Enact a Home Maintenance Bailout, before It's Too Late

Too many homeowners fall into the same trap as the government, watching bad investments sour until dramatic and costly intervention is needed. Indeed, keeping your home in good condition can be just as important as the fine print of your mortgage. Being forced to spend several thousands of dollars on a new roof, plumbing, air conditioner, or furnace can create financial problems that include difficulty in keeping up with the mortgage.

Create a Home Maintenance List or Schedule

Indoor Air Quality: According to the EPA's report, The Inside Story: A Guide to Indoor Air Quality, "While pollutant levels from individual sources may not pose a significant health risk by themselves, most homes have more than one source that contributes to indoor air pollution. There can be a serious risk from the cumulative effects of these sources." Stoves, fireplaces, and heaters vent carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. Radon from the ground can enter even newly-built, well-sealed homes. Household products ranging from paints, cleaning products, and cosmetics, among others, release volatile organic compounds (VOC) into your home.

Ignoring symptoms of poor indoor air quality can cause serious health problems—another huge expensive weighing on many people. To figure out if something needs to be done, you can buy testing kits for the air inside your home, or you can hire a professional to conduct a comprehensive evaluation. This professional evaluation should include identification of singular hazards inside your home—like the presence of mold—and the overall particle content of your air. Often, the remedy to these problems is to install an air purification system for your home. (Ironically, poor indoor air quality is often associated with people who take good care of their homes. Superior insulation and energy-efficient windows can lead to ventilation problems in some homes.)

Off-Season Heating & Cooling: One of simplest tricks you can do for your home is to throw your A/C or furnace on for an hour at least a full month before temperatures drop. Understandably, HVAC contractors have jam-packed schedules during peak times, but may offer free inspections/estimates during the off-season. Take, for example, Express Refrigeration in Phoenix, AZ, who says for them "the busiest time of year is typically late May through early October and the slower times are end of November through March." Not only will off-season inspections possibly reduce the cost of repair, but it will give you the time to carefully select the best contractor and decide whether it's time to have the unit replaced without enduring 90+ degree heat or sub-freezing temperatures.

Home/Roof Inspections: The National Roofing Contractors Association recommends homeowners have their roof inspected twice a year. Much like a doctor telling patients to cut down on red meat and stay away from fried foods, few people actually heed this advice. Many roofing contractors and experts will tell you to have your roof inspected at least once a year. One alternative is to have your roof inspected once a year by a professional inspector and once on your own.

Although most home inspections are done in conjunction with putting a house on the market, they can also be useful tools for your home maintenance. If one of your doors begins to stick and you determine the door is out of its jamb, you should consider hiring a home inspector to see if the root cause is a shifting or sinking foundation. At the very least, you should compare estimates from home inspectors and roof inspectors. Home inspections include a roof inspection and may be no more expensive.

The Long-Term Effects of Bailing Out Your Home Maintenance
When I was in school, my political science professor was giving a lecture and was asked, "What do you think are the consequences of the French Revolution?" He responded, "It's too early to tell." So, it is with the powers being given the Federal Reserve and with your own home maintenance program. Down the road, 5, 10, even 20 years from now, there is no way to tell just how much the maintenance you complete today could affect the long-term health of your home.

There's no denying that tough economic times make any form of home improvement or even basic maintenance schedules hard to fit into the budget, but like so many things, failing to spend money today can lead to much greater expenses down the line. Even if you're able to cover these major home repairs in the future when they do occur, you may be cheating yourself out of the ability to complete that luxury bath or kitchen remodel you have planned. Failing to keep up with your home maintenance during the lean times is showing the same lack of foresight that now addles the American financial system.