4 DIY Projects You Should Avoid Before Listing Your House

If you’re trying to get your house ready to put on the market, even if you want to sell your property as-is, you might be tempted to try to increase your home’s value before listing with a few quick and easy do-it-yourself projects. In theory, this is a great idea: a repaired house means a larger pool of buyers, an easier closing, and probably a better price. However, the reality is that some DIY projects are better handled by professionals. A poorly done project actually has the potential to lower your property’s listing value, and it can even present several problems before closing. Here are 4 DIY projects that real estate agents want you to avoid before listing your house.

1 – Putting in New Flooring

Our founder, Jimmy, has been an active real estate investor and licensed real estate agent for years now, so he was the best person to ask for an honest opinion about what DIY projects that homeowners should avoid before listing. His first answer: putting in new flooring.

Because of how popular hardwood flooring has become as opposed to carpet, homeowners frequently attempt to replace any carpet in their houses with their own DIY flooring. According to Jimmy, this doesn’t always have the best effect: “I buy and sell many houses every year, and I can always tell when a DIY flooring job has occurred. The joints are not staggered enough, the floor doesn’t go all the way underneath the base molding, and the flooring around doorways is awful.” These might not sound like big problems, but real estate agents and investors get paid to notice these kind of mistakes. A botched flooring job has the potential to decrease the listing value of your house and the offers that you receive.

While it might seem easy, putting in hardwood floors is a DIY project that requires patience, care, and extreme attention to detail. Anybody can learn to do it with the right effort and practice, but if you’re not up for that kind of challenge before listing your home, it might be best to hand this job over to professionals for the time being.

2 – DIY Decks

Another DIY project that Jimmy said homeowners should avoid are decks. A well-done deck should, in theory, increase property value, but what DIY blogs and YouTube videos might not tell you is that this can be a dangerous job that often creates problems during the home selling process. Jimmy explained that, “If not correctly done, a deck addition or replacement may not pass a home inspection, or worse, it may cause an injury to someone.”

Building a deck is already a difficult and dangerous enough job: there are a lot of large, heavy materials and power tools involved, and the deck has to be precisely measured and assembled to ensure it is sturdy enough to bear weight. In short, deck-building is definitely an advanced DIY project. But not only does the deck have to be built and built well, it has to pass inspection before listing the property. If the deck does not pass inspection, this can stall the listing process and can actually be a huge waste of time and money for the homeowner if it doesn’t pay off.

3 – Finishing Drywall

Another DIY project that Jimmy recommended against is finishing drywall. This is because the task of finishing drywall is actually very difficult, very detail-oriented, and very important to the listing value of the house. A good drywall finish leads to perfectly flat walls, primed and ready for painting. A poor drywall finish leads to cracks, bubbles, and ridges of drywall mud, among many other issues. While these aesthetic problems might not cause the same problems as a poorly constructed deck, they can lead to decreased property value and interest when listing your home. In Jimmy’s words, “Your finished basement will not excite prospective buyers if the drywall is not properly done.”

While finishing drywall is a skill that anybody can learn with the right resources and practice, it might not be the quick and easy DIY project that homeowners hope it is. If you’re looking to sell your house for a higher price, investing in labor from professionals to finish your drywall might be the better option before listing.

4 – Removing Walls

The final DIY project that Jimmy recommended avoiding is removing walls. As open-concept homes have become more popular on the housing market, removing walls to create more open living spaces is another DIY project that has gained popularity in the past decade. While this idea seems great in theory, it can actually have large consequences for the listing price and the safety of your property. Jimmy says that “homeowners should be very careful removing walls. I cannot count how many times I have seen houses that have had load-bearing walls removed, so now the ceiling sags.”

Removing walls without first ensuring that they are not load-bearing creates problems exactly like a DIY deck might: a botched project can cause issues during the home’s inspection, and it has to potential to stall listing. If you’re hoping to remove walls in your house before listing, it is always best to consult with a professional who can tell you which walls are safe to remove.

Summary

When trying to sell your house, there is a lot of temptation to DIY your way to a higher listing price, but it is important to remember that home improvement can be incredibly difficult. DIY projects present a great opportunity to improve properties before listing, but these projects have to be done with care, or they could do the opposite of what they were meant to: they could decrease the listing value of your property.

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