When it comes to real estate, the outside of your home is just as important as what’s inside. Even if you’re having trouble making ends meet, you probably will not want to depart with some of your household appliances because they make up part of your home’s classic décor. However, there are things that you do need to get rid of for this reason alone: outdated and broken pipes and HVAC equipment.
Homeowners cannot expect buyers to pay the full price for their homes because they have several baths or renovated kitchens. Anything inside the four walls must blend in with current style trends if a person wants them to appraise high enough or sell at all. While front faucets are expected within even the smallest studio apartment by today’s standards, the basement boiler might make some people consider an offer of a lower price.
You’d be surprised at how many sellers don’t pay attention to their plumbing and HVAC system before starting an open house. The systems that seem to be working perfectly fine become potential liabilities if they’re not fixed or updated before showing off your home to buyers. Here are several reasons why neglecting your plumbing and HVAC systems may cost you when selling your home:
It Can Hurt the Resale Value of Your Home
When a home buyer wants to purchase your property, they will do their due diligence and typically check the house inside and out. It might be great that you have just finished painting, but if your water heater is about to burst, then it won’t matter how nice everything else looks because that’s what everyone will remember. The same goes for any other issues, including the plumbing and HVAC systems. There are so many options available when buying a new home, especially online these days, where there has been a huge increase in foreclosures and short sales, so buyers don’t want to worry about anything breaking or not working properly while living in this home.
The property inspection is very important before closing on the house since it can reveal problems with the plumbing and HVAC systems that the buyers don’t want to deal with. If your house needs repairs or replacing, like water heater repair, then you should seriously consider doing this before selling. Not only will it increase the value, but buyers will also appreciate knowing these tasks have been taken care of at no cost to them.
If you do not address these issues, potential buyers may walk away from the house because they know they will be stuck with paying for expensive repairs once they move in. Not only that, but if anything goes wrong, it will lower their satisfaction about living in this home. It’s better to get this work done and sell your home for a nice profit than to neglect the plumbing and HVAC systems and possibly lose money on the deal.
You May Not Get a Chance to Sell Your House if It’s Plagued With Problems
Neglecting your home’s plumbing and HVAC systems may seem like a trivial issue when trying to sell your home. However, neglecting these key components will not only cause potential buyers to lose interest in buying your house but could also be extremely costly and dangerous if left unattended for too long.
In some cases, neglecting these issues may cause serious problems with mold growth inside your home walls that cannot be cleaned without damage or having to rebuild an entire wall of the home completely. In other cases, this type of negligence leads to broken water lines or pipes that could leak and cause extensive damage. In addition, unattended heating and cooling units could be the source of carbon monoxide, a colorless gas with no odor that can seep from vents throughout your home. Carbon monoxide poisoning can cause headaches and even death when left for extended periods in an enclosed space.
Buyers will not want to purchase these problems with your house because they want what you are selling: a place to call their own. If you sit back and ignore these issues while you wait for a buyer, you may lose out on the sale altogether since it would take additional resources and money to fix these things after placing the home on the market. You essentially would have wasted your time and money by delaying this inevitable situation.
When you neglect to call for regular HVAC and plumbing services regularly, they can do more damage to your property value than if you choose to fix these problems before placing the house on the market. If you sell your home while ignoring these issues, you are not only losing out on buyers but also potentially costing yourself thousands of dollars in repairs.
People buy homes because they want to feel comfortable in their own space without any flaws or hassle related to maintenance problems, large or small. Fixing these issues could make all the difference when it comes to selling your house quickly rather than wasting time with potential buyers looking for reasons to walk away from purchasing your home.
Instead of neglecting these issues, hire a contractor to fix any noticeable problems. Addressing the issue could make the difference between getting an offer on your house or having someone walk away because they were looking for something that you did not give them: peace of mind knowing that their investment would be safe and sound while living there.
It Can Compromise Safety
Often, homeowners who are selling their houses will neglect their plumbing and HVAC systems. However, this is not something you should do because it can compromise the safety of your home.
When you sell a home, people often think that any minor problems with the plumbing can be ignored or even repaired later by the new owners. Individuals commonly believe that they can get away without having a local plumber inspect and repair all of the pipes in their homes before sales negotiations begin. This is one of the worst things you could do for selling purposes because any small problem can escalate quickly into something much bigger. A clogged sink, for example, may require a minor repair at first glance. However, if no one inspects it and unclogs it beforehand, then the sink will most likely stay that way through the entire sales negotiations period. Suppose an inspector or any other individual ends up seeing this during their walkthrough of your home before you sell it. In that case, they could write a report to you stating that your house is unsafe to live in due to neglecting this plumbing issue. This will make it less likely for someone to buy your home because people want houses where they do not need to worry about potential safety issues occurring.
