Homes cost a lot of money to maintain, but are you spending unnecessary money? Here are the 10 most expensive mistakes sellers make and how to solve them:
1. Using traditional light bulbs. If you still have incandescent light bulbs in your home, you’re throwing away money every month on your electric bill. Over its lifespan, an incandescent light bulb can use up to $180 in electricity. In comparison, an LED light bulb only uses $30 in electricity in the same lifetime. Think about how this could change your home’s bottom line.
2. Ignoring a leaky faucet. One drop per second can waste over 3,000 gallons per year. That’s enough to take over 180 showers. Some of us live in areas where water is plentiful, but those who don’t could be wasting a fortune one drip at a time. Water is a precious resource, so fix or replace those leaky faucets.
3. Using the wrong air filter size. Using the wrong filter (or a dirty one) can increase your power bill and cause expensive problems for your furnace down the road. Use the correct filters for your system and set up a reminder to change them after the recommended amount of time.
4. Not customizing your thermostat temperature. This is a big one. A lot of people like to leave the heat or the a/c on all day, even when they aren’t home. If you invest in a customizable thermostat, you can program your systems to conserve energy. Then when you get home, you can program it to your ideal temperature.
5. Not adjusting your air vents properly. Is one room hot while the others are cold? A lot of times, homeowners will crank up the A/C to combat the hot temperatures in one area. Instead, you can just adjust the vents to direct the flow of air evenly throughout the home.
“We don’t need that much water to sustain our lawns.”
6. Overwatering your lawn. We don’t need much water for our lawns, but many homeowners have their sprinklers programmed to go off every morning for optimal lawn health. This can become a problem if you’re not around to see what’s being watered. A broken or bent spigot could be causing all your water to go toward your house or the street instead of in the lawn. Keep an eye on your sprinklers during the day and maybe cut the time down a bit.
7. Water temperature is set too high. Unless you have a tankless heater, the water in your water heater is keeping things hot 24/7. If you don’t keep an eye on the temperature as seasons change, you might be paying too much for the hot water. Decrease the temperature in the summer, and bump it back up in the winter.
8. Leaky windows and doors. Many homeowners simply ignore this by cranking up their heaters. Caulk leaky windows and put rubber seals around the doors to keep the winter winds out and the warm air in.
9. Paying a handyman. Don’t pay a handyman for a job that’s simple enough to do yourself. The information is out there. If you’re unsure how to do something, watch tutorials on YouTube. Doing these simple tasks on your own could save you time and money and also give you some useful real-world knowledge.
10. Ignoring curled roof shingles. When you start to see them form, it’s definitely best not to ignore the problem. If you do, it will only lead to a bigger problem. If you see possible issues with curled shingles, let your roofer know, or research how to properly fix the shingles on your own.
Review these tips, save some money, and if you have any questions about this list or anything else related to real estate, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. If we answer your question on one of our videos, we’ll send you a $25 gift card.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
