the market or not selling at all. Every month the home sits on the market costs mortgage payments, taxes, insurance, lost opportunity cost as to what can be done with the money from the sale, additional damage and costs from a leaky roof and so on. You can't ignore necessary repairs that a home inspector would red-flag or a mortgage company would demand repaired before issuing a loan to a buyer. If you accept a contract from a buyer that is going through FHA or VA for the financing, there are many inspection issues that could prevent the lender from approving the loan. If major problems, such as a leaking roof or outdated electrical wiring exist, you may want or even need to repair those items before putting your home on the market. Ignoring those items could result in much lower offers, additional sales concessions to a buyer or not even being able to get the home sold in a timely fashion. You also want to avoid getting a contract on the home only to have the deal fall apart due to these deficiencies. This would then require you to put the home back on the market. This can be a huge red flag to the second set of buyers coming to see the home as they will know a deal already fell apart. The "what caused the deal to fall apart" stigma can certainly make buyers think something is wrong with the home causing them to stay away or make even lower offers. As the time on the market continues to "tick" the more stigmatized the home becomes. The "why hasn't the home sold yet - there must be something wrong with it" stigma starts to kick in as well.
STARTING WITH THE B G WITH THE BASICS
Every listed home should meet the basic expectations of any buyer. It should have a sound roof, functioning gutters and downspouts, foundation without cracks (or that have been professionally repaired), functioning heating and/or air- conditioning systems, solid subflooring, safe and secure electrical
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