When it comes to selling your home, you may be in for more than you bargained for.
Between negotiations with the buyer, home inspections, and home repairs, selling your home can be a real struggle.
However, knowing the common fixes houses require before being sold on the market can go a long way toward smoothing out the entire process. This doesn’t necessarily come down to the buyer being picky or demanding.
Some lenders will refuse to finance a house with certain issues, so let’s discuss what you need to know below.
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Common Fixes Your House Needs to Sell on the Market
Take a moment to read through some of the common red-flag items that inspectors will tag and lenders will turn a nose up at.
If your house needs these fixes, you can get to work long before your house goes up on the market.
1. Roof Repair/Replacement
One of the most common fixes houses require throughout the years are roof repairs and roof replacement.
Roofs exist to keep us safe from the elements. However, that means they often take the brunt of elemental forces such as wind, hail, rain, ice, snow, etc. Throughout a single hail storm, your roof can go from perfect condition to needing to be replaced.
While some roof damage can be seen from the ground, we recommend getting a quote from a local roofing company to determine any damages. These are often free of charge because the roofing company hopes you’ll do business with them, should your roof need repairs.
2. Outdated Electrical
If you live in an older home, one of the most common necessary fixes it will need is updating the electrical. Some older homes aren’t grounded, which can be dangerous to you, your family members and everything plugged into the electrical.
If an electrical surge happened, a grounded home will send the excess electricity into the ground where it’s neutralized. In an ungrounded home, the surge could fry your electrical devices, appliances, or anyone unfortunate enough to get caught in the crossfire.
However, your electrical system must also be powerful enough to accommodate peoples’ modern lifestyles. Some older homes don’t have enough amperage to power everything we demand from our homes.
3. Bad Plumbing
Next, you need to make sure your plumbing is in order before you sell your house. Busted or leaking pipes can lead to big problems down the road such as mold, pests, and structural damage.
Once again, if you live in an older home, it could be possible that your pipes need to be replaced. Take care of any obvious leaks and have a plumber inspect your pipes.
4. Asbestos
While most homes have been eradicated of asbestos, if your home is 20 years old or older, it may not be a bad idea to have it checked out. Asbestos was often found under tiles, cement sheets, corrugated roofing, and insulation.
Asbestos, if still encapsulated, is harmless. It’s only when it becomes airborne that it is a danger to our health. The tiny fibers become inhaled and lodge themselves in our lungs, which can lead to cancer and other ailments.
Getting rid of asbestos is one of the most important fixes for your home if you intend to sell it.
5. Lead Paint
Additionally, if your home was built before 1978, it may have been painted with lead paint. Like asbestos, if undisturbed, lead paint is relatively harmless. However, if it’s chipped, peeling, crushed or otherwise damaged, overexposure can lead to serious symptoms.
While you can encapsulate the paint, it never truly dissolves the danger. And if you do paint or board over it, you should hire a professional trained in handling lead paint. Alternatively, you can pay to have it removed.
6. Negative Drainage
When water runs toward the foundation of your home, rather than away from it, it’s referred to as negative drainage. Negative drainage can lead to water leaking into the basement and damage to the foundation.
Make sure the ground slopes away from the house, especially within the first six feet of the home’s foundation. You can hire this job out or do the work yourself. However, it’s quite laborious and may require obtaining fill dirt.
7. Foundation Issues
Speaking of foundation issues, they are one of the most necessary fixes when it comes to selling your home. While small issues like negative drainage and small cracks are a quick fix, some may be more inconvenient.
In some worst-case scenarios, the foundation may be sinking, sagging, shifting, or otherwise settling incorrectly. These issues can affect the entire home and can even make a house nearly unsellable.
If your home needs more repairs than you can afford, consider checking out some cash home buyers. Their “we buy houses” motto rarely disappoints.
8. Pest and/or Mold Infestation
Other common fixes homeowners must make before selling their homes include pest and mold problems. Mold is a potentially hazardous fungus that grows in dark, damp places within the home. While most aren’t incredibly dangerous to humans, they have been known to cause coughing, wheezing, allergies, and asthma.
Alternatively, you can’t sell a home with a pest problem. Whether it’s mice, roaches, or termites, the problem must be eliminated before you put the house up on the market.
9. Non-Working Major Appliances
While you don’t need to update all of your appliances to sell your home, it does help.
However, this can be costly and rarely gives you an equal or higher return on your investment.
On the other hand, if you have a major appliance in your home that isn’t working such as the furnace, air conditioner, or water heater, repairs may be necessary. For example, a buyer won’t want to move into a home in the middle of summer if the air conditioner isn’t reliable.
10. Dry Rot
Finally, one of the most important fixes a home inspector will flag is dry rot. Dry rot can potentially derail the sale of your home depending on the buyer’s lender and the severity of the issue.
Dry rot can be found on the siding of the house, window sills, eaves, and even int the structural beams. A piece of material with dry rot must be entirely replaced.
Want More Advice?
We know it can seem daunting with all the fixes necessary to get your house ready to sell.
However, it will be well worth it in the long run. Alternatively, you always have other options such as cash home buyers or selling your house as-is.
Regardless, if you’re looking for more advice for stuff around the home, make sure you check out the rest of our articles before you go!
