Sf37917 —KnoxvilleRealEstate Foster The American Dream

5 Maintenance Tasks to Ignore at Your Peril

March 5, 2014 by Sf37917

Are you a pro at procrastination? Get off the couch for these 5 critical maintenance jobs; left undone, the consequences could cost you thousands — or worse.

1. Make sure your appliances aren’t being recalled.

Why it matters: The non-profit Consumer Reports magazine wrote an eye-popping pieceabout how often home appliances catch fire: more than 150,000 residential fires each year from 2006-2008, resulting in 3,670 injuries, 150 deaths, and $547 million in property damage. About half the fires appear to have been caused by faulty appliances. Some had been recalled for defects that could cause an appliance fire, but the home owners weren’t aware.

What you need to do: Write down the model and serial number of each appliance, then check at www.recalls.gov for recalls and what action to take if something you own is involved. Keep your list so it’s easy to recheck; it sometimes takes years for problems to become evident. Keep tabs at HouseLogic for notices about recalls.

Maintenance cost: Free

Worst case if you put it off: You don’t learn that your dishwasher or clothes dryer has a safety defect, and the machine catches fire and burns your house down.

2. Check for leaks and fix them.

Why it matters: Water does more damage to houses than anything else, since persistentleaks lead to mold and mildew, rot, and even termites and carpenter ants (they like chewing soggy wood since it’s soft). Yet if you fix a leak soon after it starts, there may be no long-term damage at all.

What you need to do: Inside, keep your eyes open for dark spots under pipes inside sink cabinets, stains on ceilings, toilets that rock, and of course drips. At least once a year,inspect the roof. If you find leaks, fix them immediately. Otherwise, call in a plumber.

Maintenance cost: Negligible for a simple fix, such as a new washer. A visit from a plumber might set you back $250; a roof repair, a few hundred dollars to $1,000.

Worst case if you put it off: Drips ruin the cabinet under the kitchen sink, and run down into the floor sheathing and joists underneath, so you need a structural repair, plus newcabinets and new kitchen flooring. Or the roof rots, so you need a new roof and repairs to rooms directly beneath.

3. Test your sump pump and backup pump (or install a backup pump if you don’t have one).

Why it matters: The middle of a storm isn’t the time to discover your basement sump pump is clogged, nor is it the time to begin planning for a backup pump. You need them ready before the water arrives.

What you need to do: Fill the sump pump pit with water and make sure the pump switches on and sends water out the discharge line. If you have a backup pump, repeat the test, but unplug the main pump first. If the backup pump runs on batteries that are more than two years old, replace your sump pump. If you don’t have a backup pump and are on municipal water, get one that runs on water pressure. If you’re on well water, your only option is the battery kind.

Maintenance cost: Testing is free; a water-powered backup sump pump, including installation, costs $150-$350; a new battery for a battery-operated sump starts around $200.

Worst case if you put it off: The pump or pumps don’t work when you need them and your basement floods, ruining everything in it and forcing you to tear out drywall and carpeting.

4. Renew the finish on your hardwood floors.

Why it matters: Every wood floor needs to be refinished periodically, but the trick is to get to the job before the old finish wears through. Then you can apply a fresh coat without having to sand into the wood. Since sanding wears away some of the wood, being able to skip that step can extend the life of your floor by decades.

What you need to do: If your floor is dull but OK otherwise, repair scratches and apply a hardwood floor refinisher ($6-$18 per quart). If the old finish is really scratched up, call in a pro to buff it and apply a fresh finish.

Maintenance cost: If you just need the refresher coat and apply it yourself, you can do 500 square feet for around $25. If you hire a pro, figure on $1 per square foot.

Worst case if you put it off: The finish wears through. If your floor is thick enough to sand, expect to spend $2.50 per square foot for a new finish. If the floor can’t be sanded, you’ll need a whole new floor — $8-$20 per square foot, if you stick with wood.

5. Protect your foundation.

Why it matters: If anything goes wrong with your foundation walls — serious cracks, uneven settling — you could be in for one of the most expensive home repair jobs possible.

What you need to do: Every year, check to make sure the soil around your house slopes away from your foundation walls at least 6 inches over 10 feet (rain gutter downspouts should extend at least 5 feet away from your house).

That slope keeps water from getting down right next to your foundation, where it could cause basement walls to lean, crack the masonry, and cause leaks. (For houses with crawl spaces, keeping water away makes sure excess water doesn’t pool underneath your floor, making for damp conditions that encourage mold, rot, and insects.)

Maintenance cost: Topsoil is $10-$20 per cubic yard, plus delivery. You’ll pay $50-$100 per cubic yard if you buy by the bag.

Worst case if you put it off: Hydrostatic pressure causes your foundation to settle, cracking your basement walls. A full excavation is necessary to stabilize, repair, and seal the foundation walls — a $15,000 to $40,000 job.

By: Jeanne Huber

Originally Published: August 3, 2012

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Forest Heights: Home Sales Value by Street

February 20, 2014 by Sf37917

We all tend to wonder what the house down the street sold for; especially knowing that it is going to impact the future market value of our own home. With that in mind I thought it would be interesting to take a look back at the median home values by street in a few neighborhoods.

