Selling & Staging Your Home: Flaws You Cannot Hide

When you sell your home, you want it look as good as possible. To do this, your real estate agent will help you stage your home or, if needed, help you find a professional to stage your home.

This means de-cluttering your home, re-arranging furniture, and de-personalizing each room.

A staged home is more appealing to buyers and helps to highlight your home’s positive features. However, staging is not meant to cover major flaws in your home. Some things just have to be repaired.

Roof Problems

It doesn’t matter how pretty your home is, your buyer is going to expect you to fix roof problems or adjust your price to cover them. To your buyer’s mortgage lender, the roof is one of the most important parts of your home. Problems with the roof can jeopardize their ability to obtain a mortgage. It’s better to find out early on if there is a significant roof issue.

Cracked Tile

Of course, you can use throw rugs to cover cracks in your tile, but chances are your buyers are going to look under them. Then they may think you are trying to hide a serious problem like a shifting foundation. Save yourself the headache and have your floors fixed.

Broken Windows

You have to expect your buyers to walk around your home checking out the views from the windows. They’re going to notice any cracks. If you have the budget, consider upgrading your windows and making your home more marketable. At the very least, you should have the glass replaced. Cracks in windows may seem minor, but some lenders (and all FHA lenders) will not approve your buyer’s loan if there are cracked windows.

Torn Screens

If you have torn screens, your buyers may think you don’t take care of your property. Yet, screens are fairly easy to fix on your own. With the right supplies from your local hardware store, you can have new, sleek screens in less than a day.

If you need a professional to look at your roof or you want to have a home inspection done before you list, contact me at n.coleman@comcast.net or 708-349-7467 and I can recommend a local professional.