Real Estate Tips
Preparing Your Home for Sale and Inspection

By Enza Dandeneau of Prudential CT Realty

Enza and Steve Dandeneau have some informative and helpful tips to assist you in preparing your home for sale and its eventual inspection. To attract buyers and reduce potential issues for a home inspector to point out, a handy homeowner can take care of many of these items. A few may require a licensed professional, but all are within the scope of home maintenance.

1. Paint or stain siding and trim as needed where fading or peeling.

2. Replace any decayed siding or trim.

3. Clean gutters and be sure downspout bottoms are extended adequately away from the house to help prevent water seepage into the basement.

4. Re-point and patch any loose brickwork on the chimney or exterior walls.

5. Re-putty windows as needed.

6. Paint rusted wrought iron railings and secure loose ones as needed.

7. Make sure your deck has joist hangars; it’s bolted to the house and is properly flashed.

8. Make sure all exterior crawl space areas under the house, porches and stairs are ventilated.

9. Repair cracks in retaining walls.

10. Trim shrubs & bushes 6 inches from the house. Remove attached vines, leaves and debris from planting areas.

11. For proper rain run-off, be sure the ground slopes away from the house at a rate of one inch per foot for a distance of five to six feet.

12. Patch any foundation cracks that allow water penetration with hydraulic cement.

13. Be sure the dryer is vented to the exterior of the house.

14. Have your heating, air conditioning and hot water heater serviced, if they have not been done in the last six months.

15. Check all interior plumbing fixtures for leaks, and for proper operation.

16. Have all interior well equipment serviced, if it is hasn’t been done in the last year.

17. Pump your septic tank, if it hasn’t been pumped in the last year.

18. Make sure all doors are adjusted so that they close correctly.

19. Make sure the interior walls and ceilings are cosmetically attractive. If there are water stains or cracks, the cause should be repaired and then re-painted.

20. Properly repair loose bathroom tile and re-grout as needed.

21. Inspect and clean, if needed, all chimney flues.

22. Be sure all interior stair rails are secure.

23. Install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

These suggestions will come in handy, not only in preventing hold ups in the selling process, but they can save you money. This is where repair versus replacement comes in. Repair is generally less expensive than replacing, and often a buyer will want an item replaced if it is found to have a defect, when a simple repair will do. But, if the repair was completed prior to the sale or inspection, the more expensive replacement will never become and issue.

For more information on buying or selling your next home, contact Enza and Steve Dandeneau at Prudential CT Realty 860-652-4575 or www.CTRealtyNow.com