Chapter 5 of 16
Repairs and maintenance before listing
Which repairs to complete before listing, and which to disclose and price instead.
1 min read
Some repairs should be done before listing because leaving them undone costs you more than fixing them. Others are better disclosed and priced in, because doing them badly or expensively does not help you.
Do before listing: active leaks of any kind, non-functioning HVAC, missing or badly damaged skirting, obviously deteriorated anchoring, broken windows, and anything that presents as a safety issue. These items either fail an inspection outright or make a buyer assume the whole home has been neglected, and that assumption is expensive.
Get the home levelled if it is not. Levelling is comparatively inexpensive and it resolves a cluster of symptoms, sticking doors, cracked drywall at corners, sloping floors, that buyers read as structural. Leaving them means every viewer draws the worst conclusion available.
Disclose and price instead: an ageing roof with life left in it, an older but functioning HVAC system, dated wiring in an older home, cosmetic wear. Replacing a roof that has years remaining rarely returns its cost, and a buyer who knows about it and has priced it in is a buyer who will not renegotiate later.
Keep receipts and documentation for everything you do. Being able to show a buyer that the roof was coated two years ago, by whom, is worth more than telling them.
Key points
- Fix leaks, HVAC, skirting, anchoring, and anything unsafe before listing.
- Level the home, it is cheap and it removes a cluster of alarming symptoms.
- Disclose and price an ageing roof rather than replacing it.
- Keep receipts; documented work is worth more than described work.
Watch out
A buyer who discovers a defect during inspection renegotiates harder than one who knew about it from the listing. Surprises cost more than disclosures.