Chapter 4 — What to Fix, What to Skip

Every homeowner I've consulted for asks me some version of the same question the moment they decide to sell without an agent: what do I need to fix first?

It's the right question. It's also the one most people get wrong — usually in one of two directions. Either they fix nothing and wonder why buyers walk after the inspection, or they fix everything and hand a contractor a check that should've stayed in their pocket at closing.

After thirty-six years of remodeling houses and a General Contractor's license I earned specifically because the line between "disclose it" and "fix it" kept getting blurrier, I can tell you the answer isn't a checklist you can buy at the hardware store. It's a set of questions, asked in order, before a single tool comes out of the truck.

"A repair that doesn't affect safety, financing, or the inspection report is a negotiation chip — not a job. Don't spend money turning your leverage into a receipt."

Start with what a lender will flag, not what a buyer will notice

Buyers notice paint color and dated fixtures. Lenders and appraisers notice things that can kill financing entirely: exposed wiring, missing handrails, active roof leaks, non-functioning HVAC. If a repair sits in that second category, it goes to the top of the list regardless of cost. Everything else gets weighed against what it will actually do to your sale price — and more often than you'd expect, the honest answer is: not much.

Disclose it correctly, and half your "repairs" disappear

A large share of the repair anxiety I see from first-time FSBO sellers isn't really about the repair. It's about not knowing how to disclose a known issue without scaring off a buyer or triggering a legal problem down the road. Handled correctly, a documented, disclosed issue with a fair price adjustment is often a faster and cheaper path to closing than the repair itself — and it's one most listing agents won't walk you through in this much detail, because it isn't billable work for them.

The rest of this chapter walks through the exact disclosure language I use with consulting clients, plus the repair-versus-credit calculator referenced throughout the book — both included in the free reader toolkit.