As a real estate agent, you will play a vital role for your clients who are selling their homes, not least by advising them on how best to prepare their homes for sale. While you will no doubt have an extensive list of recommendations for all but your best-prepared clients, it may be wise to separate these items into lists that are organized by how vital they are. For example, you may want your client to paint their unfinished garage interior, but the necessity of doing so will pale in comparison to addressing paint peeling on the front of the home. 

Above all, you will need to impress upon your client that the worst-case scenario will be withholding information on a needed repair when a buyer is inquiring into the listing. A thorough inspection will always uncover any property’s secrets, at which point they will lose the buyer’s trust. 

Similarly, such an interaction could tarnish your own reputation as a realtor. Consider whether it is worth retaining a client who actively seeks to mislead potential buyers, because it may behoove you to graciously detach yourself and move on to clients with better scruples. 

To give you an idea of which type of recommendations should take priority above all others, here are common must-fixes for a client’s home before sale.

Highly Visible Flaws

It’s no secret that first impressions are highly influential for all of us. Clearly, then, many of the essential repairs or replacements that you will recommend your client complete before listing their home will fall into this category. 

Doors

Whether or not it is true, a buyer will assume that a home with dingy, peeling, or dented doors has been poorly maintained. Advise your client to repair, repaint, or deeply scrub all doors, inside and out, on both sides. 

If washing and painting will result in doors that still have dents, replacement is the only option. 

This extends to the garage door, though you will encounter clients who cannot or will not invest in a new door. If this is the case, it’s highly unlikely that a buyer will consider a dented garage door to be an attempt at deception, so you may decide to choose your battles and let this one go. 

However, garage doors must be code-complaint and fire-rated.

All door hinges must operate smoothly and silently, and sliding doors should glide effortlessly on their tracks. Door hardware should be as pristine as possible. All weatherstripping must be replaced if it is not like new.

Cabinets

Your clients must operate on the assumption that buyers will open them all, including medicine cabinets, laundry room cabinets, and mudroom cabinets. Perfection isn’t necessary here, but there should be no water damage, rot, musty smells, broken hinges, dirty or loose handles, or damaged paint. All drawers should slide effortlessly on clean tracks. 

If your client will remain living in the home throughout the sale process, emphasize the importance of clean, tidy cabinets that do not hold any extraneous items. If necessary, a short-term storage unit can be a huge help to clients who own more than would fit into their temporarily minimalist home.

Faucets, Sinks, and Drains

A savvy potential buyer will check every faucet, drain, and sink for issues. All leaks must be eliminated, and drains must be completely clean and clear of debris in the pipes below. Hot and cold water should be clearly marked and must work according to the sides on which they are indicated. If the drain covers in any one of these spots is chipped, worn, or stained, it is well worth the affordable price to swap them out with shiny, new hardware.

Check each overflow drain. Musty odors, visible grime, and any obstructions must be ameliorated. Ideally, overflow drains should look as close to new as possible, aside from the inevitable patina that certain finishes may take on over time.

Floors and Ceilings

It may be tricky for your client to gain an objective perspective on their property’s floors and ceilings, but this is where you’ll come in. If necessary, walk your client through issues like worn or dirty carpet, cracked or chipped tiles, scuffed or dented hardwood, dull or peeling laminate, and tears in any soft flooring. 

If deep-cleaning can’t revive carpeting, it really must be replaced. Cracked or chipped tile can be replaced square by square. Hardwood can be refinished, but only a finite number of times. If their hardwood has become too thin to repair, swapping it out for luxury vinyl plank can ease the burden on their wallet while still yielding aesthetically competitive results. 

Now, look up. Is the ceiling stained, dingy, or showing any cracks? Recommend that the repainting they do (or have done) include all of their ceilings. Clearly, if there is water damage that has not been repaired previously, that work must take place first. 

Fencing

Any fences in both the front and back yards should be freshly stained and in good repair. Perfection is not necessary, but the American homeowner’s dream includes solid, clean fences that (at least partially) surround their property. Fences that are faded, leaning, missing boards, or show rusting in the hardware will poke a hole in this fantasy immediately. 

The Takeaway

Trust your instincts when it comes to these recommendations but prepare data to back up your instructions. Homes simply sell faster and at comparatively higher prices when they present as being meticulously maintained. In short, no buyer wants to feel as though they are inheriting the previous owner’s mess or failure to maintain properly.