or large appliance unless they are not operable and you can’t repair them

-3. Don’t repaint the entire house

-4. Don’t get paint on the carpet

-5. Don’t do anything that personalizes your house

-6. Don’t cook inside the house the day before and of a showing unless you open the windows

Most items on the checklist don’t require money

There is no reason to spend more money than necessary to get your house ready to sell. The list below as you will see contains many items that require your time and effort but not your money. The best way to accomplish your improvements is to print the list and use it as a checklist. The best time to do this is a few months before you want to list your house.

If everyone understood the need to work through the list there would be no need to create it. I often say that some people can’t see the forest for the trees. Meaning that you have lived with some of the issues for so long that you don’t see them as issues. As an example, one thing that I notice upfront is the door hardware and entranceway.

When I approach a house the first thing I see is a clean door handle or one full of body oil. Sometimes I see the area around the handle has lots of body oil and scratches on the door from keys etc. People often keep a clean home but fail to clean their entranceways. When I see a messy entrance, what follows is usually an issue with attention to detail. Not all buyers will notice but many wills.

A fresh coat of paint may help

On occasion, a fresh coat of paint on a room with high traffic is all that is necessary to brighten up a house. Bathrooms are either number one or two on everyone’s list of important areas. Often the calking/grout around tubs and showers is black from mold. The shower or bathtub may be clean but the owner does not clean calking. Taking a calking gun to the ground or cleaning it will fix that problem.

The right time to fix these minor things is before you meet with the real estate broker to discuss the best price for your house. Even a great real estate agent can’t overcome dirt and grime. People open ovens and microwaves to check. The last thing you want is for prospective buyers to see repeated dirty appliances.

The checklist includes some common areas that have come up in actual home walk through’s.

Download this list by clicking here

It’s not that you will have a problem selling your house, you could get a cash offer the day you list it. The problem is that you want to remove any points of leverage for a prospective buyer to use against you. You have set your home at a fair price, you have a good agent and all you want is the right buyer. The right buyer may want a discount because of a broken window.

You may be asked to pay to fix items you ignore

If you do not pay attention to these issues, small as they may be, you may be asked to pay closing costs as a way to repay the buyer for the cost of fixes. Another reason why I am writing this article and providing this checklist is so that you as a seller can get a jump on the buyer’s home inspection. Most of the items included would make their way to a home inspector’s list.

The last thing you want is to receive a long list of demands for repairs from the buyers. You may not be able to accomplish the repairs in time for closing or you may reject paying for the cost of repairs. Put yourself in their position, you are willing to pay the sales price as being fair but only for a house that is not a fixer.

The list price for a house at the highest home value will be based upon the market value the home appraiser puts on it. This assumes that the buyer is financing the house which is potentially the case. Dust on the fan blades or dust or dirt on the air vents can turn off potential buyers.

You know when a house is clean and neat

When you walk into a very clean and orderly house you know the difference. Buyers going from one open house to another all day can tell the ones that are ready for sale.

This article is not about if you will sell your house. It’s about when and for how much. This means that people are willing to make offers faster than before. It may mean that the sale price can be higher than it was a few months ago but things do change.

When a buyer is willing to buy a house, the purchase price will be affected by the appraisal. Some items on the list may require repair if the buyer is financing through FHA or VA. Actually, in some cases, even a broken window can prohibit a house from obtaining FHA financing.

While it is true that the home’s value is based upon what the buyer is willing to pay for it, it is also as mentioned based on how much the lender is willing to lend based on the condition. Taking the time to fix small items and clean may mean the difference between obtaining top dollar and earning something less.

Market conditions are changing

Market conditions are changing as this is being written. Home prices are likely to stabilize and even come down. The appraisers are keen to comply with the latest trends. Many in the industry think that while are not in a buyer’s market, qualified buyers may be fewer and few shortly. More than ever, sellers need to act as if this is a competitive market and get their houses ready for a quick sale.

I tell my clients that it will always be less expensive for them to make minor repairs. The buyer as part of the selling process will usually hire a home inspector. That inspector will point out everything on the checklist and more. If the buyer wants the seller to pay for the repairs or reduce the selling price, the buyer will always overestimate the cost of repairs.

Years ago, I was considering selling my house to Zillow. Zillow offers to buy the house only if you agree to pay for the costs of repair. They send an inspector out who develops a list of items and the cost for repairs. As you may have guessed, the costs are a long way from reality. They told me that I needed to spend $15,000 to repair part of the roof.

The roof repair person that I contacted told me that the few damaged shingles would cost about $600 to repair. Wow, what a difference. My experienced agent on-site obtained quotes for the few other items which were in total about $20,000 lower than Zillow’s initial offer. I asked them to submit the best offer if I repaired everything rather than pay them. That killed the deal, they wanted my money.

