7 Tips For Selling A Home That Needs Major Repairs

Realtors will often advise fixing up any flaws with your home before you sell it!

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But what if you don’t have the time or money to invest in repairs? What if you want to sell your property as it is? Selling a home with major flaws is obviously going to be much more challenging and you likely won’t be able to appeal to the majority of regular buyers. However, there are buyers out there who will be willing to take on a fixer-upper. This post explains just how to sell to these buyers.

Weigh up which Repairs are Worth Spending Money On

Just because certain repairs may be too much work doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t make some repairs. Consider focusing on some of the smaller problems that can be easily patched up such as repainting walls or simply replacing a broken toilet seat. These details may seem insignificant compared to larger problems like cracks in the walls or damaged roofing, however, they could still improve the overall impression of your home for buyers.

If you can stretch to making a single major repair, try to focus on the most severe, as this is likely to make the biggest difference to your home’s appeal. One of the biggest problems a home can have is faulty foundations – companies, as found at this site https://pinnaclefoundationrepair.com/ could be worth hiring to repair your foundations. Even if there are other big problems, fixing up the foundations is likely to improve your home’s sellability significantly. 

Be Honest about its Flaws

There are all kinds of tricks for hiding flaws in a property such as painting and plastering over major cracks, putting rugs over carpet stains, or only arranging viewings when it is darker to hide exterior issues. However, being dishonest isn’t nice and it could backfire if you’re not careful – if a buyer organizes a home inspection and uncovers a hidden flaw, they may think twice about buying a property from you.

It’s better to be transparent about your property’s flaws in order to gain buyers’ trust. You don’t have to point out every issue, but you equally shouldn’t make efforts to hide them – if buyers pick up on something and ask you about it, tell them the truth. 

Highlight your Home’s Best Parts

Your home may have many flaws, but there are still likely to be many perks. Perhaps your home is in a good location? Perhaps it has a lot of countertop space or a large living room? Perhaps it has a huge loft space just waiting to be converted?

Right now, you may be blinded by the home’s negatives. But there are likely to always be positives and these are worth highlighting as you show buyers around or as you create an online advert for your home. 

Target First-time Buyers

First-time buyers are typically less fussy when it comes to buying property than current homeowners. Many are looking for a cheap way onto the property ladder and may even be excited by the prospect of renovating a home and making it theirs. This is not always the case with those who already own property – most of whom are looking for turnkey property.

Because first-time buyers are typically younger, it’s worth focusing on online advertising methods such as social media marketing and virtual tours to help connect with them rather than using old-school methods like newspaper adverts. Buying a home for the first time can be daunting, so try to be helpful and supportive by giving as much information as you can about the property.  You can find a few tips here https://www.forbes.com for marketing to first-time buyers.

Consider Selling your Home at an Auction

A popular way to sell a fixer-upper property is to sell it at an auction. An auction is ideal if you’re looking for a fast sale – selling via normal means can take months, while an auction sale can be done in 28 days. If there’s a lot of competition at the auction, you could also find that it fetches a decent price. 

Auctions do have their risks – they come with high fees and there’s no guarantee that you’ll make a sale. Often it’s worth doing thorough research to find the right auction. Certain auctions are likely to attract more bidders and there may be a greater chance of selling (and hopefully at a good price).

Use a House-buying Company

House-buying companies have become a more popular option in recent years. As the name suggests, these are companies that are willing to buy your house off of you. They may do this with the intention of selling them to other homeowners, renovating them and renting them to tenants, selling them to flippers or possibly even selling them to developers. 

The advantage of a house buying company is you are almost guaranteed a sale – most of these companies will buy literally any property regardless of its condition. The sale is also likely to be quick, so you don’t have to wait around. Unfortunately, you may not get a very good price by using a house-buying company. In many cases, it is best as a last resort when you physically cannot find a property for a buyer and simply want it off your hands. This post outlines more about house-buying companies. 

Sell your Home Directly to a Developer

You could consider selling your home directly to a developer. This is another chain-free way of buying, allowing you to potentially make a quicker sale. Developers may be willing to buy your property regardless of the condition. 

Just be wary that a developer may not be looking to turn your property into a home – they may even choose to knock down your property as soon as they’ve bought it. It’s not the right step for those that still care about the future of their home. You may also find that you don’t get the best price by going through a developer, however, you may just be happy to get any price if you’ve been trying to sell your home for a long time.