Money Doesn’t Always Buy a Well-Maintained House

The cliché is that money doesn’t buy happiness. Nor does it necessarily buy a house without problems!  I recently had the opportunity to learn a bit more about some of the bad things that can happen when water meets wood. The result? Repairs are needed. Some that are quite expensive. And this is on a house with a list price in the millions (not the one pictured here).

It doesn't matter what the price of the house is, all of them need to be cared for. (It also helps to have a house that was well-built to begin with). What you don't want to hear when you're negotiating the results of an inspection are the words "deferred maintenance." That goes for sellers AND buyers.

Deferred maintenance is the nice way of saying the homeowner put off keeping up the house, doing the regular stuff that needs to happen to keep things in good working order. Usually things like getting a furnace serviced, or repairing a spot in the roof where water is getting in. Not taking care of these things can cost, on average, 10% of the home’s value when it's time to sell, according to HouseLogic.com.

It's much more cost-effective to take care of maintenance on a regular basis! From the article:

"Over time, annual maintenance costs average more than $3,300, according to data from the U.S. Census. Various lending institutions…agree, placing maintenance costs at 1% to 3% of initial house price. That means owners of a $200,000 house should plan to budget $2,000 to $6,000 per year for ongoing upkeep and replacements."

If you're thinking of selling your house and there are things that need to be fixed–real needs, not just cosmetic stuff–it's best to just bite the bullet and do it. If not addressed before going to market, those issues will almost certainly pop up in the inspection and will need to be negotiated before a sale will close. Also, buyers will almost certainly wonder if there are MORE issues that are lurking!

After all, no one wants to buy a money pit.