What shouldn't you fix before selling?
Skip the big-ticket projects: a kitchen or bath remodel, a new roof, new windows or foundation work on a house you plan to sell soon. They cost a lot, take weeks to finish, and a buyer rarely pays you back the whole cost in the price. Clean, declutter and handle small repairs instead.
The reason is plain arithmetic. A buyer pays for what the house is worth on the day they see it, and they judge your new kitchen against every other house for sale that month. If you spend on a roof and the buyer would have paid about the same with a roof credit, that money is gone. The exception is a repair that would stop a sale from happening at all, like an active leak or a safety problem a buyer's lender won't accept.
| Usually worth doing | Usually not worth it | Why | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walls and paint | Patch holes and touch up scuffed rooms | Repainting the whole house in new colors | Buyers notice damage more than color, and many repaint to their own taste |
| Kitchen | Fix the dripping faucet and the broken cabinet door | A full remodel | It costs a lot, takes weeks, and the buyer still prices the whole house |
| Roof and gutters | Clear the moss and debris, fix a known leak | A full tear-off on a house you'll sell as-is | A cash buyer prices the roof into the offer either way, and on a listing a repair credit can be negotiated |
| Heating and water | Service the furnace and keep the receipt | Replacing a working furnace or water heater because it's old | A service record reassures a buyer, and the age gets priced in either way |
| Paperwork | Order the loan payoff and find permits and receipts | Waiting until a buyer asks for them | Missing papers are what hold up a closing |
The other side of this question, which problems take the most off a house's value, is covered in the guide to what devalues a house the most.
The short list of what not to do before you sell your house
- Don't start a remodel before you know what the house is worth as it stands.
- Don't cancel the insurance or shut off the heat while you still own the place.
- Don't sign a listing agreement or a purchase contract the same day someone hands it to you.
- Don't leave a known problem off the disclosure form, because Washington's form asks about most of them.
- Don't let a lien or an unpaid tax bill surprise you at closing; order the payoff and title report early.
- Don't pay anyone an upfront fee to find you a buyer or to market the house.
What can you do to get your house to sell faster?
Price it to the market from the first day, get the paperwork in order before you list, and decide early whether a cash sale or a listing fits your house. Houses that sit usually sit because of price or condition, and a late price cut costs more time than a right price at the start.
Price, paperwork and the route you pick move a sale along more than anything you can do with a paintbrush. On price: buyers and their agents see every new listing the day it goes live, and a house priced above the recent sales nearby tends to sit until the price comes down. Ask for the recent sales of similar houses within a few blocks and price against those. On paperwork: order the mortgage payoff, find the property tax statement, and if the house is in an estate or has tenants, get the court's letters or the lease together now, because a title company can't close without them. On the route: if the house needs more work than you can pay for, a cash sale skips the repairs, the showings and the wait for a buyer's loan. If it shows well, a listing usually brings more money, and it's worth seeing both numbers before you choose.
Is it hard to sell a house here? A house in decent shape at the right price usually isn't. Over 2021 to 2025, Seattle homes that sold in May had spent a median of about 8 days on the market, by Redfin's monthly data. It gets hard when the house needs work most buyers' lenders won't finance, or when the seller can't manage weeks of showings.
If you want to see how a cash sale runs from the first call to closing, the steps are laid out one by one. And if you're weighing the two routes, there's a side-by-side of a cash sale against a listing, with the costs on each side.
Should you move out before you sell?
Only if you have somewhere to go and a plan for the empty house. A vacant house is easier to show and easier to clean, but it can also change your insurance, since many homeowner's policies treat a house that's been empty for a while differently. Call your insurance agent before the move.
Living there has its own advantages. The house stays heated and aired out, which matters in a Puget Sound winter, when an empty house with the thermostat turned down can grow mold or freeze a pipe in a cold snap.
If you do move out, leave the heat on low, keep the utilities in your name until closing, and have someone look in every week or so. On a cash sale you can ask for a closing date that lines up with your move.
What paperwork should you gather first?
Start with the mortgage payoff statement, your latest property tax statement, and the deed or title information. Add any lease if the house is rented, probate or estate papers if you inherited it, HOA contacts, and receipts or permits for work done on the house. Having these ready early prevents surprises at closing.
What to have handy
- A recent mortgage statement, so escrow can order the exact payoff from your lender.
- Your latest property tax statement, which shows whether anything is still owed.
- Any lien, judgment or tax notice you've received, so it can be paid from the sale.
- The lease and deposit records, if a tenant lives there.
- The court's letters naming the personal representative, if the house is in an estate.
- Permits, repair receipts and any inspection reports you already have.
- The HOA's name, its contact and the latest dues statement, if there is an HOA.
If a lien or back taxes are part of the picture, the guide to selling a house with liens explains how those get paid off from the proceeds at closing.
What should you check before signing with any buyer?
Check who the buyer is, whether they hold a real estate license, which title and escrow company will close, how much earnest money they'll put down and when, and whether the offer depends on an inspection or a loan. Read the whole contract, and don't sign anything on the first visit.
In Washington you can look up any real estate licensee on the Department of Licensing website, and a licensee who buys property for their own account has to tell you in writing that they're licensed (RCW 18.85.361). Be careful with a buyer who won't name a title company.
The full set of questions to ask, with what a good answer sounds like, is on the page about who you're dealing with.
Be wary of anyone who asks you to deed the house over before closing. The deed is signed at escrow and recorded by the county.
Do you need to disclose problems you don't fix?
Yes, you do in most Washington home sales. The seller fills out the state's disclosure statement, known as Form 17, covering what they know about the roof, water, systems, permits and more. Selling as-is doesn't exempt you, and the form goes to the buyer within five business days of mutual acceptance unless the contract sets another time.
The buyer then has three business days after receiving it to rescind (RCW 64.06.030). A few sales are exempt from the form, including foreclosures and deeds in lieu, sales by the personal representative of an estate, sales by a bankruptcy trustee, and sales where the buyer expressly waives it (RCW 64.06.010). Selling as-is is not on that list.
Houses built before 1978 add the federal lead-based paint disclosure. You share any lead hazards you know about and hand the buyer the EPA's pamphlet.
Disclosing a problem and fixing it are two different things. You can list the leaking skylight on the form and still sell the house as it is, with the price reflecting it. What gets sellers in trouble is leaving a known problem off. There's more on how selling a house as-is works, including what a cash buyer takes on.
Sources
- Chapter 64.06 RCW, Washington seller disclosure (Form 17)checked
- RCW 64.06.010, sales exempt from the seller disclosurechecked
- RCW 64.06.030, delivery of the disclosure and the buyer's right to rescindchecked
- RCW 18.85.361, licensee conduct (subsection 21: written disclosure of a license when buying or selling)checked
- Washington Department of Licensing, license lookupchecked
- US EPA, lead-based paint disclosure for home saleschecked
- Redfin Data Center, city and county market tracker (all residential, monthly)checked
