Owning a home is a wonderful milestone and an investment in your future! Your home purchase is likely to be one of the largest investments you will make in your life, and just like any other investment, you must protect it. If you properly maintain your home, you may find you can live in it for several decades and still sell it for more than you originally paid! When you buy a new car, it will most likely depreciate the moment you drive it off the dealer's lot. On the flip side, when you purchase a new home, it will likely retain value for years if its condition is maintained. In this article, we will outline the best ways to protect your home, so you maximize the value of your investment in the future! 

Make Preventative Maintenance a Priority

Owning a home means you are the "landlord", which comes with the responsibility of upkeep and maintaining the property. The first step towards keeping your home in tip-top shape is creating a maintenance schedule. Outline all the major tasks that need attention annually to ensure you stay on track. Some of these items include cleaning gutters at the end of fall, scheduling the cleaning of the chimney, closing your pool for the season, etc. All of these small steps are key to a well-maintained home but skipping them could lead to major failures later. If you are budget-conscious, keep in mind that the general rule of thumb is to allocate 1% of your home's purchase price to preventative maintenance each year.

Identify and Remedy Issues Quickly

One of the biggest mistakes a homeowner can make is letting minor issues go because they don't seem like a big deal. As we mentioned before that small leak you noticed or dampness in your basement can quickly turn into a disaster. When you notice a problem in your home, even if at a surface level it seems small, you should correct them immediately. The last thing you want is a burst pipe or similar issue that could cost you thousands to repair when you could have remedied the issue for only a couple of hundred dollars. 

Save Now for Challenges Later

While you can do your best to maintain your home and fix problems right when they arise, sometimes an inevitable incident will cause you to make a major repair. The key to dealing with these issues is to prepare an emergency fund in advance, so you are not scrambling to come up with the money to make the repairs. One of the best ways to save up for repairs is to create a separate savings account that you can deposit money into and only touch when you need to fix something on your property. By setting aside money each month, you will be ready to act to prevent further damage from occurring. If you own an older home that has not had renovations in a long time, you could be more likely to run into challenges like older appliances failing.

DIY or Call in the Professionals

When you have repairs or renovations to make, it can be tough to dole out money for professionals to do the work. In some instances, doing the work yourself may make sense, and other jobs are best left to the professionals. Your knowledge of the subject at hand should be a good indicator of whether you should do the work yourself. If you are not confident in your ability to do the job well, it may be better to hire someone who does that type of work day in and day out and knows what needs to get done. What you want to avoid is investing time and money into a DIY project that fails and causes damage to your home.

We hope these tips help you create a solid plan for your home maintenance, and we are always here to help if you have questions. Give us a call anytime at 802-735-2167 or email us at info@strongwillvt.com