Selling a house nowadays isn’t as easy as you would think. Buyers have high expectations when it comes to buying a home, and appearances are everything.
More and more potential buyers in Minneapolis are looking for move-in ready houses that look like they were just featured in an HGTV show. Most house hunters aren’t looking for fixer-uppers because they either don’t have the time or money or both to invest in a so-called “ugly house.”
Unfortunately, for the person looking to sell their ugly home, it will prove to be a hard sale. But the good news is with some minor changes and creativity; you may be able to help buyers see the potential in your property.
Find out more about how you can highlight your house’s best features and make minor home repairs to get that “SOLD” sign in the front yard.
How To Sell An Ugly House Fast In Minneapolis
Define an Ugly House in Minneapolis
They say ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder,’ which basically means what one person considers ugly may seem beautiful to another. When defining an ugly house in Minneapolis, most people would agree if the house has original shag carpet, pink bathroom tile, floral wallpaper, Formica countertops, and 1970’s kitchen appliances, that would be considered ugly. Even split level architecture that was all the rage in the 1960s may be considered unattractive to buyers now. Ultimately, defining ugly can be challenging because people’s definitions can be different. Still, more than likely, if your house hasn’t been updated in a while or needs a lot of improvements to get it to current standards, then it may be labeled as ugly to a prospective buyer.
How To Sell an Ugly House
You do have a few options when it comes to selling an ugly house. You can try to do some work to the home to make it more presentable, or you can look into selling it as-is. Depending on how much work needs to be done and the expenses involved, it may be a better idea to sell as-is.
But if you’re open to the idea of fixing up the place, to see if you can sell it that way, it doesn’t hurt to try. You can do a few things to help sell an ugly house to highlight its best features, make minor repairs, stage and add some style, and set a reasonable asking price. This formula may just be the secret to how to sell an ugly house in Minneapolis.
Let’s take a look at these more in-depth to figure out what your next steps should be to sell your ugly house. There is a lot for homeowners to know about selling their Minneapolis homes.
Focus On The Best Features of the House
So maybe you haven’t updated the kitchen or bathrooms, but you did just install a new HVAC or had the roof replaced. Make sure to point that out. Things like these are a big plus to buyers and mean they won’t have to worry about fixing them for several years to come.
Don’t forget to point out any original features to the home, like original oak hardwood floors, a stained glass window, or a claw foot tub. Buyers may not notice these in the listing photos or know that they are original unless you tell them. People like original features for their charm it adds to the property.
Another feature you can focus on is the location of your house. If your home is in a great location, school district, or quiet cul-de-sac, usually those qualities win people over.
Once you start looking around, you may be surprised by some of the best features your house has to offer potential buyers.
Repair What You Can
Figuring out what repairs need to be made around your home can be hard to gauge. Some repairs you may be aware of, some you may not. But a good place to start is with the repairs you know are minor and cheap to do. If you notice a loose door handle, adjust it. If you have a leaky kitchen faucet, figure out how to tighten it. And if you’re not sure how to fix something, check out YouTube. YouTube is beneficial in showing how to make minor home repairs for whatever housing project you have.
Depending on your budget, if you can afford to invest some money into your ugly house, you can always replace light fixtures, have the interior repainted to a neutral color, and purchase an appliance package for the kitchen. Those won’t be as expensive as redoing the whole home but may help sell your ugly house in Minneapolis.
Something else that’s a little cheaper and would add some curb appeal would be to paint the front door or replace the porch light; you could easily get that done for under $50.
Staging and Adding Style
You would be surprised to find out that sometimes the decor and furnishings in your home may emphasize what buyers consider as ugly about your house. For example, maybe your living room has a particularly dark shade of purple on the walls and huge pieces of furniture. To a buyer, space may appear dark and small, not open, bright and warm like they were looking for in a house to buy.
Staging your home and adding some style may turn your ugly house in Minneapolis into an attractive one.
A few easy things you can do is clean and declutter. A dirty house shows buyers that the home isn’t well taken care of, and a cluttered home shows buyers there may not be enough room for their stuff. So doing a deep cleaning and reorganizing will be very helpful.
The next thing you can do is remove any personal items like family photos to depersonalize the space and help buyers visualize living there instead.
After that, if you want to take things a step further, you can repaint the house’s interior with neutral colors and rearrange or store pieces of furniture. The general rule of thumb is to store half of your furniture. Your home will look bigger and more appealing to most buyers with less furniture in it. If your furniture is not showroom quality, you can always rent furniture and store yours while your house is for sale.
Once the inside is done, don’t forget the exterior of the house. Mow the lawn, weed the flower beds, add a fresh coat of paint to the mailbox, powerwash your house and walkways, clean the windows and make sure the house number is visible. You can always add a new welcome mat and some potted flowers by the front door for some extra curb appeal.
Some final finishing touches would include some fresh flowers in a vase on the table, folded towels in the bathrooms, and even baking some chocolate chip cookies have been known to add a nice touch for prospective buyers viewing the property.
Setting The Right Price
Another way you can address the fact that you’re trying to sell an ugly house in Minneapolis is by offsetting the asking price. Some people acknowledge that renovations need to be made, so they deduct that from the price.
Selling an ugly house will be challenging as it is; you don’t want to turn people away because the list price was too high. Setting the right price will help to get interested buyers in the door.
If you work with a realtor, they will usually put together a list of price comparables for your area and help you come up with a decent listing price. If you are selling by owner or would like to get a second opinion, hiring a real estate appraiser would be a good idea. They would be able to give you an accurate value for how much your ugly house in Minneapolis is worth.
Also, there is a chance selling your house now in Minneapolis can save you money.
Sell To Home Buyers
If you’d prefer to avoid all this hard work and effort, you would have to put into selling an ugly house; you can always sell to a local home buyer instead. Homebuyers purchase ugly houses all the time; they buy houses in as-is condition, so repairs, staging, and styling aren’t necessary to sell.
The other advantage to working with a local home buyer is that they don’t charge realtor commissions or service fees; they will even pay closing costs, ultimately saving you thousands of dollars. Selling to a home buyer is a great way to avoid all the hassle and expense of trying to sell your ugly house in Minneapolis.
Selling an Ugly House Fast
If you need to sell your ugly house fast, you’ll need to move quickly to get your home ready to sell and then start looking for the right buyer. Currently, the average number of days on market in Minneapolis is 67 before receiving an offer. Then once you do receive an offer, it can take 30-60 days to close escrow. And since you’re trying to sell an ugly house, your timeline maybe even longer than that.
If you’re in a time crunch and need to sell an ugly house in Minneapolis fast, consider talking to Mill City Home Buyers. They are a local Minneapolis real estate investor that purchases houses in as-is condition and can make you a cash offer for your home within 24-hours and close within 7 days!
Conclusion:
If you’re trying to figure out how to sell an ugly house in Minneapolis, the good news is, you do have options. However, it is hard to justify putting time, money, and effort into a place you’re about to sell. Not only that but even if you do everything you can to transform your ugly house in Minneapolis, that doesn’t guarantee a fast home sale.
Instead of dealing with the hassle and uncertainty, you can always sell your home to Mill City Home Buyers and pass all those ugly housing troubles to someone else.
To learn more about Mill City Home Buyers and their home buying process, visit their website for more information or give them a call at (612) 260-5577 today!