While it may be easier short-term to advise your client to sell a property “as-is,” it’s often far more lucrative to help them in increasing their home value. Many clients these days require an increase in home value, either being underwater in their mortgage or swamped with other debts. Of course, it goes without saying that increasing the home value will also increase your personal profit margin.

• Fix the small problems first.
  
  Just because something seems extremely trivial doesn’t mean it won’t give a bad impression to a prospective buyer. A new coat of paint and some new, shiny fixtures can make an old property shine. Dents, scrapes, and discoloration may all seem inconsequential, but they can definitely affect the buyer’s offering price as they mentally tally the repairs they’re going to have to make.





• Get new appliances.
  
  Many appliances can be purchased either on sale or at scratch-and-dent lots. Most new home buyers don’t want to see old appliances in their new home, and they will be thinking about how costly it will be to replace these appliances as well as have the old ones removed. It is more cost effective to purchase new appliances and raise your asking price accordingly.





• Work on the yard and keep everything clean.
  
  Too often clients neglect these areas thinking “well, the new owner will fix it anyway.” Presentation is everything. The front yard is the first and last thing the buyer will see and contemplate when thinking about the property, and a yard overrun with weeds is likely to lead the buyer to the impression that this will be a hard place to maintain.

Every property is unique and poses its own challenges and opportunities. In general, if something can be fixed, cleaned, or replaced for a relatively low cost, it will end up as a net benefit to you and your client in the long run.

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