Great photography can sell your house for more

When you are ready to sell your house, it will be time to bring in a professional photographer if the selling price of your home is over $200,000. This is the threshold that I use because the photos that I take are very good. When the selling price is much higher, it is better to have a professional take the photos including an aerial shot if they can.

The photos below are crisp and reflect the character of the house. One is wide-angle, the other is normal and one is from the second floor. This is what a professional can bring to the listing.

There have been times when the photographer took photos we could not use because something showed up in the photo such as a toy. Before you call the photographer, go over the list. If you can schedule the photographer when your local real estate agent is on the best hand Your agent can be your second set of eyes.

Some people buy houses without seeing them. Remote buying is popular today. The buyer will look at photos online and then ask their agent to walk through and do a video or a Facetime video. It’s like being there and that is sufficient for many. This is where the great photos help.

Back to the list

There are too many individual items explained in detail here so let’s go into the major categories and discuss broadly what they will accomplish. By the way, there are more than 75 items on the list, I just thought a good round number would work to attract your attention.

Exterior

The prospective buyer should fall in love with your backyard No clutter. Only a scattering of furniture unless you have one of those nice sets with a couch, chair, and table. Pressure wash or clean your concrete. Grass growing up to concrete edged and the grass cut. Pull weeds in the flower beds and put down colored mulch so it looks new.

It’s a good idea to clean all of the exterior light fixtures, they get bug stuff on them. Take off the light globes, wash them, and put in new bright LED light bulbs. Trim your roses and other flowering plants. Trim hedges and remove errant tree limbs (except for Livingood you may need a permit for). Clean the sliding or french door. Clean the screens on all rear windows.

If you have dead patches on the lawn, buy some sod and keep it wet. Buy this and install it as far from the listing date as possible. The good news is that the sod will take a couple of weeks. Lock and organize any storage buildings. People rant to look inside storage buildings.

Prospective buyers may use the yard to talk

There is a good chance that depending on the weather, the prospective buyers will spend time in the yard talking about the house. Make it welcoming. It may be at least as important to the new buyers as it was for you. Fix any broken parts of your fence, the buyers may have dogs that require fencing. Make sure the gate opens easily

Interior

You may think that this article is just a lot of words thrown together. Not true. The recommendations here are coming from a person who not only sells properties as a profession but one who has bought dozens of houses. In addition to my personal experience walking through houses for sale, many colleagues I talk about these topics regularly

About those bathrooms. They must be inviting. This means being bright, clean, and organized. Most of us do not decorate the bathrooms we use every day. Perhaps we have a photo or something personal there but essentially bathrooms are for getting into and out of. Buyers will not look at them that way.

They want to see lots of white. What I mean by this is that calming around toilets, sinks, and tubs. White, white, white. Over time that calking can get dingy looking. It can even get some of that black mold on it.

Replace caulking, it’s important

Scrape out old cracked calking and put in some fresh calking. It will make an immediate difference. The same with below the toilet. Do a good job, no excess calking. Be sure that any caulking around the sink or tub is attended to as well.

Often light fixtures in bathrooms start to rust. Some can be cleaned, some can not. Replace the bad ones from Home Depot or Lowes or a local hardware store. Lighting fixtures are expensive and easy to install. Look at a YouTube video on how to do this. Look at the sink and tub hardware, if it looks bad try to restore it. If not replace some items.

If you have tile on the floor and or shower, clean the grout with a grout brush. Do a good job so the color is consistent across the bathroom Check the towel rods, if they require cleaning do so. Buy some nice hand towels, face cloths, and bath towels that match. These are for decoration only on showing days. Don’t forget to throw out that rusty-looking shower liner and launder the shower curtain

Consider replacing the shower curtain with one that is bright and cheery and matches the towels. It’s the first thing a buyer will see when entering the bathroom. Need I say if you find mold on the ceiling or anywhere in the bathroom remove it. The best option is to use bleach.

The kitchen is number one or two on everyone’s list

Let’s tackle the kitchen, another place where nasty things are sometimes overlooked Recently, I was working on a rental conversion from long-term to short-term. The last tenants moved out and the place looked fairly clean. The contractors had to do some work and removed the stove. Both sides of the stove were covered with grease. Not many people pull out their stoves to clean but I am suggesting that you do.

The traditional way to clean a kitchen is for the owner to do all of the work. Perhaps you can hire a local house cleaner and give them part of the list. I have had house cleaners come in after I moved my property out and do a final cleaning. Should you not be physically able to get down and clean the grout, hire someone to do it.

A couple of things that I have found in homes is the vent hoods are often not cleaned. When the top facing out is wiped off, the owners failed to clean the filter or wipe the grease from the underside. Another thing that I see because I am 6’2 is the tops of refrigerators. There are so many times when I see lots of dust, dirt, and even things I should not write about here on top of refrigerators.

Some buyers are tall and they can see this. Particularly if the refrigerator will be part of the property. There are good reasons to look under that sink. I would say that about 30% of properties that I have looked at had active leaks under the sink. Some are just dripping but they can create mold. Let me tell you about a rental property that I had.

