Whether you’re buying a home to flip or just selling your current one, you’ll need to make changes to get it ready to sell. The key is to get the house in the best possible condition, which means optimizing its appearance while minimizing costs and keeping within budget. And, of course, you’ll need to be able to predict maintenance costs in order to do so. Here’s a simple guide on how to correctly measure the repair costs of your house in Atlanta, Georgia to assist you.
Why You Need to Estimate the Repair Costs
A common blunder made by sellers is underestimating the cost of repairs for their Atlanta, GA home. It’s typically (but not always) the product of ignorance and inexperience when sellers measure these costs too high or too low. “Either way,” the experts say, “you’re setting yourself up for . . . failure.” And here’s why . . .
“You’ll spend weeks rehabbing a house if you underestimate the costs of rehabbing it, but your profit will be much less than you thought when you sell it.If you overestimate the cost of a project, you risk making an offer that is too low to be approved by the seller or being beaten out of the contract by a competitor bidder who correctly calculated costs and therefore outbid you.”
Steps in Estimating Repair Costs
There are a few standard steps you can take in Atlanta, GA to reliably estimate the repair costs of your home. Examining the following is one of them:
THE BASIC STRUCTURE
If there is significant structural damage to the building (such as dipping ceilings or clearly off-level floors), you can employ a structural engineer to inspect it and give you a conservative estimate of how much it would cost to make it habitable. Structural engineers aren’t cheap; expect to pay at least $500 for this form of service.” However, regardless of the cost, you must first deal with the basics in order to obtain an accurate estimate.
COMMON DANGERS
The next step in estimating repair costs involves looking for common dangers. The inspection should find these, but that’s not always the case. So look around the house for the following dangers:
- Lead-based paint
- Lead in the water from old plumbing
- Mold and mildew
- Hidden pests such as termites
Expect the Unexpected
Also, keep in mind that you must expect the unexpected if you want to correctly estimate the repair costs of your selling house in Peachtree City, GA. Costs can fluctuate, and some items may cost less than you expected while others may cost more.
Here’s a pertinent example from one home seller: “I recall thinking an air conditioner would need to be replaced for $3,000–$4,000, only to discover that a simple $200 fix was all it took to get it working again.”
Furthermore, repairs often take longer than expected (due to a variety of unexpected incidents such as inclement weather), increasing the repair cost. “And the longer you own a property before selling it, the higher your costs such as taxes, insurance, electricity, and repairs would be. The quicker you finish it, the more money you’ll make.”
Partner With Your Atlanta, GA Agent
Finally, measuring repair costs correctly is just half of the work. If you don’t have the experience or time to do the repairs yourself, like most of us, you’ll need to hire a contractor. Finding an accomplished, skilled contractor, on the other hand, is frequently easier said than done.
When selling your house in Atlanta, GA agent will assist you with this. Your agent should be able to suggest a reliable contractor that you can trust and who will do the job well because most agents have a vast network of other professionals they can call on. So, when you’ve estimated the cost of repairs for your home in Atlanta, GA and are ready to get started, call us at (470) 333-8516.
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