Editor’s Note: Our featured VV&W agent for May is Julie Lockwood. Here, she discusses the best ROI for your home: regular maintenance and checkups.
Imagine you own a home. Over your lifetime, it will be your second largest investment after your babies (or fur babies). With this in mind, it makes sense to take care of it. I am often asked “what is the best return on investment for a home?” Paint? Landscaping? A new front door? New windows? You can find many reports such as this one from the National Association of Realtors that show the best ROI for a home, but my answer is a little simpler.
Handle with Care. Many people who own a home simply do not do the regular maintenance to take care of it. You take your little one on “well baby” visits. Your home needs those too. Regular maintenance on the HVAC units, termite inspections, and gutter/roof checks are very important.
Annual service on your HVAC unit is vital for extending the life of the unit. Make sure to change out your return air filter monthly and have your unit cleaned. I try to have mine serviced before summer to make sure the unit is clean, all the ductwork is secure, and the condensate line is draining properly. You may not even know what a condensate line is, but if its not draining—that’s bad.
Water may be the gift of life but it can do a doozy on your home. Throughout my career selling real estate, it usually is the root of trouble for many home issues. Make sure to keep gutters cleaned out and downspouts attached to extensions or French drain extenders – keeping water away from a home’s foundation. Standing water in a crawlspace or around the base of your home can create problems down the road. Check under sinks or on ice maker lines for leaks or active water issues. When getting your annual home termite inspection, give the technician a little extra money to double check and make sure you don’t have any active plumbing leaks in your crawlspace or basement. Watch your utility bill’s water usage and make sure you don’t see a spike in water usage history. This can also indicate you may have a leak somewhere in one of your water lines.
By learning to be a pro-active home owner, you will learn your home’s quirks so you can react faster when problems arise.