The amount of money that people spend on home upkeep is staggering. Owners often part with thousands of dollars every year to fix all sorts of things like the roof of their appliances.
The amounts aren’t trivial. Usually, people spend around 1 to 2 percent of the value of their home per year just on upkeep. So that after thirty years of living in a property, 30 to 60 percent of its selling price went into fixing it.
Savvy homeowners know this. And so they take steps to prevent costs from rising too high. Here’s what they do:
They Cut Back On Lawn
If you’ve ever been to an extremely conscientious person’s house, you’ll notice something interesting – they don’t have a lot of lawn. Mostly, they brick it over or insert flower beds instead.
Why do they do this?
The answer is to save on lawn costs.
Think about how much money you spend maintaining a lawn. The moment you have one, you have to buy a mower. Then you have to give up your weekend mornings to use it, not to mention all the watering, feeding and other expenses that go into upkeep.
They Maintain Their Appliances
What do most people do when their home appliances fail? Simple: they just buy new ones. It seems like the sensible thing to do.
That’s until you realize that they are actually very simple devices that are easy to repair. You can pick up Fisher and Paykel dryer parts for a fraction of the price of the whole thing. So getting a new dishwasher could just be a matter of spending a couple of dollars.
Boilers are the only exception to this rule. However, you can even extend their lives if you put the right maintenance schedule in place.
They Use A Handyman
Think about the value of your time. Does it really make sense for you to dedicate your weekends to the upkeep of your property?
More than likely, it doesn’t. It would be much better for you to spend your leisure time actually pursuing the things that matter to you, not looking after the house.
That’s why a lot of savvy homeowners pass the task over to a handyman. It frees up time, and the handyman often has tools to do odd jobs better than you can.
They Clean Everything Regularly
Here’s another pro-tip: clean everything regularly.
Why? Because cleaning prevents small particles from getting into your household objects and damaging them.
For instance, clean ovens last longer than dirty ones. The same applies to baths, showers and microwaves. It’s even true of carpets.
Again, if your time is valuable, don’t do this yourself. Pay a cleaner to do it for you and use your weekends for pursuing the things you enjoy.
They Cut Down Overhanging Trees
Lastly, you can often save on long-term maintenance costs by cutting down any overhanging trees on your property. Trees have a nasty habit of blocking gutters and can even fall on your home during storms, causing serious damage to the roof.
So if you want to know how savvy homeowners cut long-term maintenance costs, start following the tips above today and go enjoy your leisure time and delegate these tasks to others! You’ll thank us in the end.