Say what???? I know, I know, you just bought this house and have no intentions of EVER moving but if you do, it will be a long time coming. Let me repeat myself, the time to get your house ready to sell is the day you buy it.
Yes, you've just bought a home to keep your family comfortable but you also just bought a big fat investment. There isn't a buyer in the world who was 100% happy with their home inspection and probably tried to nickle and dime the seller over minor "repairs" which the seller may or may not have completed. If they did, congratulations. If they didn't complete repairs for you, get busy. Sure, you can live with the weird grumbly noise the
dishwasher is making but every homeowner will tell you that grumbly noises never right themselves. Dripping faucets, clogged gutters, unexplained smells, nasty carpet, cracks in vinyl floor covering, fogged windows, torn screens, landscaping out of control or damp basements all have a habit of multiplying and leading to other necessary repairs.
There is no such thing as benign neglect in home ownership and what would have been irritating but handleable in keeping up with repairs will turn into a big honking expensive nightmare when you do decide to sell your investment with the hopes of making a profit on it.
It is so easy to become complacent about the condition of your home over the years. In fact, if you are hyper-vigilant about the condition of your home you can actually become blind to see things that really could stand a repair or an update.
Time passes very quickly. It is easier to see the passage of time when you look at your parents, your children, your pets or even your car but for most people...time stands still when it concerns the house.
All agents can tell the stories of the houses that are stuck in the era that people purchased them, anecdotes are plentiful about the lava lamps, the avocado green appliances, the turquoise blue commode that doesn't match the chocolate brown sink, cracked formica, popcorn ceilings, shag carpet and the dreaded dark brown paneling. Agents can also tell you that there are more sellers than not that once they start updating the house to market will tell the agent that they've never loved their house more once they've started righting all the wrongs.
What a shame, right? They could have been really enjoying their home all along instead of just living in it!
So, don't be that homeowner who never thinks of the day the house will go on the market. If is far easier to make these positive changes, minor AND major, in small easy to swallow bites than to wait until just before listing to go helter skelter into the expensive chaos of catch-up.
Honestly, the very best time to start getting ready to sell your house is from the moment you've purchased it!
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