An Ounce of Prevention

2010/01/24 Originally published in the Vernon Morning Star

          Is worth a pound of cure.  A stitch in time saves nine.  These old adages also apply to your real estate investments.

          To protect the value of your home and rental properties plan on doing something to upgrade and update every year.  Preventing your home from ever getting run down is key to getting the best return on your investment.

          For instance, as winter breaks up you’ll perhaps see a loose gutter,  peeling fence paint or your concrete driveway surface declining.  In all these scenarios you are best to remedy them as soon as possible to prevent further deterioration.

          If you do something each year to update your home then it neither becomes too dated, nor too expensive to fix.

          When it comes time to sell, most of us are on a rapid agenda.  To try to do all the work at once is too expensive and too time consuming.  As a result, many of us just clean and tidy and put it straight on the market.  This is clearly not the best way to get top price on your investment.

          Homes that come onto the market that have never been allowed to become run down, that have always received proper maintenance and updates, outsell their peer properties.  When that pride of ownership is evident, buyers see it right away. These are the homes that get buyers competing with one another and that yield the highest sale prices.

          If you think about it, the reason for the better price is two fold.  Firstly, it’s simply that the buyer can move right in and doesn’t face having to do any immediate work.  But the other factor is trust and confidence.  If a home is in pristine condition and it is obvious that it has always been kept that way, the buyer determines that the seller is the kind of person who takes care of things.  The buyer quickly interprets that they are not apt to be faced with unexpected repairs.  They are then prepared to pay a higher dollar for that peace of mind.


Jane Field works with RE/MAX Vernon. Jane has over 30 years experience in the Real Estate business. To suggest topics for future articles or to ask Jane questions, email or call 503-3755.

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