Almost every home owner knows that putting a little work into a house before it goes up on the market can both decrease the time it sits on the market and increase the potential sale amount. Some people have taken this concept to the next level, making a living by purchasing foreclosed homes or properties in disrepair and fixing them up to sell them at a huge profit.
There are lots of home improvement ideas you can carry out yourself, but there are always a few that need to be left to the experts. Some repairs on your home shouldn't be done by even the most committed do-it-yourselfer. This may be due to safety reasons or the complications of the job. Regardless, here are a few of the jobs you should call someone to do instead of taking it on on your own.
Roofing
Get your nail gun, buy some shingles, go up a ladder. How hard can it be?
Plenty hard, that's how hard! Roofs are some of the most complicated pieces of engineering on a house. You have to worry about proper ventilation, exact nailing, insulation, radiant barriers, and a slew of other aspects. Call an expert if you need to fix up the roof on some real estate.
New Plumbing
A lot of home owners try to put in their own bathrooms, only to realize it's a jungle under the concrete! Some homes for sale have not only the immediate area under the house to worry about, but the complex network of pipes and wires which run throughout as well. You may be able to dig the necessary holes yourself and maybe even install fixtures, but make sure you at least consult a plumber before hooking everything up.
Electrical Systems
If you're going to sell rentals, the management company will probably not let you fix up the electricity on your own. That's good news. The bad news is that the owner of the detached home does not have similar restrictions, and may end up botching the job.
Doing your own electrical is dangerous, of course, as well as complicated. You have to be able to read the electrical blueprints, and differentiate between those 240V and 120V lines (the big difference being, one causes death.) Not only that, you have to hook everything up so the system stays within capacity. Contact a professional to do your wiring!
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