There are three things that can kill your home’s value if you are unaware of them.

I have been selling real estate for 17 years, and I can tell you that there are three things that are guaranteed to kill your home’s value:

“Do not forget about the maintenance work you need to do in your home.”

1. Unpermitted work. This is generally found in basements. Most people start with good intentions, but once they open a permit to work in their home, sometimes they do not close it. Make sure if you finish off some work you are doing in the basement or anywhere else in your house that you closeout your permit for it so that it is recorded in your public record.

2. The topography of your home’s lot. When buying a home, most people think location, location, location. What they do not think about, however, is the home’s lot and how that lot’s dimensions can affect its value. If you are buying a home, make sure you check the topography of its lot. It may fit what you are looking for, but you also have to think about the next family that will want to live in that home.

3. Deferred maintenance. We live in a fast-paced society, and sometimes we have to juggle many different responsibilities at once. This can make it easy to forget about the maintenance work we have to do in our homes. Painting, plumbing, roofing, landscaping, etc., are maintenance tasks that can kill your home’s value if you neglect them. If a buyer does a home inspection and any issues related to these things pop up, it can change how they feel about the home.

If you have any other questions about this or any other real estate topic, please feel free to reach out to us. We would love to help you.