Whether you are planning on selling your home, or buying a home, home maintenance will play a part in home evaluation. As a seller, it could affect how long your house is on market, how many offers you receive, and what you will net from sale. As a home buyer, clues will either turn a potential buyer away, cause them to make a lower offer if clues are negative, or make a closer to full price offer if the clues are positive!
So it's in both buyers and sellers best interest to pay attention to home maintenance clues.
So whether you are a seller or buyer, here are some home maintenance items that you should pay attention to. They are in no particular order.
(1) Air filters- check furnace and return ducts, and even exhaust hood over stove. (2) GFCI often called GFIs are Ground Fault Circuit Interupters (3) Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors (4) Fungus and mold- check interior and exterior (5) Missing, worn, or curled shingles (6) Attic venting and insulation (7) Washing machine hoses and dryer vents (8) Bathroom and kitchen vents (9) Standing water- outside check gutters, downspouts, splash blocks, drainage away from house. Inside, check basement, sump pump, cracks in concrete floor, walls, crawl spaces. (10) Siding & flashings (11) Masonry- cracks, spawling, mortar. (cracks in mortar joints don't always indicate a problem, especially in stone walls (12) Sidewalks, patio, driveways. (13) Chimneys - clean and inspect (14) Shrubbery and trees- are they rubbing against house? If so, trim them back before damage occurs (15) Crawl space foundation vents and access hole (16) Outside AC units- are the clean, hidden by overgrown shrubs, clogged with grass clippings? (17) Water heater- venting, age, is it drained regularly? Well water can require more frequent drainings. (18) Furnace- has there been any maintenance or repairs? (19) Weather stripping- check all doors and windows. Open and close each one. (20) Exterior hose bibs- Are they frost free or do they have a shut off valve inside?
There are many more clues that will indicate whether or not a home has been well maintained, but these are a good start for things to observe for buyers and sellers.
Home Maintenance is Nothing New and Shouldn't be Ignored
Jeff Pearl / Lic in VA
Remax Distinctive - McLean VA
703-727-4876
Homes / Land / Farms / Historic
Equal Housing
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