Under that sink

The renter allowed the drain pipe under the sink to leak. It leaked for what must have been months. The water rotted out the wood cabinet and then the floor under the cabinet. You could see daylight. The way I found it was to send a property inspector into the property looking for anything that I needed to repair.

When you sell your house you will be required to complete a property condition disclosure form. That form (see below) will require you to disclose any damage from water such as this. That means “any” even if you have fixed it. This is why so many buyers look under the sink because real estate agents tell them to do this. The same is under the bathroom sink.

Clear out the junk under the sink so the buyers can see it’s ok. You can put down shelf liners that are probably preferable. Sometimes bottles leak e.g. bleach. Make it look nice and empty and clean.

The stove is another area to pay attention to

Back to the stove. Many stoves have a self-cleaning setting. Activate that setting and when done, clean out the dust on the bottom of the oven Read the instructions they required to remove the shelves. If you have the type of stove top with thinly metal discs (electric), clean them. Remove the top and clean the top of the stove. If the discs or bowls are tarnished, you can buy a full set for a few dollars at low.

Clear off the counters. You may like lots of things on the counters but buyers do not. If you are confused about this, drop by a new home development and see how they display their kitchens or check the internet for suggestions to decorate Less is more as they say.

Living Area

You may decide to leave food under the couch cushions, buyers are not going to see that. They will see dirty baseboards flooring that needs attention and light fixtures filled with bugs. What they may not like is a room jammed with furniture. Since you are going to move, take out what you don’t need and put it into the garage or elsewhere. Declutter your house. Less is more again.

Clean those AC vents. That’s my thing. I recently went into a property and found the AC filter completely clogged and ceiling ac vents full of lint. You may not understand that the AC may fail if the filter is not changed.

It works harder to produce cold air when the internal fins are clogged with junk. One of the first things I tell my clients is to look a the filter it will give them some idea of the quality of the AC system. A big expense to repair. Replacing that cheap filter is one of those 75 easy things to sell your house for more money.

That rotten egg smell from your water

Some water heaters give off a rotten egg smell. That is an easy fix. Call a plumber and ask them to replace the rod inside the unit. The cost should be minimal and it will save you running the water to clear it. If you move out of your home before it is sold and it sits around, the buyers will smell that when they turn on the water.

Another thing that is not on the list but will be added is insects. I can not tell you how many houses I have gone into with live roaches and spiders. Often there are dead roaches as well. If you are living in your house it may be best to have a service come a couple of months before and spray at least once or twice.

If you have animals with flees, get those flees removed. On another trip, I went into a house and a colleague was attacked by fleas. FFortunatelyI was spared, It takes weeks to remove fleas so get started now. If you move out before it is sold, pay a cleaner or ask a friend to bomb your house after you leave and clean up the dead bugs. It’s truly gross to have buyers step over dead bugs.

The checklist will help your house stand out

Fewer buyers in the future may mean that you have to work harder to make your house stand out. The entire process of going through the checklist should not take you more than two or three weeks. I strongly suggest that you run through the list before looking for the right agent to put your house on the market.

A good real estate agent will be able to help you by walking through the house and making any last-minute suggestions for things you may have missed. A common mistake that some make is to call an agent well before their house is ready.

The agent will tell them to fix things, clean, and call when ready. Your agent will have your best interests at heart when they tell you something e.g. that lamp should be removed. But the lamp was a gift from an old friend!

You love your house, it may be a turn-off

You may recall watching one of those shows on tv where buyers look at three houses and select one they want. Often they make negative comments about the houses, how they are decorated, smell, etc. This goes to show you that while your house is your home, it may not be what the buyers are looking for the way you have decorated it.

Years ago, I was selling my house and my neighbor decided to sell their house. Lots of people went through my neighbor’s house and decided to pass. It was only three years old, a development house. Very nice inside and outside. Yet, potential buyers kept not buying.

If I recall, it was a buyer’s market. Their agent called all of the buyer’s agents and asked what was wrong. The answer was almost always the purple paint on the dining room walls. It was not the floor plan, mortgage rates, or anything like that. It was the color of the paint. My neighbors repainted their dining room and received an offer almost before the paint dried. Lots of people just can’t get past some of the little things. My advice to you is don’t give them a reason to say no to your house.

I hope that the 75 easy things to sell your house for more money will improve your ability to sell your house fast without a big investment. Small things can add up and make a great impression. You can buy a new water heater, have it installed and it will not be noticed. Plant a few roses and you can sell your house for more.

Read further

Check out this article about “What is a home appraisal”. and Home Inspections there are many more articles on GulfCoastalRealtors.com I also suggest that you look at a few articles on our main website Logan-Anderson, Gulf Coastal Realtors where there is a wealth of information about buying and selling homes. Since you are moving, you may be interested in this article and the free budget tool. The best retirement-relocation budget tool.

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