As you may have heard or experienced yourself, selling your home may be a long, difficult, and time-consuming task. This is especially the case if you have a fragile buyer or one with some doubts. I’ve seen deals that seemed completed fall through at the last possible moment, and I thought it would be useful to point out some of the possible (and controllable!) variables that could shut down the sale of a home.

Let’s have a look

Weird Smells

When you’ve been around certain odors for a while, it is easy to get accustomed to it to the point of not realizing they may be a bit offensive or off-putting to others. I’ve gone on one particular showing at a house that completely aligned with what my client was looking for. When we entered the basement, the seller had apparently neglected some moist rags from their business. There was a mildew smell that completely shut down any possibility of a deal. On another occasion, a particular seller hadn’t cleaned out their cats’ litter box recently and the odor wasn’t sitting well with my client at all.

A Bad Paint Job

When looking at a property, the paint can have an enormous impact on a buyer’s perception of the home. Something as simple as a door that’s in need of a fresh coat or a change from that strange color your kids insisted on choosing for their room can be a big turn off. It’s usually not necessary to paint everything either. Just focus on the spots that need some TLC; look for dark colors, chipping paint, or dirty paint spots. Also, it’s time to replace the wallpaper with paint! Wallpaper dates a home and can be a big turn-off.

Paint happens to be one of the cheapest materials one could purchase for their home! If you have a little time on your hands, it’s not necessary to look for outside help to get it done either. This might be the perfect opportunity for a little DIY project. A painting kit, a can or tub of paint, and some drop clothes to protect your floor is easily purchased under $100 from your local home improvement store. Lighter and neutral colors are definitely the safest choices.

Broken, Dead, or Not-Quite-Right

It’s always good to do a functionality check in a home for sale, whether you’re a buyer or a seller. The small things can add up, so make sure you fix those jiggly doorknobs, replace the broken light bulbs, and ensure the batteries in your smoke detectors work. These things may seem small, but the more a home seems move-in ready to a prospective buyer, the better off the seller is. If a buyer asks to for these repairs, it’s important to deliver so as not to aggravate either party. I usually handle these small details for all of my clients, free of charge. This is a great way to smooth out a transaction, especially since most home sales fall through during the home inspection point.

Clean Surfaces

Another fairly small item that could contribute to the abrupt end of a deal is clean surfaces. I recommend steam cleaning carpets if they’re still in good shape. If the hardwood is badly scuffed up, then it may be ideal to have them professionally restained. If the countertop in a kitchen or bathroom is dated and it won’t be necessary to completely redo them, it can be an affordable renovation that saves a deal. I would suggest an engineered surface over granite, as it has generated interest in some of my past clients’ homes for sale in Frederick County, VA. They also last a long time!

Creaky floors

Particularly in winter, older floors can become quite creaky. Even if you’ve lived with them for years, a buyer will be much more likely to notice and have concern for them. A couple of the reasons for squeaking floorboards:

A) expanding and contracting from heating/cooling

B) nails loosening

There are many approaches to fixing a creaky floor, though I can’t guarantee any one will work for you. It can usually be fixed up without the assistance of a professional. The ways I’ve seen them mended is by inserting shims into the gap underneath the floor where possible, using construction adhesive to seal the gaps, adding blocks to noisy joints, using screws from the bottom to tighten them up, or using a handy product like squeakender. If that doesn’t work or you don’t feel like attempting it yourself, a carpet installation company can usually fix the matter for you.