As a homeowner, no one could tell you what to do, really, with your house. You could either make use of your place until it rots and give it up or enjoy every every moment as years pass by, keeping it pristine and neat, as you had it when you first got the property. No one could do or initiate the repairs and upkeep for you except for yourself– well, that is if you are renting as there would always be the landlord whom you can rely on for some fixes.
Whitney Bennett in her article on the website Landmark Home Warranty gave us the idea and rationale why repairs and maintenance are needed.
While it’s true, maintenance takes some money, dedication and hard work, in the long run you save much more money than if you didn’t do maintenance. Why is this? According to Your Money: the Missing Manual, for every dollar you spend on preventative maintenance around the home, you save approximately $100 in future repairs. That’s because taking care of small problems now (a dirty filter or clogged drain) makes it so you don’t have the problem worsen over time and develop into a larger issue (a burned out HVAC motor or burst pipe.) Those bigger problems that tend to crop up after not maintaining a home cost significantly more than a new furnace filter every month or so.
Home Maintenance Keeps Your Home Running Efficiently
The worst part of maintenance is that it’s just that: maintenance. It requires completing a task over and over again, and often, to provide upkeep for your home’s working parts. It’s just like sweeping the kitchen floor; you have to keep sweeping it every week or so to keep it clean. If you didn’t, imagine the state of the floor! Now think about how often you clean our your dishwasher’s filter or unclog your bathroom drain … probably not as often as you sweep the floor, correct? Yet you probably use them almost as often as you use the floor.
Home Maintenance Increases your Home’s Value
When you drive a new car off of the lot, it immediately drops in value. The resale value decreases the longer you drive the car and the older it becomes. This principle doesn’t work the same for a home. In fact, the longer you own a home, the more you could increase its worth. Of course, home values have to do with the market and not solely what you do to the house, but you can still have a direct effect on your home’s value by maintaining your house.
Home Warranties and Home Maintenance
Home warranties and home insurance don’t generally cover for breakdowns caused by lack of maintenance. You’d be hard-pressed to find a home insurance company that would cover for flooding in your attic or roof if it turns out you never cleaned out your gutters, which caused the flood. The same principle applies to a home warranty: if you never changed the filters for a year on your HVAC system and the fan burned out from too much strain, a home warranty generally wouldn’t cover the repairs or replacement. Why does a home warranty make you maintain your systems/appliances? You have to complete maintenance on your systems and appliances in order to keep them in good working condition and to extend their lifespans. Most home warranty companies only repair or replace systems and appliances if the homeowner has tried to maintain them. Full article here.
While the list above is ideally the rationale why we need to do repairs and maintenance, but what if we already over-looked at them already and problems already persisted?
Gladly, Architectural Digest through its article by Jennifer Fernandez gave us the needed hope in this times of maintenance trouble and get your home back on track!
1. Be proactive. According to a recent survey commissioned by Liberty Mutual Insurance, 30 percent of American homeowners are not maintaining systems in their homes on a regular basis. In fact, 24 percent admit that they are often behind schedule when it comes to routine home maintenance. “Proper home maintenance really is a year-round job, but in the fall, before the temperatures drop, it is the perfect time to take care of winterizing the outside of your home,” says Wade. “Keep your gutters clear so you don’t have water blockage issues later on.”
2. Get in a routine. “Every six months, seal your natural stone countertops and tile, especially in your kitchen. Make sure you clean your icemaker and check the service manual for the maintenance schedule on all kitchen appliances (usually refrigerators will need it). And replace the batteries of all of your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.”
3. In fact, six is the magic number. “Walk around your property (inside and outside) every six months—put a calendar reminder in your phone to help you remember. During the walk, make sure to look at all openings like doors and windows, attic vents, etc., inspecting for signs of decay or intrusion. Look at your electric, gas, and water bills from the previous year and cross-reference them with current bills to see if there may be something draining your resources. Also be sure to check all your plumbing fixtures and under-cabinet locations for slow leaks.” Read full article here.
Ideally, the reason why most keep their houses well maintained is to keep, and probably increase, its value. But just as said, most, not all. There are really some who would like to consider living in a property as using it just like any other commodity that would, as expected, eventually wears out. And when that time comes, you just simply sell it and get another one. Don’t worry, Dependable Homebuyers is just what you need in such time. We buy houses as is, any state!
Ideally, the reason why most keep their houses well maintained is to keep, and probably increase, its value. But just as said, most, not all. There are really some who would like to consider living in a property as using it just like any other commodity that would, as expected, eventually wears out. And when that time comes, you just simply sell it and get another one. Don’t worry, Dependable Homebuyers is just what you need in such time. We buy houses as is, any state!