We’ve all seen them – the little snickers that come from the home staging shows when someone lifts a piece of carpet or leans against a supposedly solid wall and it falls or – in the case of the carpet – completely lifts it off like it was the skin of a cat. Even if this is not a horror story or a home staging show, when it comes to selling your house, you want to be careful not to indulge yourself in these quick fixes.

Yes, all Realtors recommend you get the house ready for sale fast (I don’t really know why it has be to be that quick!) but try and avoid the following quick fixes. Because, seriously, they are not. Fixes, that is. You might get away with them during the Open House, but the same Realtors and real estate brokers that recommend you get your home ready for sale in a hurry because summer doesn’t last forever also recommend that your homebuyers get a home inspection. And the home inspector is being paid approximately $100 an hour to find flaws and uncover your badly hidden mistakes! So do it right the first time and don’t bother with these quick fixes!

1. Carpet / mat over broken tile or missing hardwood

This is my personal pet peeve, which is why I mention it first. Way too many people indulge in this one, especially when the open house is days away and they want to clean the house and get it ready without making any repairs to it. What we see most often is missing hardwood or cracked tile and the homeowner – as if he’s had a brilliant idea – decides he has an extra bathroom or kitchen mat to cover the area. What an idea! Except here’s the problem – sooner or later, that little mat will be lifted. Homebuyers are getting pretty smart when it comes to these things and know your tricks. It’s one thing to carpet the entire floor space, (Although I have come across many bank-owned homes with uneven floors with carpet on them. Homebuyers see right through these cheap tricks!) and quite another to cover it with something that resembles a place mat.

You’re almost better off to just leave the area uncovered and let them see the flaw. At least they will know you are not lying or trying to deceive. If the home seller covered this little thing up, they think, what else am I not seeing? Their trouble radar goes up. So avoid the homebuyers from thinking that. Because they might just decide the risk isn’t worth it and look elsewhere. And with homebuyers being almost as scarce as some endangered species around here lately, you really want to do your best to keep them in your home, safe and happy enough to want to buy it from you!

2. Electrical “fixes” by cousins

This supposed fix is not just a problem, it’s a fire hazard and an electrical hazard. Let’s say the day before the Open House the central air in the home decides to go kaput. And all this happens in the sweltering heat of August. You’re considering serving ice cream at the Open house to get more people to come in, just drawn by the enticement of something cool. What do you do? Do you decide it’s not worth getting it fixed right away and let the potential homebuyers know that it will be fixed before the home is in escrow? Or do you invite your cousin who you think might be able to fix the issue because he’s supposedly handy around the home and doesn’t mind fooling with some wires until he gets it right.

Seriously, I have nothing against cousins. The same goes for in-laws, siblings, whoever doesn’t have an electrical contractor license and offers to fix something for you for half the price a professional would charge. Again, remember the home inspection. While we have in the past found bad wiring in the attic of a HUD home we had bought and fixed it, (thanks to the fact that my husband is an electrician) there are still switches around the home that power things we have never found – a fact that still scares us a little bit! In the above scenario, it would be better to leave the air conditioner off and let your potential homebuyers know that you are willing to fix it before close of escrow.

Come back tomorrow for part 2!

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