The Top Things To Do To Prepare Your Home For Sale
I was at a home inspection walk-through this past week with my buyer. Quite a few items came up in the inspection that I see fairly regularly. It can be pretty overwhelming for a seller to receive such an extensive list and a little scary for a buyer who is spending half a million dollars on a first home to think of all of the things that can go wrong in a house. I came up with a few items to consider when you are going to be selling your home to help this situation become more manageable. Or just do them to protect your investment and enjoy it more! 1. Consider offering a home warranty. Appliances and working components of the home just are not made like they used to be. I already had to replace the wheels in my 1-year-old dishwasher. If you have lived in your home for many years, the furnace and water heater are likely at the end of their age. A home warranty protects the Murphy that inevitably comes into the home right after it closes and breaks those items; however, there is no need to replace them until they truly are done. 2. Gutter Extensions Home inspectors always note that gutters need those inexpensive extensions that you can get from the hardware store to move water away from the foundation. 3. Gas Line Paint the gas line at the meter. Place a piece of cardboard behind the pipe to protect the siding from overspray and use a $3 can of spraypaint to seal the pipe from rust. 4. Dryer Vent Clean out your dryer vent regularly. Build up of lint plus heat from the dryer is a fire hazard. 5. Corrosion Check your home for corrosion. Water heaters get a buildup on top as well as faucets. Take a wire brush and remove it or use vinegar to soak the faucet and aerator. 6. Exhaust Fan The exhaust fan over the stove has a screen filter that you can just throw in the dishwasher. 7. Filter Change your filters in the furnace regularly. This can also make your heat stop working when it's negative temperatures according to the heat techs that were called out to numerous homes when it was -35 this winter. 8. Bathroom Fans Many of them are not vented outside in the attic. See if you can look up in your attic to make sure yours is venting outside and not into the insulation in the attic. This can be very costly to mitigate the mold that is caused from it venting into the attic. 9. Drainage Every summer check all the way around your house for negative drainage. This means that dirt slopes away from the house and prevents water from going into your crawlspace/basement. Just add dirt around the perimeter to build it back up. It packs down after snowy winters or rainy springs wash it away. 10. Leaks Check your basement/crawlspace, under sinks, and around toilets for slow leaks. This can be another costly item that grows mold over time. If you have items that you have been meaning to fix, just fix them or start a savings account to have as a fix-it fund. They will come up in an inspection and you may have to fix them then which only gives you 2 weeks to 20 days to get someone scheduled and the part in stock. Save yourself the hassle and fix it as soon as you can. Courtney King has been a Realtor in Bozeman since 1995. She enjoys being an advisor of all things Montana whether it's selling your home, helping you buy a property or simply making a recommendation of something or someone you need. Feel free to reach out to her anytime.
