Introduction: 3 Tips on How to Sell Your Ugly House

About: A life hacker and DIYer.

If your house is something of an eyesore, you can still sell it. When you don’t have the funds to fix up your fixer-upper, all isn’t lost. Perhaps you're broke or rushed, and you don't have the time or money to make home improvements. Maybe even hiring a cleaning crew to scrub down your home seems like a financial reach. You just simply need to sell your not-so-awesome house. Here’s how:

Step 1: Money Talks and Don’t Assume the Worst

Money Talks - You have to sell the house you have but you'll almost certainly have to sell it for less than you could have otherwise.So as bad as your home may seem, it's probably not unsellable. But you will have to lower the price.If you have repairs, and you can calculate what it would cost to repair your roof or paint the walls, simply subtract the cost of the repairs from what the value of the home would be if the repairs were not needed. Buyers will still want enough of a discount to cover the renovations. Those buyers are going to have to spend time finding the right contractor they need, and the buyer doesn't know if there will be additional, unexpected costs related to the repairs.List it low enough that those repairs are taken into account, but with enough wiggle room to offer a further discount so the buyer will feel that it's worth taking on the project.

Don't assume the worst - You may feel like you would never buy your home in its current state, and therefore, nobody else would either but your real estate agent may not see this as a big deal. What you should worry about are the major issues like structural damage, water damage and drywall problems. So if the house isn't falling apart, you're probably going to get a decent price relative to the area – just not top dollar.

Step 2: Focus on the Best and Be Transparent

Focus on the best - Work on making the best parts of your home even better. Make sure the grass is cut,the outside is at its best and you should want anyone interested in buying your home to see the possibilities. Make the home great in the areas you can make an impact.

Be transparent - If you're giving your buyer a tour, don't deny the obvious and never attempt to pretend. Trying to downplay it makes you look shifty but you can turn a negative into a positive. You just have to be creative.

Step 3: Clean and Remove a Lot of Furniture

Clean–Maybe you can't hire a professional cleaner, but you can push up your sleeves and try to clean it yourself as best you can.Buy some bleach and get rid of smells and odors and goal out with your cleaning. Shampoo the carpets and wash the walls. Do everything you can to present your home in the best condition possible.Buy some garbage bags and get rid of clutter, trash and excess of any kind. Buyers want to imagine themselves living in the home, which is tough to do with mountains of garbage everywhere.Go outside and do everything you can do to make the yard look better. Trim trees and do landscaping yourself. Spruce up the yard, mow the grass and pick up dead leaves, sweep and wash down the house. Straighten out the exterior and clean up the garage.Check the cabinets and organize the drawers and wipe down cabinets, spruce up closets and fold up towels because buyers open cabinets and look through drawers.

Remove a lot of furniture - Get rid of all the clutter and excess and leave only the essential pieces of furniture in each room then clean and scrub everything from top to bottom. Even if the place isn't in great condition, if it's at least spotlessly clean, it will be more attractive to a buyer.Staged homes usually work better because buyers don't have much imagination, and an empty room forces the buyer to work hard to imagine their furniture and belongings in the room.And try to be confident. Almost any house, as long as it's safe to live in, is likely to be sold.