Make Your Older Home More Attractive to Buyers

Rochester Minnesota Real Estate Podcast with Andy Mulholland

If you’re worried about how your older home will fare in a market full of new houses, here are a few ways to make it more attractive to buyers.

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A viewer recently asked, “How can I make my older home more competitive with all of the new homes on the market?” There are a few things that I recommend you do:

1. Meet with a real estate agent. An agent can tell you what specifically you’ll need to do to compete with other homes in your neighborhood. For example, we use a 75-point checklist that we’ve formulated over the years that will allow you to check every aspect of your home that may be important to potential buyers.
2. Get a pre-inspection. Your home doesn’t need to be perfect, but remember that what you get out of your home sale is dependent upon what you put into it. There is no better money spent than the $300 or so you’ll spend on a pre-inspection. This is because a pre-inspection will identify the kinds of things that a buyer may find later when they do their own inspection and will give you an opportunity to fix them beforehand. In addition, handing the buyer the pre-inspection report ahead of time will also give the buyer more confidence in your home when making an offer because they’ll know you’ve repaired any glaring issues. A confident buyer is more likely to make a strong offer with fewer inspection contingencies, and you’ll have peace of mind knowing that there is one less thing standing in the way of your closing.

If you have any other questions about preparing your home for the market or about anything else related to real estate in our area, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to help you!