Walk the house before you hire anyone
A slow walk with a notepad shows what to fix, what to tell buyers, and what to leave alone.
Start at the curb and write what you can point at before you explain it away. Look at the roof edge, the walkway, and the front door as three separate lines. A cracked step, a gutter that spills onto the siding, and a door that scrapes are not one job called the front. Note the side of the house and what you can see from the ground. You are not calling anyone yet. You are making a list a later bid can answer without a second visit to guess what you meant.
Inside, work one room at a time with the lights on. Run each faucet, flip each switch, and open each window that should open. Write hall bath, tub faucet drips instead of bathroom needs work. Soft floors, stains, and doors that stick get their own lines. If a closet smells damp, write the closet and the smell. Then walk again in daylight. Bulbs hide scuffed sills, screens that sit crooked, and a latch you only notice when the sun hits it.
Sort every line into fix, disclose, or leave. Fix means the house needs it to work, or the problem will show in a photo. Disclose means you will say it in writing even if you do not repair it. Leave means you have decided not to spend, and you will not pretend the work was done. For a fix you cannot price, ask for a written bid in dollars that says what is included. Type that number into the proceeds calculator. A hunch you say out loud is not a number.
Keep the porch as a small example. A dead bulb is often a few dollars. A loose step may only need screws you already own, unless the wood is soft and the board has to be replaced. A scraping door may need a hinge adjustment rather than a new door. Those are three costs and maybe three people. Write them apart so you do not hire one crew for the whole entry when two lines are an afternoon. When the page is sorted, you know who to call and what you will not pay for.
What to do
- Walk once in daylight and once with the lights on.
- Write one line per issue, with the room or the side of the house.
- Mark each line fix, disclose, or leave.
- Get a written bid for any fix you cannot price, and type it into the proceeds calculator.