Sell your home AS-IS or Do repairs??

This is a question asked buy a lot of sellers.  The easy way out is to pop a sign out in the front lawn and sell it without lifting a finger or spending a dime.  But is that the best way to get the best return on your investment??

I am sure a lot of you have seen shows on TLC about home staging and prepping homes for sale.  This is a great idea that can be in expensive and really add to the sell of your home.

Low Cost Suggestion to Sell YOUR home::

Home staging. 

This is something you can do yourself, you can hire a professional home stager, or just has your real estate agent.  Home staging is preparing the inside of your home for sale.  What a stager will do is take a look at your home and suggest certain things that will help the sale. 

Take a look at this photo::

This is an example from a company that does home staging. They simply clean up the clutter... stage the home as if it were 'perfect'.  For a dining room, you may set a place setting with flowers, and an elegant dinner.

There might be simple changes like paint.  Maybe the corner of your walls are dirty.. CLEAN THEM!  Or if they can not be cleaned spend twenty bucks at the hardware store for paint and touch them up.  Having a home appear clean is such a large aspect when buyers look for a home.  It will encourage them to offer a higher price because they wont feel like there is a lot of repairs to do upon their arrival!

Also there is the issue of bathrooms and kitchens!  Have you ever gone over to someones home and used the bathroom and felt like you needed a toilet seat cover???  That is exactly what you want to try to avoid!!!  Spend time on your bathrooms to make them look spic n span!  That will help the buyer feel more comfortable! 

And the kitchen... people do not want to know what you ate for dinner last week... make sure the stove is clear of food droppings, the floor is shinny, and the counter tops are clean and clear of clutter!

Now the outside...  Do little things, pick up a few flowers to plant either in the ground or in a pot to bring color to your home.  Pick up kids toys and trash that may have accumulated over the years!  The front yard is the VERY FIRST THING the buyer will see... make sure they remember it... in a GOOD way!

One of my pet peeves is the front door!  The door is used daily and is DIRTY.  But yet this is the threshold you are walking perspective buyers threw!  Again...clean it... wipe down the door, the nob... everything.  Or paint it if needed!!!

So... to wrap things up you can sell your home AS IS... But expect low ball offers.  Spending a couple hundred dollars will really help your investment.  If you do not have the up front money, see if the contractor will put the bill in escrow and get paid when the house sells...