Selling a home is hard enough without allowing problem areas to decrease the chance that a house will sell at a decent price. There are always the obvious problems: broken windows, knee-high grass, and missing shingles on the roof. These can be easy fixes. It?s the problems that are not easily identified by the homeowner that should cause concern.
Unpleasant Smells
The stench of urine, cigarettes and pets can drive people away. Some smells are so bad that the unaccustomed person can?t even stand to be in the room for a short period of time. The chances of a potential buyer being able to browse the house comfortably while imagining their family enjoying the home are slim when dealing with a foul stench.
Pfizer Canada found that the lingering odor of cigarettes can decrease a home?s resale value up to 29 percent!
The home seller should be proactive and try to identify whether they have an odor problem. Enlist a friend to visit your house and sniff around for uncomfortable smells because?studies have shown?that you can?t trust your own nose to be objective.
Once the problem areas have been identified start deodorizing the house.
Any one of these methods can be used to remove odors:
- Sprinkle baking soda on the carpet, and allow the baking soda to sit for about 12 hours.
- Clean the carpet with a solution of vinegar and water or a special deodorizing solution that can be found at a local supermarket.
- Deep clean the carpet with a steam cleaner. Steam cleaners can be rented.
- Remove smelly curtains and furniture from the house.
- Last ditch effort: Replace smelly carpet and floor padding in the affected room.
Crazy Colors and Unwanted Paint Bases
Especially if you are trying to sell an older home, you should be aware that the paint on the walls might not entice the buyer. Obviously horrible paint colors are easy enough fixes. Just repaint. Make sure you clean and sand the wall and paint on a primer coat if the previous color was dark.
If the house is older, you should be sure that the current paint job did not use lead-based paint. Lead-based paint is very dangerous and needs to be removed from the house by trained professionals. Be aware that if you decide not to remove lead-based paint that you are obligated by law to tell all potential buyers that a toxic substance was used on the walls. Because this issue has very significant health risks, selling the house with lead-based paint on the walls could significantly decrease the potential house value.
You must complete one of the following before selling your home if it has lead-based paint in it:
- Repaint if the previous paint is not lead-based.
- Hire professionals to remove the lead-based paint before repainting.
- List the house as having lead-based paint.
Unwelcome Critters
Whether it?s a pet or a squirrel that has taken residence in your house, it should be removed before buyers view the house. If potential buyers hear animals running through the walls or under the floorboards, it could lower what they are willing to pay. Even if you think it?s charming to have houseguests, you should see to their removal.
If you think you might have a rodent problem, you can set some traps and set out cameras to tape the traps and problem areas. Even if they don?t trigger the traps, you will at least be aware that you?re suspicions are correct.
Once the rodent problem has been identified, remove the animal. You could decide to play dumb and pretend that there is no problem, but there is always the chance that the animals will decide to be active when a buyer views the house.
Rodents can be removed by:
- Calling a company that specializes in removing them.
- Setting out traps and then releasing them at a distant location.
If the problem is too bad, you might be tempted to put out poisoned food to remove rodents. While I disagree with this method, people who can?t see any other way should check the animal safety laws before taking extreme measures against a wild animal. Some animals are protected by law, and you could be fined if you kill one.
When it comes to the problems discussed above, do what you can to remove any issues. Be aware that these problems can negatively affect how fast and for how much a house can be sold. Remember to identify, clean, remove, and replace as you prepare to sell your house.
This guest post was written by Wade Myer. He was trained as a contractor by his father and currently writes on behalf of Steiner Homes Ltd., a Northwest Indiana company that builds Valparaiso custom homes.
Source: http://www.realestate.com/advice/3-problems-home-sellers-should-watch-out-for-18585/
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