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As a responsible homeowner, home maintenance should be at the top of your list of important things to do. However, with a busy life and a lot to manage, certain home-maintenance tasks can be easily disregarded. While there are some things you may be able to get away with for a while, there are certain neglectful actions that can really hurt when you decide to sell your home.
There's a massive difference between what maintenance costs for an HVAC system and the cost of replacement. Since the HVAC system is one of the main operating units in the home, it is often one of the first things a buyer will want to know about. General maintenance checks by a professional technician will only cost you between $80 and $150; full-on replacement can be as much as $5,900 or more depending on the model. Buyers tend to shy away from homes that need major investments right after purchase, so do your part to properly maintain the unit.
The windows bear a lot of responsibility in a home. They are openings for natural light, they (should) keep the cold and heat out and give dwellers a good view of the outside world. Windows should open and close freely, be efficient and be an attractive part of the house. Even something as simple as dirty windows can cause problems when a prospect visits the home for the first time. If the house gets inspected professionally by a prospect, they will check for:
If you've neglected your windows for a while, it is best to pick a day and whip them into shape—right down to cleaning the glass until its crystal clear.
The gutters of a home are such a small, easy-to-neglect thing, but their purpose is oh-so-important. If one of your gutters is not draining, for example, it can allow water to slip down into the spaces between the exterior cladding and the interior walls. Issues with rot are common due to this simple act of neglect, and it is definitely an issue a home inspector will notice.
The more well-prepared your home is for the market, and the better it is maintained, the higher your asking price can be and look logical to prospects. Working with an experienced real estate agent right from the beginning will help you get your home prepared properly. Reach out to an agent to get industry insight into what helps and hurts a home for sale.
I'm John Mahan, Sales Associate with William Raveis Real Estate, Harwich Port Office.
Throughout his childhood, John Mahan spent summers on Cape Cod at his parents’ home in Dennis Port. His intro to the Cape was, as he puts it, when his parents “carried me down the stairs at Sea Street Beach when I was a week old.” With a lifelong connection to Cape Cod, it seemed only natural for John and his wife, Mary, to move to Harwich – where they still reside – with their two young children in 1996.
Prior to moving to Cape Cod, John lived in the Worcester-Auburn area where he worked for Mass Electric for 10 years and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Utility Workers. When John and his family moved to the Cape, he worked at NSTAR for six years.
John began his career in real estate in 2002 when he joined Team Waystack Realty in Harwich Port. He has been a consistent top producing realtor in the Harwich area for the past 20 years. John’s approachable demeanor, combined with an integral understanding of the Cape Cod residential real estate market, have allowed him to build trusting, long-term relationships with his clients – both sellers and buyers.
