I’ll do it tomorrow. One of these days I’ll… I’ll do it when I have more time. I’ll do it when I am not so tired. I’ll do it next week.
Sound familiar when it comes to home maintenance projects? I have a bathroom that needs recaulking so bad that black mildew has grown where the caulk is supposed to be. For the past two years I have told myself that “one of these days” I am going to get up enough motivation to clean out that old caulk and put in some nice new stuff. The problem is “one of these days” is only a theory and never actually happens. It is an idea, not a point in time. And it is an idea that I have hidden behind countless times to justify not doing it now. One of these days actually just means “not right now.” How many unfinished home maintenance tasks exist in your home right this very moment that have landed on the ever-growing home maintenance to-do list that lives in the dark corners of your mind? For me, it is probably over 20. But how does one find the motivation to tackle these projects?
In this current market, homes are flying off the market no matter what condition they are in, as long as they are priced right. An honest home seller and honest Realtors know they have to make negative price adjustments for homes that need a lot of work or have not been well-maintained over the years the home-owner has been there. Depending on what kind of work needs to be done, a homeowner could lose out on tens of thousands of dollars simply because they have not taken the careful time to properly maintain their home over the years of ownership. What more motivation could one need besides knowing it could gain someone $10,000 or much more by simply keeping up on home maintenance.
It is a struggle, I know. As I already mentioned, I myself have many neglected home maintenance tasks as I type this. But if you are thinking of selling your home soon, it would be a good idea to do some work to try to remedy your “not right now” mentality and get moving on giving your home the proper care it requires.
One easy way to do this is to print out a home maintenance checklist and post it up somewhere that you will see often for referencing. Maybe inside a kitchen cabinet or on the refrigerator. You can find a bunch of home maintenance checklists by doing a simple google search. However, I have attached one for you below for your convenience. Finished Copy of Home Maintenance Checklist
Another way to tackle your home maintenance procrastination problem is to make it a fun family activity. The other day I hired my two boys, ages 7 and 9 to re-stain our fence. Before they did that I had my father-in-law, who was visiting from out of state and loves to help with home projects when he is here, help me repair the fence by replacing some boards and re-cementing one of the posts into the ground. My wife and I have together been tackling some long overdue home maintenance issues, such as purging and reorganizing our basement and building a new chicken coop for our chickens. By making it a fun family activity together, we encourage each other to get the job done and enjoy each other’s company at the same time.
Whatever way you go about it, I would encourage you find a way to go from “one of these days”, which is only a theoretical, non-real point in time, to “right now” and begin faithfully tackling your home maintenance problems. When it is time to call me to to sell your home, your bank account and your Realtor will be glad you stopped putting it off and started taking pride in your home again.
(See home maintenance checklist attached)Finished Copy of Home Maintenance Checklist
~~Brian Carnesecchi (734) 968-4283