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What not to fix when selling a house?

If you are able to, you should fix anything that is a significant safety issue and would cause your home to fail inspection. Any major leaks, infestations, sewage issues, or electrical hazards should be repaired before putting your home on the market, unless you intend to sell for cash.

investopedia.com - What Not to Fix When Selling a House - Investopedia

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Preparing to sell a home can be daunting. Popular shows like “Fixer Upper,” “Flip or Flop,” and “Property Brothers” make it seem like you have to spend thousands of dollars and make renovating a full-time job to prepare to put your house on the market. While real estate flippers do frequently make money doing cosmetic renovations on homes and reselling them, these people are professionals who have spent decades building up their own skill set, knowledge base, and network to be successful. The average homeowner getting ready to put their home on the market won’t see a huge return on investment (ROI) for many of the biggest home renovations, such as kitchen remodeling. Even the most popular fixes, like repainting your interior and exterior, offer only a 51% ROI, according to an analysis done by real estate agent referral company HomeLight. For homes with neutral colors in good condition, repainting is even less profitable. Our conventional wisdom on what is worth fixing is often skewed in favor of spending more money and time than necessary. Key Takeaways Cleaning, decluttering, and increasing your curb appeal should be done ahead of every sale.

Expensive repairs and renovations should be avoided.

Think about the return on investment (ROI) before making any repairs.

Keep your home updates in line with your neighborhood and comparable homes. Don’t install Italian marble when everyone else has linoleum.

Consult a Real Estate Agent Before Making Repairs

No matter your market, there are several things that everyone should do to get a quick sale. You should make sure your home is clean, decluttered, and staged to some degree, with the highest curb appeal that you can manage. A local, experienced real estate agent should know the market conditions in your area and have a good idea of what repairs are necessary to get your home in line with comparable sales at your desired price. Ask your agent for a comparative market analysis (CMA) so you can see what other homes are selling for. If everything on your CMA at your desired sale price is in a condition similar to yours, you may not need to do any repairs before listing. If everything on your CMA is much more updated, do some estimates to see your cost in money and time that it would take to get your home to the sale price you need. The cost of updates often won’t be recouped in the sale. Take your agent’s suggestions on repairs with a grain of salt. Real estate agents get paid commissions based on the sale price of your home. If multiple upgrades cost you $200,000 and increase the sale price by $100,000, that is a bad investment for you but a big jump in commission for your Realtor. Make sure that you are working with an agent who keeps your best interests in mind.

Don’t Do a Major Renovation

While many costly upgrades can increase the overall home sale price, depending on the project, owners can also recoup a high percentage of the value in the increased sale price, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). In the table below, using estimates from the 2019 Remodeling Impact Survey, the most recent year available due to COVID-19, remodelers estimated the cost of certain projects and Realtors estimated the cost recovered in the sale price of the home.

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