With the arrival of 2012 has come our first Winter blast of cold here in the Northeast along single digit temperatures . It is a great time to remind everyone the importance of protecting your home from Winter damage as well as making your home easily accessible for Realtors to show it to potential buyers. Here are some safety tips for making your home weather safe.
Keep the heat on at least 55 to 60 degrees even if the house is vacant.The money it costs for fuel bills will be far less than the costs of water damage from frozen or broken pipes. If you happen to have oil or propane heat, make sure you are on a schedule for automatic refills.
Turn off hose bibs and disconnect garden hoses
Clean out leaders & gutters so that they don't overflow with ice in bad weather
Have your underground sprinklers winterized if you haven't done so already
If your home is vacant, consider having a licensed plumber winterize the home. They will take measures to drain the water from toilets, and water tanks to avoid pipes freezing should there be a power outage.
Make sure there are working outside lights for evening showings. If you can, have them go on with an automatic timer. It will allow realtors & buyers to gain entry for evening showings to your house safely in bad weather.
Make arrangements ahead of time to have someone automatically shovel snow & salt driveways & walkways to your home during bad weather.
Remember that buyers look at homes all year, not just in the Spring so the more inviting and accessible your home is, the more it will be shown and faster it will sell!
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