Preparing your home for market involves a lot of work. At times, you may feel overwhelmed by the amount of work you have to do and might be tempted to leave some things undone. Resist that temptation! Here’s why:

A few weeks ago, a client asked me “Do I really need to fix that little leak under the bathroom sink? I don’t have time to get a plumber in and anyone can see that it won’t cost a lot to fix.” I suggested that he get it fixed, but he opted not to. It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, but can you guess the rest of the story?

That little leak grew. It went through the ceiling in the floor below and trickled down the wall so now the ceiling and the wall required fixing, too. Potential buyers saw the problem and were scared off. Their thinking was that if the seller didn’t care enough about his home to fix the leak, there were likely other problems with the home that he also ignored. Buyers want to buy homes that are well cared for. They don’t want to buy homes that are potential money pits.

Eventually, a buyer came along  who was willing to do some repair work and wasn’t immediately turned off by the leak. But the existence of the leak caused her to be suspicious. She didn’t want to miss any other hidden problems so she took a good hard look at the home. She found that the leak had been in existence for a long time and that there was mould behind the walls. As a result, the home would have to be treated for mould growth and the walls and studs would have to be replaced. This was starting to get more expensive than she had anticipated. In a well cared for home, buyers might be prepared to overlook some minor deficiencies and consider them to be the result of normal wear and tear. In a home they consider to be neglected, they tend to account for every problem, no matter how small, in the price they’re willing to pay. Why? Because buying such a home involves an additional, unseen risk to their wallets. Who knows what else they’ll find when they start the repair work and who knows how much it will end up costing them? They may be willing to take this risk, but only at a discounted price. And no one wants to sell their home at a discounted price!

So if you want to sell your home for the highest possible price, fix that leak before you put your home on the market. Or better yet, take care of any problems as they arise to prevent them from growing into more expensive problems down the road.  You’ll be glad you did. And so will your wallet.