It Improves Curb Appeal
Did you know that the average cost to replace a heating and air system in America is more than $6,000? Even if your system is old or inefficient, neglecting to treat your system well could mean an even higher cost for replacement.
Plumbing can suffer from similar neglect. Any time you drain anything from your home washing machines, sinks, bathtub, it should go through a properly installed and maintained drain trap before going into the sewer main. Maintenance could also mean calling for regular drain cleaning service if clogging occurs. Over time these traps dry up and allow water to flow freely without any resistance. This increases the risk of wastewater backups which can create a very expensive mess: all it takes is one accumulation of debris at the bottom of a trap to block flow completely.
If you’re thinking, “well, I’ll just replace the system or unclog the trap when it becomes a problem,” that would be unwise thinking. If you’re reaching your wallet to pay for these repairs, remember that problems with your heating and plumbing can reduce your home’s value up to 5%. And if you’re buying or selling in the wintertime, systems failures can mean not only costly cooling and heating repair bills but also cold bedrooms and living rooms.
Curb appeal is so important to people shopping around for homes — many prospective buyers won’t study your home’s contents at all. Furniture is moved aside to allow an inspection of everything behind it. Do you want potential buyers to note that there are missing tiles in the bathroom or that there’s no hot water coming out of the shower as the first thing they see? You probably do not want that. In this case, it is good practice to avoid neglecting your plumbing and HVAC systems as they play a big role in improving your home’s curb appeal.
It Can Cause More Headaches Later on
A common trend that has been observed for quite some time is when a homeowner will neglect their plumbing and HVAC Systems when considering to call for house selling service. Neglecting these systems can lead to unforeseen expenses with the potential of costing you thousands of dollars down the road. In some cases, if people wait too long to fix these problems, it may end up being a deal breaker that prevents a sale from going through altogether.
Most people run into the biggest issue that they don’t know what to do to keep these systems in good working order, such as keeping an air conditioner in good condition after an AC tune up. It leads them to do nothing at all, thinking it’s best not to spend any money on these items until they put their home on the market. Unfortunately, this can lead to some expensive surprises, and it’s usually when people don’t have the money on hand that these problems become evident.
One of the most common mistakes is when individuals try and fix these systems themselves rather than calling out a professional plumber or HVAC technician. The problem with doing this is that more often than not, they make things worse which in turn makes their repairs even more costly and lengthens the timeline to get their home back into good working condition again. The best thing to do is to be proactive and call out a professional before you list your home, so there aren’t any bad surprises like having to buy new HVAC supplies waiting for you down the road after your house has been sold.
It Can Be Expensive to Neglect Your Plumbing and Heating Systems
Unless you live in a cold and dry climate, your property needs to be comfortable all year round. There are two ways to make it happen: heating and cooling.
Most homeowners do both. But if you neglect one or the other, then that minimum standard is not met. So why does this matter? First of all, when selling your home, it will come up in the home inspection when things like leaks and insufficient heating/cooling systems show up. These issues can easily add thousands of dollars to the price of the house before the closing day and eat further into your profits once sold. Second, even if you don’t plan on selling anytime soon and want happy tenants, these problems can turn renters off too.
Do not neglect your plumbing and HVAC systems when selling your home. If you can’t do it all yourself, hire a good contractor, for example, a good septic pumping company, to ensure your system is working and everything is documented in their report (if an inspection comes up). It’s expensive to neglect either or both of these areas, so don’t be ignorant and try to save money in the short term. That will cost you more in the long term.
You Could Lose Money When It Is Time to Sell
Perhaps the most important reason you should not neglect your plumbing or HVAC systems when selling is that you will likely take a hit when trying to get top dollar for your property if it isn’t taken care of or in good working order. Remember, buyers want houses that are in good shape both inside and out. If their energy bills are too high due to poor insulation or the air quality isn’t what it should be, they may end up negotiating lower prices than expected, especially if things like faulty plumbing need to be fixed. In short, if your heating and cooling systems aren’t up to date, updated, or in good working order, then it’s going to be nearly impossible for you to sell your home at a reasonable price.
As you have seen, neglecting your plumbing or HVAC systems can have a big negative effect on the value of your home. So, do not forget to get them fixed before putting them up for sale, even if it means doing new installations like a home generator installation. Moreover, contact an experienced contractor to fix any defective, worn out, or broken parts so that you will get the best offer when selling your property.