Jordan
Getting your house ready for the buyer’s market is not something you can cram or do overnight. In fact, if you already know you’re going to put your house up for sale in the future, your preparation should start no later than today. After all, it would be easier to take care of your house from the get-go rather than try to undo years of neglect and damage right before you try to make the sale.
So if you are so much as considering selling your home in the future, keep these maintenance tips in mind:
1. Keep the roof in good condition
Whatever happens, do everything you can to prevent leaks in the roof, because this is one part of the house that is difficult and pricey to repair. At the same time, a fixer-upper roof is almost always a deal breaker for potential clients, precisely because of how difficult it is to repair a leaky roof.
Keeping the roof in good condition entails regular check ups, particularly before the rainy months come, and making sure leaks are fixed as soon as they are noticed. Because of the harsh elements that the roof is constantly exposed to, any small damage to it is bound to get bigger when not addressed immediately.
2. Maintain the garden
Another part of the house that is way easier to maintain than repair is the garden. This is especially important if you have a grass bed or a couple of big houses around the property. If you let these plants wilt and die, the cost of replacing them or having them repaired will be magnanimous. Besides, the garden is one of the first things prospective buyers will see when they check out the property, and trust that it’s very easy to discern if a garden has been left neglected for years.
A well-manicured, inviting garden is always plus points to a property for sale, so you definitely want to keep things healthy and interesting out there.
3. Deep clean regularly
Believe it or not, a single session of deep cleaning right before your first prospective buyers come in will not be enough to sufficiently clean the place if you haven’t been taking care of it very well. It actually pays to remember that there are professional companies that can help you tidy up and deep clean the house regularly. For instance, if you live in the Murfreesboro area, Tidy Tennessee is one professional cleaning company you can check out. For a full list of the services offered by Tiny TN, you can visit their website.
The beauty about regular deep cleaning is that it prevents other possible deteriorations your house may experience in the future. It reduces your vulnerability to pests and mold buildup, for instance, and keeps the house looking new and fresh even though it’s been around for years.
4. Install a dehumidifier
Speaking of keeping the house fresh, a dehumidifier can vastly improve the situation in your home by keeping the nooks and crannies of your home dry. Remember that warm and damp spots become hotbeds for mold spores and mildew, which not only threaten your health, but also causes the value of your home to nosedive if you ever want to sell it.
Installing a dehumidifier prevents the build up of water in parts of the house that should be kept dry, but it can only do so much if you actually have pipe leaks that are left unfixed inside the house. To address the problem at the core, you have to fix all leaks, not just those that are on the roof. If you suspect that you have a leak but you’re not sure how to spot or how to fix it, it may be time to call in the professionals.
5. Keep personalized upgrades minimal
Over-personalizing your home when you have plans to sell it in the future is not only wasteful, but it can actually harm your chances of selling the place. Prospective buyers have to be able to imagine themselves living in the house that they’re about to buy, so in a way you have to present it as some sort of blank canvas. You can’t achieve it by imprinting too much of your style and personality on the house.
Of course, temporary additions or upgrades that can easily be removed without destroying part of the house are fair game. However, huge renovations that are not typically seen in houses should be held off and reserved for your forever home.
6. Be careful about lingering smells
Here’s something that might blow your mind if you think your house is completely odor-free: you actually can’t smell your own home. Therefore, it’s hard to tell for yourself if the house smells like wet dog or mildew if you’ve already gotten accustomed to it, but trust that it’s most likely the first thing that other people will notice when they walk into your home.
There is only so much that baking cookies at the open house can do for smells that have lingered for a long time. Fortunately, this is another thing that regular deep cleaning can address, so long as you get a cleaning company that will actually do a good job.
Selling a house is already challenging. Make sure you don’t make things extra difficult by forgetting to maintain and keep it in pristine selling condition. Additionally, don’t cut into your profit margin by setting yourself up for huge repair costs by neglecting the home. After all, what is there to lose by taking good care of the house you’re currently living in so it could take care of you now and in the future, by bagging a good asking price for you?
