Home Improvement: Tips, tricks to get your house sale-ready

Real estate in Tompkins County, just as it is in many regions right now, is a seller’s market, so if you’ve been meaning to sell your home, now is the time to do it. But before you do, local experts offered some advice on ways to improve the marketability of your home, including both small and larger projects to make your house more appealing to potential buyers.

First, there are some common areas to focus your efforts on. Ann DiPetta, Homebuyer Education consultant with Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services (INHS), leads a post-purchase class that touches on what rooms most buyers look at when deciding to buy a house.

“The water rooms are important because they’re expensive to fix if there’s any leaks or any plumbing systems that are not really well shored up,” she said. “The kitchen, in addition to that, is the gathering space. There’s other spaces where people gather, but the kitchen is really where families come together for meals and they come together for meal prep. It’s a busy place, generally, so it’s a space that most buyers want to be functional, usable, a good flow, that sort of thing.”

Another big area of focus is the floor, as Thomas Pirko, manager at Bishops Carpet One in Ithaca, explained.

“One of the key things that people do look for is that the floors aren’t completely trashed, or that it’s got maybe updated, newer floors or wood floors,” he said. “It would be making sure that you have nice presentable floors and that you don’t have pet stains or pet odors.”

Pirko said that even if your carpeting is a bit old, as long as it looks good, isn’t stained and doesn’t smell, keep it. And if you have to replace it, don’t go all out.

“Don’t go spend a whole bunch of money to put great-looking carpet into the house because, just like painting, carpets are one of the first things that people always change when they move into a house,” he said. “Don’t go putting in the most expensive, stain-resistant carpet you can buy. Get something lower end that’s going to look good and look like new carpet and smell like new carpet so that when the new homeowner comes in, they don’t come in thinking that they’ve got the smelly, stinky house — they’ve got a nice clean house, and they can do what they want to do.”

A similar principle applies to the rest of the house — you want the buyer to be able to easily picture themselves in whatever space they’re walking through.

“The most important thing is that there’s not a lot of stuff in the house,” DiPetta said. “One of the things that a realtor might suggest is a storage unit, and you put half your stuff in a storage unit so that it’s clean, simple and the person who walks in can actually see themselves and their stuff in that space a little bit better.”

Areas like attics and basements are usually lower priority for buyers, DiPetta said, but it’s still a good idea to make those areas look presentable.

“So, not 10 million cobwebs,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be spotless in a basement, but maybe a little bit of care put to maybe vacuuming a little bit that space so that the person can get down there and look at the systems. That’s where all the important systems are, the heating system, the plumbing, the electrical box. All those sorts of things are in the basement, and most buyers are going to want to see that.”

Sustainability measures can also be a big draw, as Lisa Marshall, program director at HeatSmart Tompkins, explained.

“If a house is well insulated and air sealed, that is a house that is more affordable to heat and to cool, and it stays more comfortable,” she said. “It’s also a healthier home; it’s less apt to have things like mold and animal intrusion, that sort of thing. So, a house that has gone through an energy audit and has updated all of the insulation and air sealing is a really appealing house for people to buy, for sure.”

Marshall said that if you’ve done any kind of energy upgrades on your home recently, be sure to advertise that on your listing.

“People are interested, especially in this area, in energy efficiency,” she said. “So, you want to highlight that in your ad and with your realtor. Make sure your realtor highlights the fact that you have a well-insulated house or that you have a heat pump or that you have a solar system. That’s something that customers are really looking for, especially in Tompkins County.”

As much as these measures are a draw, though, DiPetta and Marshall both cautioned that projects like replacing the heating system can be very expensive, so unless the system is in disrepair, it’s best to leave that project to a prospective buyer.

But there are less expensive ways you can improve your home’s energy efficiency and help draw in buyers, DiPetta said, like weather stripping.

Lastly, think like a buyer and walk around and through your house as if it’s not yours, DiPetta said.

“When you do that walk around the property, … test all the lights, make sure they work,” she said. “If the bathroom fan doesn’t work, those are little things you can fix that people are going to try. They’re going to turn on the lights. They’re going to flip the switches. They’re going to run the water. They’re going to look under the cabinet. So, just make sure your under the cabinets is clean, declutter as much as possible, make sure the place is fresh.”

INHS and Bishops both have staff eager to help new and experienced home sellers get their homes ready for the market. Marshall most recommends HeatSmart for buyers looking to make efficiency improvements to their homes, as HeatSmart has information about rebates, grants, and tax credits available for weatherization and heat pumps. For more information about INHS, visit ithacanhs.org. To learn more about HeatSmart, visit solartompkins.org. And to see what Bishops has to offer, visit bishopscarpetone.com.