TIME VS MONEY

TIME VS MONEY
Most of us live quite happily with our home's little idiosyncrasies. It's easy to become accustomed to a leaky faucet or a door knob that falls off occasionally. And you may have covered that cracked tile with a small rug. We usually put up with it for quite a while, thinking we'll get it fixed later. Sometimes, later never comes. So, what do you do if you suddenly need to sell your home?

You obviously want top market price for your property, but potential buyers may be turned off by a house that appears to need repair. Or, they will want to pay less money, thinking they will have to invest refurbishing dollars later.

Resist the temptation to fix things on the cheap. Cover-up jobs never work and could come back to haunt you. Some homeowners are quite capable of putting in a new faucet or replacing the tile. If you are experienced and have all the right tools, go ahead and tackle it. If not, hire a professional to do the job for you. Why? Time and money! There may be many details to attend to and your time could be limited. Save your energy for the important issues that only you can handle. You may be faced with lots of small, but very important, decisions every day. If you're caught up doing an extensive repair job yourself, you may be too tired to make the right choices. It could also take you a lot longer to complete something a professional could attend to quickly.

It can be more expensive in the long run to try to cover up or patch a problem. The buyer will recognize it quickly and it could cost you a sale. It will probably be much more economical to hire a plumber to take care of that leak than to try to do it yourself. Professionals have the know-how to tackle any unseen problems. Attempting a repair job yourself when you don't have the skills could result in a much bigger problem later. Major issues with electrical and heating and air should always be looked at by a professional.

Consider the best use of all your resources (that time and money thing again). Get quotes for work that needs to be attended to by a professional and always get it in writing.