Why You Should Sell Your House "as it is"

Most home owners often want to d some adjustments to their houses just before they put in on sale with the hope that they may get more value for the same. However, that is not a guarantee. The following are reasons why you should sell your house as it is.

Dec 2, 2020 - 23:29

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Why You Should Sell Your House "as it is"

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1.You may not recoup the full value

Homeowners need to understand that renovating your house before you sell might not increase the value of your house as much as you think. You need to weigh the potential rewards with the costs of each renovation before you decide to do the improvements. If you are not comfortable with recouping less than spending on renovations, it might be best to avoid renovating altogether.

2.The buyer might want to make their own improvement

Some buyers want homes that are blank slates. They want to be able to make the house 'their own' and therefore may want complete control over the renovations. Therefore, they may not be willing to pay more for the house even if you put time and money into renovating for them.

3. You may spend more than you earn

Before you start making improvements, consider how much you are willing and / or need to spend on renovations. Then make sure you are willing to potentially earn less than that amount back when you sell the property. For example, an old house that can be sold for Ksh. 2million is renovated using Ksh.900 thousand and later sold for Ksh. 2.5million. Here, the seller would have only gotten 1.6million where he could have as well just sell it at 2million to begin with.

4. You may make improvements that do not add value.

Some improvements may make the home look nicer but will not increase the home appraisal value when it matters most.

5. Buyers will notice if you cut corners.

In situations where you cannot do the renovations yourself,or you are trying to cut on the renovation costs or you are in a rush to do the renovations and sell your house,the buyers might notice. If renovations aren't done right or are halfly done,it might hurt your property value and ultimately your sale price. If you are overwhelmed by the renovations or cannot afford you might as well just sell it like that.

Exceptions;

1. If you will be there for a while.

If you are in no hurry of selling your house or if you are not sure of how long your house will be in the market before it actually sells,you can do renovations. This is because you will actually get to enjoy the home improvements for the one month or one year until your house sells.

2. Don't overlook necessary repairs and deep cleaning.

Even if you opt to sell your house without doing renovations, do not overlook the obvious repairs needed. A rotten ceiling or a bathroom with broken tiles,a sink with a leaking tap or trees hanging on top of the roof. Those are repairs that can be done relatively cheaply and are necessary.

Any buyer who enters an old house that has a decent layout; taps are working, the ceiling is intact and the door locks are still in great condition, they can easily work around changing the wall paint or replacing the drapes for modern ones.

Schedule a pre sale inspection before you set your asking price and see what the inspector finds.
If they discover problems with your property, think about fixing them instead of spending your money on cosmetic improvements. The fewer issues buyers have to fix on your own the more money you are likely to get when your property does sell.