Determining Repairs
In the sales process, there are several reasons to complete repairs.
When repairs are necessary in order to sell the home
Certain repair items might be absolutely necessary in order for you to sell your home. Like you have a code enforcement situation that needs to be cured prior to selling. But most of the time, repairs are not absolutely necessary to sell a home. They're just advisable to get the top of the market price that your HomeProp Agent might have communicated to you during the price determination process.
But keep in mind that repairs will rarely return you dollar-for-dollar value. If the repair costs $100, for example, you may not see your $100 increase in your sale price by completing that repair. Sometimes, the completion of a certain repair is what the market expects in order to deliver market-price for your home. The repair simply makes it sellable at asking price.
When Repairs Will Speed Time to Sale
If you can determine that a repair will bring you more money than the cost of that item. Then it may well be a good business decision to complete the repair prior to sale. But if the repair brings you equal or lesser value than its cost in purchase price adjustment, then consider that the reason for completing this repair might be the speed of sale, or ability to sell, and may not have a direct economic benefit to you apart from time.
Repairs that are done in order to speed the time of sale, are important and necessary in many cases if you think that the cost of having a home sitting unsold on the market exceeds the value or the cost of the repair item. In cases where you have to relocate promptly for a job, or your competition is in excellent condition, then strategic repairs such as these may be absolutely necessary in order to maximize your sale price.
At the end of the day, make sure that any repairs that you are completing are completed in the workmanlike fashion. Nothing annoys a buyer more than walking into a home and seeing recent repairs done that they will need to redo prior to or shortly after move in, in order to meet quality or stylistic buyer expectations.
You would be better off offering a price concession than to waste time doing a repair that might need to be redone. Talk to your HomeProp realtor for information on what repairs will make a difference in your time-to-sell or the value of your home.
