Preparing an Older Vancouver Home for Sale (Part 1) – From your Friendly Vancouver Mortgage Broker

Preparing an Older Vancouver Home for Sale (Part 1) – From your Friendly Vancouver Mortgage Broker

Selling an older home in Vancouver may require a few renovations to make it look more appealing to potential buyers. Styles have changed considerably so it can well be worth your while to reflect those changes.

You can take it from your Vancouver mortgage broker that a little prep work can help your older Vancouver home sell more quickly.

Here are a few tips to help you move your older Vancouver home more quickly.

Flooring

One of the neat things about older homes in Vancouver is that they used quality wood in constructing the hardwood floors back in those days. If you currently have carpeting which is starting to show its age, then you really should consider ripping it up. You might be pleasantly surprised to find what’s underneath.

Hard wood floors are fairly popular today. And, as an alternative to spending a chunk of change on new carpeting, it might well be more economical to highlight those beautiful oak or maple floors with a sanding and a coat or two of varnish.

And please, if you still have some of that old shag carpeting from the sixties, then please remove it for your own sake.

Walls Speak to Buyers

Paint! Paint! Paint!

Older homes which haven’t been repainted for awhile definitely need to have the walls fixed and re-done before you put you put the home up for sale.

Don’t think so? Take down one of your paintings or prints that’s been hanging on the wall in the same spot for the past 10 or so years. Ah! Now you see what we’re talking about don’t you?

Maybe you have some of your rooms done in darker colours. Using lighter coloured paint schemes can really let in the daylight and open up these rooms. If you are re-painting then don’t get too radical with the colour schemes and keep it more neutral.

It is also vital to make sure that you spend the time on the prep work so you cover up those holes, minor cracks and dings that developed over the years.

Another good idea is to consider stripping away wall paper, especially if it’s pealing or appears too dated. Wallpaper is an individual taste and it does not mean that a potential buyer doesn’t like wallpaper; it simply means they are most likely not going to like your wallpaper.

A lot of older homes have veneer wood paneling. That’s the old flimsy stuff and it looks chintzy so you are strongly advised to tear it out. Even paneling that is of higher quality has become somewhat dated and does not appeal to many buyers anymore, so you might give thought to removing this material as well.

Stucco has also gone out of style. It also doesn’t age very well so rather than re-paint you might want to consider taking it out and replace it with regular drywall.

Another thing which is no longer popular is textured ceilings. Some of the older homes had these done with asbestos containing material and they are not only a health hazard, but a definite turn-off.

If you not sure what you should do, then you can take it from this Vancouver mortgage broker that maybe your local real estate agent can give you some solid tips on what to do when preparing your older Vancouver home for sale.