Most sellers want to avoid costly repairs if they can, but should you ever advertise your home with “Sold As Is”? Today I’ll share why that’s a bad idea.
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Are you selling your home and wondering whether you should make some repairs or just try to sell it as is? To answer this, I always suggest sellers put themselves in a buyer’s shoes.
Imagine you’re looking at listings and you see the tag, “Sold As Is.” Immediately, there is a red flag in your mind. You’re likely to think, “What’s wrong with that home? What is the seller not disclosing?” Buyers take that label to mean there’s some dealbreaker problem you weren’t willing or able to fix.
That’s why I encourage you as a seller to not shoot yourself in the foot by advertising sold as is and scaring away a decent portion of buyers right from the jump. Instead, be prepared for making home inspection-related repairs.
What kind of repairs can you expect? First, there are required repairs. These will be things noted by the appraiser or the lender as affecting the home’s value, and they can include costly structural issues, safety concerns, or other code violations.
Then there are non-required repairs, which are typically cosmetic issues like scuffed paint or holes in the walls from hanging pictures. If you’re in a hot market where home sales are being closed very rapidly, you might not have to worry about some of these more questionable repairs.
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Buyers will think to themselves, ‘What is wrong with this house?’
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However, in a market like ours, making repairs on your home can be important because there are other homes available to buyers if you don’t; you should be open to negotiate with a buyer on the kinds of repairs you’ll make.
At Shannon Rollings Real Estate, we’ll make a bid as soon as we receive the home inspection report for your house so we can make an educated decision. With our vendors, necessary repairs will be made and you won’t have to pay out-of-pocket at that time—they’ll just be charged on your closing statement.
The best thing to do is get that home inspection report, go over it with an experienced agent, and come up with a plan of action that makes the most sense for you.
If you have any questions about home repairs or real estate in general, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. We’d love to help you feel secure in your decision-making process.