If you are listing with an agent, the advice is usually to paint everything beige, refinish the floors, and update the kitchen. If you are selling to a cash buyer, the advice is the opposite: do almost none of it. Let us separate the two.
Selling to a cash buyer: do nothing
We price the offer based on the home's after-repair value minus the work it needs. Fixing the roof yourself does not increase our offer by the cost of the roof. It just moves money from your pocket to a contractor's, on your timeline and your risk. Skip it.
Listing on the MLS: the short list that can pay off
- Fix anything actively broken that would scare a buyer or fail an appraisal: a leaking roof, a dead HVAC in summer, a failed septic.
- Curb appeal: a $200 yard cleanup photographs better than a $20,000 kitchen.
- A deep clean and decluttering. Free, and it changes how the listing photos read.
The honest trade-off
A cash offer skips the repairs, the carrying costs while they are being done, and the risk that a buyer still negotiates down after inspection. If your house needs real work and you want certainty over the last few thousand dollars, that trade usually favors a direct sale. We will show you both numbers if you want them.
