How to Sell Your Ugly Home Fast
Although all houses have something to love about them, some are just a little bit ugly. Whether it’s because the house is out of date, in need of repairs, or painted a bright color that clashes with the surrounding area, there’s no reason the house can’t be sold, even if it takes some extra attention.
The prospect of selling your ugly home may be extremely overwhelming. Simply looking at other houses listed on the competitive market can feel quite discouraging in the best of situations and that feeling will only be exacerbated if you have an ugly home on your hands. Here’s the good news: selling an ugly home is not impossible. There are specific measures that you can take to ensure that your unattractive house sells despite the competitive nature of the real estate market.
You likely have a lot of questions when it comes to this process – this is where we can help. In this post we’ll go over everything you need to know to get that ugly home sold.
Do I Need to Renovate My House to Make It More Stylish and Appealing?
The good news is you don’t have to worry about any major renovations or construction projects to get your house ready to be sold. One of the best things about buying your own home is that you can completely customize it to suit your tastes and the promise of that potential can appeal to prospective buyers.
Your best strategy is to avoid anything that’s a matter of taste. Do the walls need painting, or are you simply worried about that particular shade of beige being too outdated for the house to sell? If it’s the latter, you don’t need to worry about it. Luckily there are plenty of ways to make your home more appealing to potential buyers without having to hire contractors or apply for a construction permit.
Do I Have to Make Repairs before Selling?
So we’ve established that you don’t need to complete any huge home renovation projects to sell your house, but you might be wondering if there’s any level of repairs or fixes that are necessary prior to listing a house for sale. The short answer is yes, but you should be practical about what you choose to fix.
Little details can really go a long way while attempting to bring out the best of a ugly home. You might look around your house and feel like there’s way too much to do and while that might be true, you don’t need to worry about the optional upgrades that are simply cosmetic or stylistic changes. Selling a home is already complicated enough and it’s important to focus on small projects that are a good fit for your time, energy, and budget. Quick and inexpensive fixes are the way to go.
If you’re wondering what might actually fall into that category, here are some suggestions that experts have recommended:
Fix Chipped Paint
If the paint is chipping, you’ll need to address that. Bold and unstylish colors can stay, but chipped painting implies a poorly maintained house which in turn implies that the buyer will have a lot of repairs to deal with. These fixes are essential to improving the overall look of your house and can be quite low cost.
Replace Lightbulbs
Replacing a lightbulb is fast and easy and usually quite affordable. If your lightbulbs are burnt out, that’s an obvious fix. You should also consider replacing any older models of lightbulbs with modern LED bulbs, especially if the older models are prone to becoming very hot after prolonged use.
Clean Up the Yard
Simply raking your yard and taking care of any weeds can make a huge difference in how your yard appears. You can get this done in an afternoon and as long as you have a few basic tools like a rake, a lawn mower, and a trowel or garden fork already you won’t have to spend money on any fancy equipment.
Replace Outlet Covers
If your outlet covers are damaged in any way, you’ll want to replace them. If the damage to them is purely cosmetic, this will be an easy fix that you can do yourself in a short amount of time. Outlets that are cracked may cause a significant hazard and burn marks may indicate a potential problem.
Shampoo Dirty Carpets
If your carpets are dirty, there are some easy ways to fix them. If you have pets and are dealing with carpets with bad odors, you may be able to buy a baking soda solution that you can sprinkle on the carpets before vacuuming. If that doesn’t fix it, you can rent a carpet cleaning machine from many hardware stores or you can buy a cheap yet effective version such as the Bissell Little Green Machine. These range between $125 and $200 and are great for cleaning the interiors of cars as well as cleaning carpet inside your house.
Replace Handles on Cupboards and Other Hardware
This is an easy fix for kitchens and bathrooms as well as a great hack to make your interiors look more modern and expensive for a low price. If your handles are rusting or broken in any way, it’s typically fairly easy to upgrade them with replacements you can purchase at most hardware stores.
Spend some time looking around your neighborhood and evaluating the appearance of other houses on the block. Is there anything you can do to make your home stand out? These smaller updates can help with that and you can make your ugly home a lot more visually appealing to the potential buyer by eliminating the weeds in the yard, updating your shutters, or adding any additional small details that will allow your house to stand out – in a good way!
How Can I Make the House Look Better to Potential Buyers?
One of the most vital steps when preparing your home for sale is staging your house. If you’re wondering what house staging is, it’s the process of making your house look visually appealing to potential buyers. This can be a fun task – you can browse Pinterest for inspiration and find ways that people have styled houses that may have a similar architectural style as yours.
This step is extremely important when it comes to selling an ugly home because it creates a welcoming atmosphere. If you don’t have the financial freedom for renovations, you can stage the inside of the home. This is a great solution because a potential buyer will more likely be able to envision themselves living in the house. Plus, a potential investor is more likely to be able to envision the potential of your ugly home if they choose to make the repairs and renovations.
You can spend some time exploring thrift stores and garage sales nearby or even look up ways to upcycle things you already have. Adding wall art can also be a cheap way to change the overall feel of a space. Print out some works of art or cut them out of a magazine and put them in thrifted frames for a cost-effective way to create a gallery wall. A few cozy pillows or a selection of houseplants like pothos plants or succulents can breathe new life into your space. The options are endless – just make sure you are choosing items and a stylistic direction that enhances the preexisting features of your house.
How Should I Describe the House in Listings So Potential Buyers Won’t Be Scared Away?
Make sure you’re highlighting the best features of your home, but be honest about the flaws of the home as well.
There have to be some nice features in your home that you absolutely love – think about what made you fall in love with the house in the first place. You should take photos of these features and highlight them as much as possible when finally listing your ugly home. The nice features of the home will draw in potential buyers and sellers.
It’s important to also be upfront about the flaws of your home. An inspector will very easily be able to find these issues, so it’s important that you are honest about everything that is broken or in need of attention. You should strategically highlight the best parts of your house first — this will make some of the imperfections of your ugly home seem much more insignificant to someone who loves a certain detail about the house.
How Do I Know What the Price of the House Should Be?
It may seem like common sense, but it’s important to note that an ugly home should be priced competitively. The chances are that whoever takes the home off your hands will need to spend money updating the property to make it more attractive. Conducting a market analysis of homes in your area will allow you to make a decision about price point. It’s also important to keep in mind the state of your home compared to the other homes in your area — you should be reasonable and realistic when it comes to listing an ugly home.
Even if the home is the potential investor’s dream home — they will not purchase the property if it’s overpriced. Investors know the potential value of an ugly home; they also know that they will need to put a lot of money towards renovating the home before making any sort of profit from it. If you really want to sell your ugly home fast, conduct some research or talk to a licensed real estate agent about the best listing price for the state that your property is currently in.
What if I Don’t Want to Deal With the Process of Selling My House?
If you’d rather just sell your house quickly, you’re in luck! There are many companies that buy houses as is and present you with cash up front – and that’s where we come in.
At Pavel Buys Houses, we buy houses of all shapes, sizes, and conditions. Our process is efficient and transparent, and we pride ourselves on offering the best possible cash offer. There’s no reason the process can’t be mutually beneficial – we want you to have a good experience!
If you’re unsure about working with a “We Buy Houses” type of company, your first step when selling should be to consult with a licensed real estate professional to evaluate your viable options. This can help you evaluate all your options and then make the best decision. However, if you need to sell your home quickly, “We Buy Houses” companies are your best option because they have fast timelines and an efficient process that will leave you with cash upfront.