Regardless of whether you are thinking about selling your home right now, it is always a good idea to make sure it is in the best shape possible, for several reasons. You may well end up needing to sell, due to a job offer in another city or other changing circumstances. And small problems can easily turn into bigger ones.
For these reasons, it is a good idea to have a checklist handy that you can go through on a regular basis to make sure your home is up to snuff. If you see to it that things are in good working order, you should be able to prevent larger problems later on. And when it comes time to sell, you will be able to go through the process without a lot of worries.
How to prepare your home for a possible sale
Below we will outline several things you should do to prepare your home for a possible sale. This list isn’t exhaustive, but it covers the basics. And, of course, anything that you see potentially turning into a problem in the house should be addressed immediately.
Get a full-scale home inspection
Getting your home inspected at least once will give you a basic idea of where you stand in terms of home repair needs. This may be a legal requirement in some places, but it is a good idea regardless.
Home inspections include the following components:
- Window seal damage. You might have slightly broken window seals that you are not aware of.
- Water damage. Water can easily seep into places relatively unnoticed. It’s good to get this inspected because large-scale water damage can be costly.
- Electrical problems. Electrical issues can be especially thorny if you live in an older house but even in newer ones they can exist. Exposed wires in particular are extremely dangerous and need to be covered.
- Faulty doors. Just like with your windows, you should replace doors that don’t have good insulation or don’t fit with their frames correctly. You might not think much about your patio door, for example, but it might be of insufficient quality. You can learn how to improve sliding patio doors to make your door smoother and better fitting.
- Shingles that may be off or shoddy siding. Unless you are a professional home inspector, it is unlikely that you investigate home details like this very often. But the exterior of Canadian houses take a lot of abuse from the elements, so they should be inspected to make sure everything is in place.
Fix existing problems
Once you’ve completed your home inspection, you should take measures to fix any problems that you have. Obviously, major issues like roofing issues or large-scale electrical problems should be fixed immediately, but you should also pay attention to minor things that could potentially build up over time.
Aside from the results of your inspection, things to consider improving include:
- Filling in small holes in drywall
- Smoothing out any scratches on walls
- Replacing damaged floor tiles that may be cracked
- Upgrading your bathroom hardware, including old faucets
In short, there are a lot of small things that you can do to improve the appearance of your home. Remember the “broken glass” theory about crime prevention and urban cleanliness; the same principle applies to your home.
Improve your “curb appeal”
The concept of “curb appeal” is a big one in real estate. First impressions are very important to potential buyers (as well as neighbors), so you want to be sure that the outside of your home creates a good impression and tells people that yours is among the nicest homes on the block.
How can you improve your curb appeal? Several ways:
- Think about adding a new coat of paint to your house. If you’re not sure, ask for opinions from other people. It could make a big difference.
- Take a good look at your landscaping and think about whether it could be nicer. This means not only trimming your hedges, but maybe adding some flowers that can bloom in summer and putting some lawn objects in front of your house.
- Look at the state of your driveway and think honestly about whether you could use new asphalt. Driveways get a lot of traffic and can wear down easily.
Basically, you should take a broad assessment of your home’s exterior and think about what you can do to improve on it. It wouldn’t hurt to look through a few landscaping sites!
Don’t forget the neighborhood
Last but not least, remember that your home is but one small part of your larger neighborhood. You want a home that is nice, for sure, but also one that fits with those of your neighbors. If your style stands out too much from the rest, it could leave people wondering why you moved there in the first place. So your perspective should be broad and specific at the same time.
