What If You Have Deferred Maintenance But You Have To Sell Your Home?

If your home has serious deferred maintenance issues but you must sell you have a serious dilemma on your hands. Don’t kid yourself for a minute, the maintenance issues will cost you with buyers. Funds to create the changes needed might not be there or be hard to come by. This post will give you some ideas to help you get the most money for your home when you have to sell.

Common Maintenance issues:

Wood rot on eaves beams and decks - sand, stain or paint use wood repair filler if feasible.
Maintenance on the HVAC system – sometimes a good cleaning – filter change and service (usually under $100) will go a long way toward having the heat and cooling system pass inspection.
Water damaged cabinets (baths and kitchens) - replace floor of cabinets and/or re-stain or paint. This is not expensive and makes a very bad looking problem go away. Stains may be from household products and not water but replace them anyway. Water stains on front of cabinets from drips may possibly be polished away.
Remove items that cannot be repaired. Out of sight items cannot become an issue. If the pool heater is broken and you are not going to replace it, remove it. If the decorative fencing is rotten, get rid of it. Are most of your screens trashed? Get rid of all of them.

Worse Case Scenarios:

Don’t cover up or attempt to hide anything. This could get you sued after the sale.
If you can’t fix something obtain bids so that the repair cost number can be real – buyers will have the tendency to over inflate repair estimates. Having bids keeps the conversation on a level playing field.
Insurance – this is not a first choice for anyone but if your house has serious damage check with your insurance carrier to see about placing a claim for repairs.

Free Resources:

>Check with local vocational schools or community jobs organizations that may donate or offer low cost labor. They may do the work for a lower cost or no cost if they can use the property as a teaching project.
>Check with the city or town you live in there may be small grants or programs to help you beautify your property – any discounted or free products or supplies will really help you keep costs in check.
>Look for neighborhood organizations, they may have a yard cleanup day or even neighbors willing to donate labor/talent on a once year one time basis. For example Spring Clean ups.
>Many cities have a bi yearly or quarterly program to pick up large items, extra yard waste electronic waste etc. Use these to clean your property out to the best of your ability. Just being clean and neat can help your home look better cared for.

Home Warranty plan for Sellers: Check with your listing agent. In some areas of the country home warranty products are common place and buyers expect to receive this coverage when they purchase the home. What you may not know is that the plans have seller coverage as well. Usually on a per-diem basis while your home is on the market and in escrow. The rates for these plans are typically very reasonable ($50 a month) and can cover unexpected systems failures and problems while the home is being sold. Best of all they typically are paid out of closing funds and do not require up-front payment.

Don't lose thousands to save a little effort and a few hundred dollars. There are ways you can make any property look better and stand out to prospective buyers.

Home Warranty Can Save You Thousands

Common place in the Palm Springs market area is the home warranty. Usually paid for by the sellers it covers the buyers on the systems in the property for the first year of home ownership.

I usually recommend that you ask for and get one of these warranties. Whenever you are buying a new home it is an unknown quantity. You have no idea about the complexities of the systems. While a good home inspection can help you avoid making a costly decision up front, what about afterward? Machines are not infallible. Perfectly good equipment from a good manufacturer can fail suddenly. If it is no longer under warranty what do you do then?

The basic way the Home warranty plans work is that they cover repairs on your systems for a minimal service fee of around $50. That is regardless of the extent of the work performed. The advantage here is clear as most service calls these days start around $75.

I have had several clients who had new AC systems installed and water heater tanks. Repairs that would have meant thousands of dollars of out-of-pocket expenses all covered by the Home Warranty plan.

In the climate we enjoy in Palm Springs pool equipment and air conditioning equipment is essential to our way of life. Having those major systems covered, is worth it, to me to keep a home warranty plan in force.

A couple of important points to understand:

Home Warranty service is not done on an emergency basis. You have to schedule appointments during regular business hours

Home warranty will not replace your regular homeowners insurance but it may complement it so always check with them for coverage questions.

After the first year of service you will have the option to renew the plan or you may go with another company.

Often times home warranty companies have agreements with major appliance retailers and you can get a discount on new appliances/ home improvement projects if you are considering those.

Listed below are two companies who have provided good service to my clients in the past. Please feel free to contact me if you have any more questions or need more information.