Repairs to make before selling your home.

So you’re ready to put your home on the market and to you, everything looks great. Unfortunately, much of the wear and tear on your home becomes unnoticeable when it is something you see every day. While you may not think about the one light switch that doesn’t work or the chipping paint in the guest bedroom, now is the time to take a step back and look at your home with fresh eyes. When you decide to sell your home, the first thing you should do is make any repairs you can to save yourself money in the long run. Here are a few repairs to cross off so you can get the best deal for your home!

1. Paint Your Walls

Re-painting the rooms that need a fresh face is the cheapest way to update the appearance of your home. Consider using light, neutral colors to appeal to a broader group of buyers. If the room is too dark or has chipped or dirty paint, make it look brand new with a coat of paint.

2. Make Minor Kitchen Repairs

Even if your kitchen isn’t large and spacious, a full renovation might not make sense financially. If your agent doesn’t advise you towards a renovation, consider making minor repairs instead. Paint what needs painted and install new fixtures where necessary. If your appliances aren’t operating properly or are in awful shape, you will need to replace them.

3. Update Your Bathroom

The first priority is making sure your bathroom looks clean. If the toilet looks old, replace the seat to give it a fresh new appearance. Replace any tiles that may be missing, clean the grout, and remove old wallpaper that may still remain. This is a room you should consider painting if need be to make it appear bright and clean.

4. Fix The Exterior

The outside of your home is the first thing buyers will see, so it is important that it looks good. Touch up the yard with sod as needed, remove any junk that may be in the yard, and make sure your fencing doesn’t have any missing parts or boards. Mow your grass and consider renting a power washer to make your siding look brand new.

5. Maximize Lighting

The goal is to maximize light so you can maximize the appearance of space. Light does a great job of making rooms look larger than they are. Update your fixtures, ensure that your windows appear clean and new, and add mirrors across from light sources to reflect even more light.

6. Ensure Functionality

Potential buyers are going to want everything to work. Do a full walk through of your home, checking all light switches, doorknobs, and locks. Repair or replace anything that doesn’t work as it should. The less issues that arise during the buyer’s home inspection, the better chance of you maximizing your profit during the sale.

Long Distance House Hunting

Regular house-hunting isn’t always easy, but adding distance into the mix can present challenges you don’t have when looking a few neighborhoods over for a new home. While it may not be a walk in the park to buy a home from far away, it is possible. If you find a great agent and follow these steps, you can take away some of the stress that comes with moving long-distance.

1. Start Your Research

Knowing what is in your neighborhood is something we tend to take for granted. You know where the best sushi place is and exactly what grocery store is closest to your home for those last-minute runs. When moving to a new neighborhood, especially in a new state, it is key to decide what is important to you when it comes to proximity. Does your new house need to be near a park for your kids? Do you need to be 5 minutes from the closest Starbucks? You’ll also want to look into crime rates and school ratings if you have children. Researching your potential neighborhoods will help you feel better about choosing a new home that may be far away.

2. Use Technology To Your Advantage

Google Maps may not be constantly updated, but checking out an aerial view can give you an idea of what your neighborhood looks like if you don’t have the opportunity to travel right away. Street view, if available, is also wonderful.  You can virtually drive through a neighborhood to see what it’s like.  Find out if that home is typical of all of the homes in a neighborhood, or a diamond in the rough before you plan to go see it! Getting the lay of the land is just another way to feel comfortable about your new neighborhood.

3. Have a Travel Budget

Even if you have a great agent showing you as many homes as possible, you need to plan for the possibility of making more than one trip to your future home state if you want to see it in person. While you may have adjusted your budget already to purchase a home, consider factoring in travel costs so you aren’t stressed about eating out or gas money during your trips – that way you can focus on finding your dream home.

4. Decide Your Non-Negotiables

Choosing a home from out of town already comes with challenges. If you’re heading in to check out houses and have a weekend filled to the brink with potential home tours, it will make your life easier if all of those homes meet your requirements. Instead of seeing all homes that ‘might’ fit, have your agent remove any houses that have a non-negotiable feature – whether that is no backyard or not enough bathrooms. It will make the most of your time and remove some of the stress of seeing homes that aren’t for you.

The Sisterhood of the Red Balloon

Okay, so I have no Sphere.   John and I have no real family here and our friends are all back in DC, so I have no Sphere.  Well, I have a Sphere in the UK, but that is no use to anyone.  We were tasked with calling people on our phone during Ignite and telling them that we are no in Real Estate and asking if they know anyone who might be looking to buy or sell a home, but I had almost no one to call.   When I put all my contacts in my Contact Management System there were about 60 of them, but 30+ of those were in England, so, what to do, what to do?

I had an idea.  I started a group on Facebook.  Right now there is only one of me, but I think I can make this work!   I am surely not the only person to have moved from out of State to Central Florida, right?!  I mean, it’s a thing!  People come to Central Florida from all over the US and it’s insanely hard to make friends and meet people once your kids are out of Elementary School.  When your children are babies, there are Mom’s Clubs where you can meet with your babies and socialize.  Once they hit Elementary School you stand outside at pickup and there are a whole pack of Moms doing the same thing and you meet people and make friends.  Then Middle School rolls around and you are sitting in your car in the loop with all the other Moms staring straight ahead pretending not to see one another. Why does that happen?

So anyway, I started a group called “Coffee and Conversation” and it’s all about getting ladies together.  I’m going to start by going out for coffee and advertising that I’ll be there on some of the local groups.  I’m going to have a Red Balloon at the Table so that anyone coming knows where to look, because I’ve been to things like this before where I’ve walked in the door and not know which group of ladies were the one I was meeting, so I bought a cup of coffee to go and left!   I figure the balloon is a good idea.

I’m quite excited.  With John getting more and more adverse to going out of the house, it would be so easy for me to become a recluse with him, but I need to socialize to keep myself healthy.  It’s not mentally healthy to stay home all the time.  I need to make me some friends!

I’ll let you know how it works out!   Cross everything, because as well as friends, I need a Sphere!