Can You Sell a House With Old Windows?

damaged windows of house

It is good practice to inventory a house’s shortcomings before listing it for sale. This helps when it’s time to stage the house because you can take care of minor issues that might unnecessarily drive away potential buyers or reduce your potential buyer pool.

Windows are the first thing buyers see during their first encounter with the house and will greatly shape their opinion.

Consequently, many home sellers opt for replacement windows before listing their houses, hoping to sell them faster for more money. Many real estate advisors support the practice to the extent that you wonder if you can sell a house with old windows anymore.

If you are contemplating the decision, we assure you that you can sell a house with old windows in this market. You just have to time it right and target the right buyer to make the transaction worth it.

The house may not sell as fast as it would with newer windows, though, and you should expect negotiations from buyers who want discounts depending on the state of the current home windows. We are about to show you how to navigate these murky waters.

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Why Would You Sell a House With Old Windows?

Lack of Funds for Window Replacement

The financial burden of the estimated cost of window replacement sometimes exceeds what your pre-listing improvement funds and savings can bear.

You may not be able to finance the project when the listing is due, yet you need to sell the house urgently for one reason or another. This leaves you no option but to list the house and hope for a good offer.

Don’t let the listing stay on the market for too long, as this harms its chances of getting a potential buyer instead of improving the odds. There are specialist house buyers that you can consider if you need to get the house with old windows off your hands urgently.

They will give a cash offer and expedite the sale because it doesn’t have to go through a real estate agent or a mortgage approval process.

When the Cost of Replacement Windows Outweighs the Perceived Value Addition

You typically replace windows before selling the house to make the house more competitive in the housing market. Sometimes the value addition courtesy of new windows is not very significant. The house’s design might force you to replace the windows with somewhat similar windows such that the difference is minimal.

The location’s weather conditions may also be moderate to the extent that window improvements such as improved insulation and energy savings don’t make a huge difference to typical buyers. This doesn’t mean the cost of buying modern windows also goes down.

This cost might not be justifiable when you consider the house’s prevailing market price. It doesn’t make financial sense to use $10,000 to replace the windows if you can sell the house with its current windows at only $2,000 below the market price.

In the Middle of a Seller’s Market

In such a market, the demand for housing outweighs the number of available houses. You will be receiving competing bids for the house. This pushes the market price above the appraised value of the house, and you can break even or even make a profit without having to replace the windows.

The home buyer will be willing to undertake most renovations at their cost, provided they secure the property.

house with old windows

Why You Should Replace Old Windows Before Selling Your House

Old windows can turn away buyers looking for a house ready for moving in or make them reluctant to pay the full asking price. As soon as they realize they might have to change or modify the windows immediately after moving in, their enthusiasm dips, and they may even lose interest completely.

Here are some instances where a new set of windows is necessary to successfully stage the house and retain the buyer’s attention after the viewing or the inspection.

When the Existing Windows Are Defective

The buyer or their inspector will note these eyesores on their first visit. If the locks, springs and latches are not working, they know they will have to fix them immediately, which usually doesn’t sit well with them. Broken glass is even more pronounced and might send them packing or change their attitude towards the house, exposing you to further scrutiny.

You can fix these minor problems and leave the windows intact for the buyer to decide. There are chances that some old parts will be obsolete and no longer available in the market, though. Replacing the entire window can be your best bet in this instance.

If the Windows Are Porous

Buyers will shy away from windows that let drafts pass through because they lower the efficiency of their heating system by letting out the heat or letting the cold in when the opposite is desired.

A good number of old windows were not designed to be heat efficient. Sometimes the existing windows were originally heat efficient, but the weatherproofing is worn out, or the settling of the house has caused some gaps to develop over the years.

One method of addressing the problem of drafty windows is replacing the entire window with a new one whose dimensions fit snugly within the slot in a house that is already settled.

How Does Replacing Windows Add Value to a House?

Installing new windows before selling the house improves the façade and creates an avenue for making enhancements that will increase the house’s appeal from the buyers’ perspective and, by extension, its market value. It enhances the value in many ways.

Upgraded Aesthetic Appeal

The buyer’s first impression when they look at the home plays a big role in how the rest of the discussion will go. A house that looks good from the outside gets more traffic in terms of physical home viewers and online traffic to the listing. Windows contribute a large percentage of the attributes that make a house visually appealing.

Optimization of Energy Consumption

The type of windows installed determines the level of insulation the house can achieve. The extent to which this will influence the buyer’s decision is also dependent on the house’s location and how much the residents will have to rely on a heating system.

Insulated windows can help you save hundreds of dollars every year from heating costs alone. Savvy buyers can identify the energy-saving upgrades right from the description on your listing; this makes them an excellent selling point.

Casement windows, for instance, can be a good replacement for double-hung windows to combat air leaks. Some windows have special coatings that allow the sun in but block UV light transmission through the glass. This aids in regulating the heat, reduces reliance on air conditioning, and allows access to natural sunlight and heating.

There are other bonus benefits of insulated windows, which will warm potential buyers to the idea of living in the house. The assurance that they will be permanently protected from excessive or cumulative exposure to UV rays and their related problems like skin damage and premature aging, skin cancers or eye damage is one of them. Their furnishings will also be spared the aging effect of the sun.

It Provides an Opportunity to Soundproof the House

When installing new windows, the contractor will cover up all cracks and openings through which sound might have been getting into and out of the house previously. They will also replace or fortify the weatherproofing, reinforcing the sound barrier separating the outside from the inside.

Suppose the house is located in a noisy neighborhood or the prospective buyers are recording artists who want to contain their activities inside. In that case, this is where the installation of double-and triple-pane windows will make your property stand out from the rest.

New Windows Render the House Ready to Move-In

When the windows are new and efficient, the buyer will not have to incur the cost of renovating them after the closing. Most buyers prefer not to spend money renovating their new house. They are also wary about the unknown cost of replacing windows, considering they will be recovering from a move themselves.

When windows are replaced the right way, the house’s market value grows, and so does the equity the new owner will purchase. They will feel like they are getting real value for their money which increases your chances of getting your asking price or even higher if competing bidders exist.

Is the Cost of Replacing Windows Before Selling a House Worth It?

Window replacement can be expensive given the wide range of available options and depending on the scope of work required. Some home designs also limit the number of applicable options, forcing you to buy expensive windows to retain the aesthetic value.

Before you embark on the project, it is good practice to weigh the value addition and gains from improved efficiency against the project’s cost. There are situations where it is financially sound to lower the asking price or offer a discount to replace the windows.

Optimizing the Old Windows

You don’t have to replace all the windows. There are ways to enhance their functionality and relevance so that they are more appealing to a larger segment of your target market. This approach will save you a lot of change, especially when the existing windows are already modern. Fixing flaws is cheaper than a complete overhaul.

Replacing Specific Windows

The problem with the windows might not be common to all of them; it can be one or two of them that are cracked, foggy, damaged or failing in one aspect or another. Using this approach, you only replace the targeted windows

Accessorizing the Windows With Energy-Efficient Solar Films

Applying a solar film gives old windows the much-needed energy efficiency inbuilt into new windows. It also enables them to block UV rays, something old window designs could not do.

Fortify the Windows’ Weatherstripping

Air leaks are an important part of buyers’ home inspectors’ checklists. Because weatherstripping wears out with time, it is important to replace it periodically, even when you are not planning to sell the house. It definitely improves the house’s score if it is airtight at the point of inspection.

Air leaks around windows and doors are one of the leading causes of energy loss in homes. Weather-stripping is a simple and inexpensive way to seal these gaps and improve your home’s comfort and energy efficiency.

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