There used to be this national name brand oil filter company that said, "Pay me now or pay me later." Essentially if you didn't change out that oil filter regularly (with theirs) in your car, well, you'd find that rust bucket engine of yours frozen up at some point. And then that cheap ten buck filter looks pretty high value in hindsight. But also,

Pay Me Now Or Pay Me Later Applies to Home Maintenance.

• Why do we or our homeowner clients defer maintenance at times? A myriad of reasons when you think about it.

Time /Commitment/Focus - we just don't apply ourselves, as other things take priority or we are distracted.

Money - we have concluded we don't have the funds for the project(s).

Laziness - this is more common than you think.

Lack of Knowledge - we don't have ladders to repair the roof, are not good at painting, don't know how to replace light fixtures high up on the ceiling, etc.

Energy - our lack of energy in particular, particularly true of the elderly. They are worrying about getting the right presciption medications taken today.

So a suggestion for all you Realtors and perhaps home inspectors cycling through your sphere of influence on a followup regular basis. Mention handymen, painters, roofers, foundation repair, lawn sprinkler repair people, fence installers, etc. along the way.

Everyone needs all of them and more. You can say if maintenance is done along the way you don't end up losing value in your home and worst case selling as is. They may listen to you, or not. But be the conduit of resources for people to NOT have them fall into that pay you now or pay you later trap.

Paying you later is a huge financial, energy, time, and wall of a monster headache none of us want. Serve your fellow man. Boost them along during the journey.