An Ounce of Prevention

This has been a pretty crazy winter so far here in fashionable Johns Creek, GA and I’m not sure it’s over with yet.  We’ve had ice and snow, record cold, some thunderstorms and even tornados close by.  The Georgia Bulldogs have won more than a few basketball games on the SEC calendar.  And lo and behold, a bobsled driver from Douglasville, GA won a silver medal at the Sochi Olympics; what is that all about?  And yes thanks for asking, the US Olympic Bobsled Team was sponsored by Century 21.  I can only assume we’ll have snow at The Masters this year. So needless to say everybody at my house is more than ready for spring to arrive; especially that nice lady who pays the gas bill around here.

Well I am looking forward to springtime myself because I’m hoping that more homeowners who have been postponing listing their homes will enter the market this year.  There are lots of buyers out there looking for homes and there is not a lot of inventory to choose from.  The new home builders have recognized this and are definitely getting it in gear.  Even close to me, in a pretty well established area of Johns Creek, there are quite a few new homes coming out of the ground with more on the way.  The new houses being built today offer as standard features things like hardwood floors, tile bathrooms, granite countertops, high ceilings, 3-car garages, stainless steel appliances and many other great upgrades.  But maybe more importantly they also offer superior energy efficiency.  If you have looked at your gas bill in the past few months you know how important that can be.  To be competitive with the newly constructed houses of today, owners of existing homes preparing to enter the market need to be very detailed in their pre-listing preparation.

  

While curb appeal is still the best way to make a good first impression, when it gets down to decision time for your potential buyer a few more factors come into play.  You of course need to make sure that your listed home is freshly painted, clean as a whistle and has a great kitchen and bath set-up.  But you also must remember to be certain that you have taken care of the important details that you can’t see from the curb.  Have you been putting off adding another layer of insulation in the attic?  Have you wrapped those pipes, or are you still just repairing those breaks as they occur?  Have you serviced your HVAC system regularly, is it time for a checkup?  Have you cleaned your ductwork and your chimney?  Have you changed to GFCI outlets in your kitchen and bath?  This list could go on and on.  And if you have seen as many professional home inspection reports as I have then you know the list I’m talking about.  Most of the items that appear on an inspection report are pretty insignificant by themselves, but I have seen a laundry list of minor problems cause a sense of panic in both buyer and seller.  If you have any concerns at all it might be money well spent to have your home inspected by a pro before you put it on the market.

So why not spend a few dollars, and maybe a couple of weekends, and make a preemptive strike against all those things that the guy pitching the new house around the corner from you is going to be selling.  And make sure your listing agent insures that every potential buyer knows that your home is the best it can be by listing these very valuable but often hidden upgrades in your sales literature.  Maybe by investing in that ounce of prevention that Ben Franklin used to talk about, that price difference of potentially tens of thousands of dollars for the newly constructed house will seem pretty significant to the potential buyers in your area.  And it might just make your up-to-date home seem like the best buy in the neighborhood after all.