To DIY or NOT to DIY? That is the question

Written by Posted On Wednesday, 11 December 2019 08:31

 What Repairs Do I Need To Do To Sell My House?

What sells a house? Location, Kitchens, and... you guessed it Baths. 

Choosing what repairs or fixes to make to sell your house can be tricky. It really depends on the timeline and how much money to spend on fix up costs. Renovation costs can range from $4,000- $150,000 to redo a room or kitchen or the whole house. It really depends on what you want to fix up or repair and what the neighborhood call for. If this is the case, you may have just added a lot more time to trying to sell your house and additinoal expenses. 

The problem many people run into is what to fix and what to leave as is. One person might think “Should I redo the house as a whole?” or “Should I put in new carpet or a new roof?” What should I fix to sell my house? This is often a frustrating place to be, and the fixes you do might not be worth the time, effort, and energy as potential buyers might be turned off.

Making improvements to sell your house can be a good idea if you have the right insight. This may improve the timeline of the sale, or the final price of the sale, but keep in mind there is never a guarantee that any improvement will make you house sell faster or sell for more money. If you are planning on selling a house through an agent, it is general practice to do a number of things to improve your sale.

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Here’s a short list of improvents when selling conventionally:

  • Get a storage unit while your house is on the market - declutter your house
  • Hire a professional to stage and photography our house - please don't let yourself or your agent use their phone for photos. It's just tacky.
  • Promote your house yourself as well - facebook etc.
  • Remove personalized items for your house -honestly no buyer actually cares
  • Make upgrades to your house - tile, granite.quartz, flooring, fresh paint, etc.
  • Amp up the curb appeal - landscaping
  • Sell your house at the right time - not during winter if avoidable

Again, none of these things will guarantee the sale of your home and none of them will guarantee a return on your time, effort, energy, and money investment. Timing the market is something no one can predict. Otherwise we’d all be millionaires right?

Where SethBuysHousesis located there's been a steady increase in home prices in the Denver area market and all around Colorado for that matter. However, some people are finding that even with their house value increasing in theory, it hasn’t actually changed a whole lot. Why? There’s a high demand from buyers for a house’s condition to be “up to snuff”. Buyers are not wanting to do any work on a house they’re about to purchase. 

Home improvements involves a number of things, but the greatest two factors are TIME and MONEY! Buyers, in general, are CASH POOR, meaning they are barely able to afford the rising down payments for a house, let alone the additionally rising cost of building materials and improvement costs. Contractors in Denver area and Colorado are also becoming quite expensive, which means more DIY. Some people don’t have the time it takes to learn the skills for a DIY or don’t have the money that it would cost, even though doing things yourself tends to be less expensive. DIY projects are usually easy to spot and will often have a buyer asking “What else might not be done by a professional?”. Just Google "home improvement gone wrong" and you'll see what I mean. They're caled "PROs" for a reason. (generally speaking, but that's a whole different article)

 

There’s also the questions of which improvements to do. Ask any real estate agent and they’ll tell you each buyer has something that they immediately love or hate about a house. Once you’ve spent a lot of time and money on an improvement that you might love for your house, you may find that it could be a total turn off for a buyer. Home Advisor is a great place to find reputable contractors for the job you need done, but also know, as with anything else, you get what you pay for. 

Of course there’s always something when dealing with houses. However, if you’re looking to avoid getting bids and dealing with contractors, time, and there are always alternatives for every situation.

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Seth Rouch

Hello! I’m Seth, of SethBuysHouses, which is a Local Colorado Home Buying Company. I’ve found a passion of helping people in Colorado with a houseing solution for them. My wife, Stephanie, and I have a combined experience of almost 20 years in Real Estate and have found that if you’re not happy… well then what’s the point? Coming from being a 9-year public servant-teaching middle school, you know that I’m here to help IMPROVE your housing situation. Additionally, I am a Colorado 5th generation native. I’ve been pouring into the communities of Colorado and strive to preserve the Colorado I know and grew up in for not only myself, but my two children and future generations.

With all that to say, I am definitely not your typical “I buy houses” or “We buy houses” buyer. I have been involved in Real Estate for almost a decade and am here to help people. I truly also enjoy being a landlord in multiple states, house flipping and the process and excitement of making something come back to life. I renovate and rent every house so that I would be excited and proud to live there with my wife and kids!  – Seth Rouch

www.sethbuyshouses.net

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