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Spring Home Improvement
Magazine Special Feature
Keeping your home ready to sell changes the planning for your mechanical
systems
By Jim Youngquist
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[May 09, 2015]
LINCOLN - Your home is composed of
three parts: The actual structure of the home, the landscape or
outdoor portion of your property; and the mechanical systems that
provide heat, electricity and water services to your living space.
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 While the structure and the landscape are important items,
consider living in your home without heat, without electricity, and
without being able to flush the toilet or take a shower and you
realize just how important the “Mechanical” portion of your abode
really is.
When you are planning on how to “keep your home ready to sell,”
keeping your mechanicals well maintained and adequately updated is a
very important part of the plan.
Showing a house with leaky plumbing and dripping faucets is a
definite turn-off. People who come to see your home will test every
faucet in the place and flush every toilet to check if they are
functioning properly, have good water flow and if they drip or leak
or even make funny noises. Nobody wants to buy a leaky house. So,
keeping your plumbing in good shape is important.
 Adequate attention to plumbing items like toilets and faucets is
important. If a toilet runs-on and annoys you, it will certainly
attract the attention of every prospective buyer and be a major
turn-off. With today’s pre-packaged toilet kits, the home owner can
basically maintain or even improve the toilets in the house without
professional help. Turn off the valve that lets water into the
toilet, remove the flapper, the float apparatus, or the handle and
arm; go to your local hardware store and ask the experienced
hardware people for their help in choosing the right replacement
parts and how to install them. The instructions that accompany the
parts generally are very helpful in the process, and if you don’t
understand something or need further instructions, Google the issue
and watch a few YouTube videos on the subject. If the project
becomes too taxing or too difficult, a professional plumber can
relieve the stress.
Drains, garbage disposals, water softeners and faucets are a bit
trickier. It might be advisable to have a recommended and trusted
plumber consult with you on these items to make sure that they are
handled appropriately. You should have leaky faucets and leaky
plumbing repaired and consider updating faucets and fixtures which
are outdated. A walkthrough with an experienced plumber can help you
size and plan these updates.
There’s nothing like being able to relax in a hot shower or a hot
bath to take the edge off. Having your hot water heater maintained
yearly by flushing and refilling can extend its life, and replacing
it every 10 -15 years is necessary in the plan to keep your home
ready to sell. Replacement time is the perfect time to lower your
energy bill by choosing a water heater that is more energy
efficient. Some of the signs that your hot water heater needs to be
replaced are leaks around the base of the tank, that it works
erratically or not at all with water that isn't as hot as you want
it to be, or a stream of hot water in the shower that doesn’t last
through the time it takes to take your shower. Consult your trusted
plumber for appropriate recommendations.
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The electrical system of your house needs to be maintained in as modern an
approach as is possible. Old post-and-tube wiring needs to be modernized, and
even two wire systems need to be upgraded to three wire grounded systems. Ground
fault outlets need to be present in the kitchen and in bathrooms. Every home
should have a 200 amp main and a breaker box instead of an 80 amp main with a
fuse box. These upgrades need to be planned and orchestrated by a trusted local
electrical contractor and if done over time, they can be completed without
breaking the budget.
When you are “keeping your home ready to sell,” keeping your heating and cooling
systems in more than working order might be important. If you are planning on
staying in your home until you die, then the cost of replacing your HVAC
equipment needs to be weighed and balanced with the cost of your operating
efficiency. But if you are planning ahead to a time when you might have to sell
your home, then the operating efficiency of your HVAC system becomes much more
important because older equipment and a lower operating efficiency may cause
prospective buyers to offer less or look elsewhere. Consult with your local HVAC
dealer concerning the age of your systems and ask if it is a good time to
consider replacement.
The age and condition of your mechanical systems is an important consideration
in the quest to keep your home ready to sell. Keeping them well maintained and
up-to-date will help you to avoid the avalanche of last minute updates or
repairs and will help you get more money for your home-sweet-home when the time
to sell comes.
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