Upgrades vs. Maintenance: A Continual Showdown

For many years now there's been a constant banging of the drum of what equates Maintenance/Upgrades.  Some of the time its subjective, some of the time its objective, and the other third is completely off the wall.  We see sellers many times try to get buyers to pay for everything that they've done to get the house in selling shape.  But its not going to work that way when the activities that were engaged in were maintenance of the house to keep it in working order.

Let's go with a few quick examples that make sense (hopefully):
Repairing or Replacing the home's roof.  This is wear and tear.  Loose shingles, storm damage, water leakage...This is basic maintenance.  If the seller decided not to sell, they would still have to make the repairs to keep the house running.

Lawn care & exterior house cleanliness.  This is another maintenance issue. Keeping landscaping looking nice, weeding, making sure the grass is cut below a certain level (prevent rodents & snakes from hiding in and attacking passerbys).  Trash being kept out of sight when its not collection day.  Any other items which may need to be stored and not flowing over the yard (tools, projects, escaped items from trash).  Its all maintenance to keep the house looking good, and also in this case sometimes within city limits you can be fined for an untidy yard.  No one wants to walk next to five foot grass which holds surprises.

Now the flip side:  Appliances, CounterTops, and Remodeling are just a few examples of Upgrades.  Appliances can be upgrades to more energy efficient and high quality stainless steel models instead of the old plastic energy hogging devices.  Changing from the old style of 50's & 60's countertops to something definite and substantial such as granite is a major upgrade that works well with new kitchen cabinets for that extra storage which everyone seems to need.  Remodeling.  Remodeling can really be an upgrade if done correctly.  Completely redoing a bathroom making it a full bath from a 3/4 bath and having nice double vanity and whirlpool tub.  Bringing new quality landscaping to a bland yard with no excitement.  Adding an entertaining deck to the patio can be included if done right.  These are just a fraction of upgrades that can be done.  But the main point here is that Upgrades are only Upgrades if the work has been done with quality in mind, and not haphazardly.  This subpar work leads buyers to know they'll either have to do serious maintenance upkeep or scrap and redo all over again with the knowledge it'll cost them extra.

Whether the Upgrades you do to your home bring any value with it is another story completely...and we'll save that for another day.


Today's Tidbit:  Everyone have a Merry Christmas, and be safe out there.  We know the driving tends to be a bit hectic.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

What to take with you when viewing a home

A tiny post today on something not normally thought about.  What to take with you when viewing a home?

Pen - Have at least two in case one goes bad.

Notepad/Notebook - Have something to write on to take notes about what you see.

Drink or Bottle of water - Not for actual drinking but to moisten the mouth and throat for speaking with the realtor or others.  You wouldn't believe how raspy a voice can become when viewing homes.  Leave the drink in the vehicle when you enter the house.

Flyer or Printout - This can either be in the flyer box in front of the house or an online printout of the property.  Something you can take back with you to make it easy for you to remember room by room.

Questions - Always come with questions.  There are many to ask if not specified in online information, flyers, printouts, public tax records.  You can find out more about a property if you just ask.

These are the basics, but there are other optional that you can bring if you want.  Electronic measuring devices would be one great example of something that a potential buyer can bring.  Sometimes, those stretch out measuring tapes can't get in certain areas or move in ways you want them to.

Today's Tidbit:  Remember rules of etiquette when entering someone else's home.  I.E. Don't touch something that doesn't belong to you.  Its ok to turn on light switches, etc, but don't try to swing from the ceiling fan or use the seller's exercise equipment.  Likewise sellers shouldn't be demanding of potential buyers that come into their home such as taking off shoes or having potential buyers wade through dirty laundry in the hallway.

Here's also an interesting article on American speech patterns in different parts of the country.  We found it over the weekend and thought it would be fun to share it with everyone.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

What Brings Your Home Value Down?

This morning we're talking Home Value.  This is one subject that can be touched by both direct and indirect influences.  And there are certainly a lot of things that can affect your home value in the most negative of ways.  Here are reminders of what to be wary of as they'll bring your home value down, and the more these below come into alignment the more the value will sink.

If you or your neighbor has an unkempt yard, whether it be junk storage, too high of grass and weeds, or debris from storm damage.  This is one of the most obvious signs of lowering home value.

Certain commercial businesses (power plants, funeral homes, pawn shops) come with an inherent negative reputation either by way of sight, emotion or in case of power plant can be noise, pollution, or something massive looming over your property.

Certain government businesses (city hall, section 8 housing, landfills) as with some commercial businesses have high visibility as being part of aiding a negative push.

Depending on where you live and what laws are on the books, the availability of information about location sex offenders could be easy or hard to find.  This is another indirect negative value as some cities have put restrictions that sex offenders can only live in certain neighborhoods.

A large indirect negative has always been foreclosed homes.  These can easily be described as black holes sucking down the home value of the entire neighborhood.  The more it stays vacant and continues to lack maintenance, the stronger the negative pull will be.

The negative value of cars, trucks, and haulers on major highway can easily be seen by any potential buyer.

Empty or closed schools gives the vision of a neighborhood in decline, and an eye sore for the community.

Environmental hazards in the area either known or unknown can have a huge effect on home value.  Examples can be Chernobyl/Three Mile Island, train accidents which are transporting chemicals (as we've seen recently with chlorine spills), polluted groundwater, areas of regular forest fires, and flood zones among others.

We have seen this several times, and yet to figure out why this happens?  If there's a power pole on your property with lines cutting through the house.  This is definitely not the best situation.  If these lines fall onto the house or property there can be many unintended side effects from electrocution, house fires, as well as dangers to other properties nearby.

Having no garage attached to house can drop home value down almost immediately by over $20,000 just for a single car garage.

Bad landscaping is something that should be taken care of, and instead of a negative turn it into a positive.  Make it look nice and inviting.

Bad or roofs falling apart can be negative signs for not only the owner but neighbors as well.  A collapsed roof brings an immediate eyesore to the neighborhood, and if there's a storm before or after a collapse - debris could end up on neighbor's property or doing damage to those properties.

And lastly we have something that is another indirect negative.  A self inflicted wound.  Bad or incorrect home appraisals.  There are times when home appraisers make mistakes or just don't know how to do the job.  This can affect both your property as well as neighbors property's home values.  This negative continues as the appraisal is passed along to the local tax office in which you could end up paying an incorrect amount.  We've even known the local tax appraisals to be incorrect at times.

Keep your home value high, try to watch out for these or lessen the effects.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes