Our new real estate agent pointed out a couple of areas where a bit of touch-up paint would go a log ways. The main area was the stairs leading to the sunporch. We boughht $60 worth of supplies including two colours of paint and set to work knowing the weather was against us. As we worked on the staircase I looked around for other small projects to do a bit of touch-up paint on just to spiffy them up a bit for showing the house.
What ends up happening when living in a house for any length of time is you tend to overlook some of those little things that need doing. The underneath of the railing might need a bit of touch-up paint or the railing itself might be showing a few dull or rusting spots but because the railing is so familiar you don't really notice it. These are the little things that potential buyers will notice when walking through your home and surprising a little thing can be a deal breaker. We had one potential buyer not put in an offer the first time around because the staircase needed paint. The reality is with materials it cost us under $30 since we used less than half the paint and it took us 2 days or about 4 hours of time maximum and yet because that staircase wasn't painted we did not get an offer from them. Yes it sounds petty but that is the market at the moment. Buyers are making demands and in some cases almost unreasonable demands because it is a buyers' market and they know it.
As a seller that means you have to anticipate and ward off these demands by doing a bit of touch-up painting. Take a walk through your house looking at the way a buyer would see it. If that isn't working get a friend or family member to do a walk through. A fresh set of eyes can make a huge difference because they will see those little things you don't.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
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