How to Keep Your Home in Tip Top Shape

Ways to keep your home in like-new condition

Your home is your single-largest investment for the future. Like most American homeowners, you’re probably counting on the equity in your home to help with your retirement, help put your children through college, and help with other major life expenses. You have a very real financial stake in ensuring that your home retains its value and continues to serve as your proverbial “nest egg.” To do this, you need to keep your home in its best-possible condition.

In this article, we’ll review how you should approach home maintenance and upkeep. Finding out more about your home’s condition by scheduling a professional home inspection can provide you with valuable information in order to prioritize major repair projects.

Create an effective home maintenance budget

These days, it feels like your household budget is getting pulled in a thousand different directions. Consequently, saving money is tough for many families, and any “rainy day” accounts tend to get raided when emergencies come up. Yet, a home maintenance budget and savings account is a critical part of owning a home, and can help pay for the costs of such home emergencies. Homeowners should establish a reserved pool of money to pay for their home’s maintenance needs.

The traditional rule of thumb is that at least 1-2% of the home’s value should be set aside in savings to pay for future repairs and replacement, as well as monthly upkeep. However, adjusting your annual savings to account for things like the age of your home, the climate where you live, and the size of your home is recommended.

When in doubt, always save more if you can. No homeowner has ever been at the point where they had too much saved up for their home. If nothing else, the extra money can be used to pay for “big-ticket” projects in cash instead of financing, like buying a new roof or air conditioner.

Invest in preventative maintenance

There’s a reason they call it “preventative” maintenance. With the right upkeep and care, you can avoid many potentially expensive and stressful situations.

Take your air conditioner, for instance. HVAC maintenance is essential. Without an annual tune-up from a licensed technician, your air conditioner is more likely to break down, work inefficiently, or ineffectively cool your home. The cost of a spring tune-up is often far less than repairing a major component or even replacing the air conditioner altogether. In other words, a penny spent on proactive upkeep can equate to many dollars saved down the road. As an added bonus, annual HVAC tune-ups can reduce the total wear-and-tear on your system, helping it live a longer and more effective life.

What are the benefits of keeping your home in good condition?

One of the biggest pitfalls many homeowners face when they go to sell their home is the buyer’s home inspection process. If the buyer’s inspector discovers a major defect or issue with your home—such as a failing roof, or HVAC system—it could either derail your sale or lead to the buyer renegotiating the asking price. Needless to say, the negotiation process can be messy, and you’re better off avoiding it entirely, if possible.

One way to remove the threat and/or stress of a poor buyer’s home inspection report is to proactively schedule your own home inspection ahead of the sale. This is called a pre-listing home inspection, or seller’s home inspection, and allows you to find about any issues with your home prior to listing it. This way, you can develop a plan to either address any problems prior to the sale, or disclose any issues to the buyer ahead of time. In other words, a pre-listing home inspection gives you information, and information gives you options.

Even if you’re not planning on selling your home in the near future, scheduling a professional home inspection might still be a good idea. Home inspections can reveal potential issues long before they threaten your home. A detailed inspection report can provide you with an easy “punch list” of upgrades and repairs that need to be completed, color-coded by priority and urgency. For homeowners interested in keeping their home in like-new condition, a home inspection offers an excellent starting point.

To read even more tips for keeping your home in its best-possible condition, be sure to take a look at the infographic below. It has helpful details about how much you should set aside for home maintenance and repairs every year.