Certainly we are all aware that some streets in any given area may have a prime value- hence the phrase “prime real estate”. But not every piece of property in any given area will be prime. By looking at an area with more of a “micro” approach, you may find that you can afford to buy in a certain area/neighborhood- it just may be a few streets over. The infographic that I created below gives you a quick snapshot of median sales, by street, in Knoxville’s Forest Heights neighborhood from 2011-2013.

Knoxville Real Estate Sales by Season

January 23, 2014 by Sf37917

Ask around and most people will tell you that spring is the time to sell.

The truth is that the Real Estate sales numbers in Knoxville have a different story to tell. Looking at the statistics I pulled, you can see that the number of homes on the market are about the same in the spring and summer months. What is really interesting is that the “average price” numbers in the summer are higher than spring, while the days on the market are shorter than the other seasons. I guess those long summer nights, and warm weather (not to mention school schedules), make summer the hot selling season in K-town.
Written by, Shannon Foster-Boline

Old North Knoxville: Home Sales Value by Street

January 18, 2014 by Sf37917

Certainly we are all aware that some streets in any given area may have a prime value- hence the phrase “prime real estate”. But not every piece of property in any given area will be prime. By looking at an area with more of a “micro” approach, you may find that you can afford to buy in a certain area/neighborhood- it just may be a few streets over. The infographic that I created below gives you a quick snapshot of median sales, by street, in the historic Old North Knoxville neighborhood from 2011-2013.

Old North Knoxville: Real Estate Report 2013

January 17, 2014 by Sf37917

Pet Odor Can Chase Away Buyers

January 16, 2014 by Sf37917

Don’t let pet odors derail your home sale.

Air your house out. While you’re cleaning, throw open all the windows in your home to allow fresh air to circulate and sweep out unpleasant scents.

Once your house is free of pet odors, do what you can to keep the smells from returning. Crate your dog when you’re out or keep it outdoors. Limit the cat to one floor or room, if possible. Remove or replace pet bedding.

Scrub thoroughly. Scrub bare floors and walls soiled by pets with vinegar, wood floor cleaner, or an odor-neutralizing product, which you can purchase at a pet supply store for $10 to $25.

Try a 1:9 bleach-to-water solution on surfaces it won’t damage, like cement floors or walls.

Got a stubborn pet odors covering a large area? You may have to spend several hundred dollars to hire a service that specializes in hard-to-clean stains.

Wash your drapes and upholstery. Pet odors seep into fabrics. Launder, steam clean, or dry clean all your fabric window coverings. Steam clean upholstered furniture.

Either buy a steam cleaner designed to remove pet hair for around $200 and do the job yourself, or pay a pro. You’ll spend about $40 for an upholstered chair, $100 for a sofa, and $7 for each dining room chair if a pro does your cleaning.

Clean your carpets. Shampoo your carpets and rugs, or have professionals do the job for $25 to $50 per room, depending on their size and the level of filth embedded in them. The cleaner will try to sell you deodorizing treatments. You’ll know if you need to spend the extra money on those after the carpet dries and you have a friend perform a sniff test.

If deodorizing doesn’t remove the pet odor from your home, the carpets and padding will have to go. Once you tear them out, scrub the subfloor with vinegar or an odor-removing product, and install new padding and carpeting. Unless the smell is in the subfloor, in which case that goes next.

Paint, replace, or seal walls. When heavy-duty cleaners haven’t eradicated smells in drywall, plaster, or woodwork, add a fresh coat of paint or stain, or replace the drywall or wood altogether.

On brick and cement, apply a sealant appropriate for the surface for $25 to $100. That may smother and seal in the odor, keeping it from reemerging.

Place potpourri or scented candles in strategic locations. Put a bow on your deep clean with potpourri and scented candles. Don’t go overboard and turn off buyers sensitive to perfumes. Simply place a bowl of mild potpourri in your foyer to create a warm first impression, and add other mild scents to the kitchen and bathrooms.

Control ongoing urine smells. If your dog uses indoor pee pads, put down a new pad each time the dog goes. Throw them away outside in a trash can with a tight lid. Remove even clean pads from view before each showing.

Replace kitty litter daily, rather than scooping used litter clumps, and sweep up around the litter box. Hide the litter box before each showing.

Relocate pets. If your dog or cat has a best friend it can stay with while you’re selling your home (and you can stand to be separated from your pet), consider sending your pet on a temporary vacation. If pets have to stay, remove them from the house for showings and put away their dishes, towels, and toys.

Article written by: G. M. Filisko

Originally Published: October 15, 2010

G.M. Filisko is an attorney and award-winning writer whose former mutt Marley no doubt created a wet-dog aroma in her condo that still remains. A regular contributor to many national publications including Bankrate.com, REALTOR® Magazine, and the American Bar Association Journal, she specializes in real estate, business, personal finance, and legal topics.

Visit houselogic.com for more articles like this.

Ask around and most people will tell you that spring is the time to sell.

Don’t let pet odors derail your home sale.

Shannon Foster-Boline

Realty Executives® Associates

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