When buyers evaluate homes they might want to buy, one thing that often comes up is the energy efficiency (or lack thereof) of a particular home. A savvy buyer wants to make sure they know the full cost of owning the home they choose, and even if the purchase price is affordable, there is more to be considered.
Will the winter heat bills all of a sudden blow up their budget? Is the house well insulated or are they going to be feeling drafts the moment summer is over? Is the furnace old and inefficient?
Yes, the smart buyers do ask these questions. A common request from a really serious buyer is to review the recent power bills for the last year. Certainly each family has a unique lifestyle so that if the current owners of the house are a family of five, with three teenage girls, and the elderly mother of one spouse, their power bill may be higher than the single person considering buying.
But if you already hate your power bills at the house you are selling, it may be well worth the time to investigate if there are easy ways to improve things - for you and your potential buyers. You may want to start with scheduling an energy evaluation to see where you could make improvements that make sense for the length of time you intend to own the house (ie some improvements are pretty costly on the front end and you might need to stay in the house for years to see the payback equal out). But adding some insulation, sealing up areas around doors and windows, installing a programmable thermostat, getting your furnace serviced for top efficiency - these may be very low cost/high benefit kinds of things to consider.
Your buyers will be much less nervous if your power bills are not through the roof - and you will enjoy the savings until you do sell!
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