{"id":2519,"date":"2026-01-20T01:30:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T09:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=2519"},"modified":"2026-01-22T19:34:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T03:34:24","slug":"what-to-fix-before-selling-a-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-to-fix-before-selling-a-house\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Focus on the Right Fixes Before Selling Your House"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019ve lived with your home\u2019s quirks for years: The toilet handle that needs jiggling after every flush. The electrical outlets that haven\u2019t worked in a decade. That red accent wall in the living room that\u2019s more dated than dramatic. Now that you\u2019re putting it on the market, you see these imperfections through the eyes of potential buyers, thinking about what to fix before selling a house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"geo-cta widget-cta widget-cta--content     widget-cta--dark widget-cta--dark-blue-gradient\">\n    <div class=\"widget-element--content\">\n        <div class=\"widget-element--content-header\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"homelight logo\" class=\"widget-element--logo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/themes\/ccprototypev5\/images\/logo-small-cta.png\" width=\"106\" height=\"25\" \/>\n        <\/div>\n        \n                <h3 class=\"cta-headline widget--bold\">Connect with a Top Agent<\/h3>\n                        <p>Top agents have the experience to help clients identify which repairs and upgrades to prioritize when selling a house. Our agent matching platform connects clients with top-performing agents in their area, who are more likely to sell homes faster and for more money.<\/p>\n        \n                <div class=\"widget-element--buttons\">\n            <a data-type=\"In Content CTA\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/find-agent\/quiz\/seller?#\/qaas=0\/\" class=\"cta-click-track widget-element--button\">Find Agent<\/a>\n        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>You wonder what they\u2019ll overlook \u2014 and what might be deal breakers if you ignore them.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take a look at what to fix before selling a house, and the equally important matter of what not to fix so you can avoid going overboard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getting your house ready to sell can seem overwhelming. Here\u2019s how to focus on what to fix before selling a house.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":277,"featured_media":45447,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[320,332,234],"tags":[491,315],"class_list":["post-2519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-add-value","category-maintenance","category-home-improvement","tag-basics","tag-what-to-fix-before-selling-a-house"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What to Fix Before Selling a House: Big Repairs, Kitchen, Curb Appeal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Getting your house ready to sell can seem overwhelming. Here\u2019s how to focus on what to fix before selling a house.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-to-fix-before-selling-a-house\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Focus on the Right Fixes Before Selling Your House\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getting your house ready to sell can seem overwhelming. Here\u2019s how to focus on what to fix before selling a house.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-to-fix-before-selling-a-house\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HomeLight Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-20T09:30:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-23T03:34:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hl-blog.homelight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Untitled-design-2024-07-09T003543.634.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"563\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dorothy O&#039;Donnell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dorothy O&#039;Donnell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"12 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What to Fix Before Selling a House: Big Repairs, Kitchen, Curb Appeal","description":"Getting your house ready to sell can seem overwhelming. Here\u2019s how to focus on what to fix before selling a house.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-to-fix-before-selling-a-house\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Focus on the Right Fixes Before Selling Your House","og_description":"Getting your house ready to sell can seem overwhelming. Here\u2019s how to focus on what to fix before selling a house.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-to-fix-before-selling-a-house\/","og_site_name":"HomeLight Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/","article_published_time":"2026-01-20T09:30:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-23T03:34:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":563,"url":"https:\/\/hl-blog.homelight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Untitled-design-2024-07-09T003543.634.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Dorothy O'Donnell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@gohomelight","twitter_site":"@gohomelight","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dorothy O'Donnell","Est. reading time":"12 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-to-fix-before-selling-a-house\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-to-fix-before-selling-a-house\/"},"author":{"name":"Dorothy O'Donnell","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5aaeec55492b6a6afc45fbeaab574f87"},"headline":"How to Focus on the Right Fixes Before Selling Your House","datePublished":"2026-01-20T09:30:04+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-23T03:34:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-to-fix-before-selling-a-house\/"},"wordCount":129,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-to-fix-before-selling-a-house\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Untitled-design-2024-07-09T003543.634.png","keywords":["basics","What to Fix Before Selling a House"],"articleSection":["Add Value","Simple Maintenance","What upgrades increase home value?"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-to-fix-before-selling-a-house\/","url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-to-fix-before-selling-a-house\/","name":"What to Fix Before Selling a House: Big Repairs, Kitchen, Curb Appeal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-to-fix-before-selling-a-house\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-to-fix-before-selling-a-house\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Untitled-design-2024-07-09T003543.634.png","datePublished":"2026-01-20T09:30:04+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-23T03:34:24+00:00","description":"Getting your house ready to sell can seem overwhelming. Here\u2019s how to focus on what to fix before selling a house.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-to-fix-before-selling-a-house\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-to-fix-before-selling-a-house\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-to-fix-before-selling-a-house\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Untitled-design-2024-07-09T003543.634.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Untitled-design-2024-07-09T003543.634.png","width":1000,"height":563,"caption":"Source: (Bernie Almanzar \/ Unsplash)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-to-fix-before-selling-a-house\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Focus on the Right Fixes Before Selling Your House"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/","name":"HomeLight Blog","description":"Real Estate Advice from America&#039;s Top Agents","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"HomeLight","url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/logo-hr-color.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/logo-hr-color.png","width":1348,"height":262,"caption":"HomeLight"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/","https:\/\/x.com\/gohomelight","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/homelight\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCimugR9XF17-OZ7B9fNnxWw","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/HomeLight"],"description":"Everything you need to know to sell your house faster and for more money. Articles, guides, and advice from top agents all over the U.S.","email":"support@homelight.com","telephone":"(888) 688-0350","legalName":"HomeLight","foundingDate":"2012-01-01","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"201","maxValue":"500"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5aaeec55492b6a6afc45fbeaab574f87","name":"Dorothy O'Donnell","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/28d2ec858ae070980017822f08d8e4e30e0142f5b8fb77bda918ab1d1efe3278?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/28d2ec858ae070980017822f08d8e4e30e0142f5b8fb77bda918ab1d1efe3278?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Dorothy O'Donnell"},"description":"Dorothy O\u2019Donnell is a writer based in San Francisco. She covers lifestyle, travel, real estate and other topics for publications such as the Los Angeles Times and 7x7.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/dorothy-o-donnell-0a356999\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/author\/dorothy-odonnell\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/277"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}