Over the summer, I got a call from clients after the home inspection. “There are roots in the sewer pipes!” they said, panicked and dejected.
“That’s not uncommon,” I said.
“Should we pass on this house and look for another one?”
No. No. No.
As a longtime homeowner, it sometimes surprises me how home repairs can seem so ominous to new buyers, and how easily they can get cold feet. Coming from an apartment, this couple had no idea that clearing the sewer line is a typical aspect of owning a home in a town full of old trees.
Buying a home is an event. Maintaining a home is a process.
With a Maintenance Mindset, you can just assume that there will always be something to contend with. A new roof. A leaky pipe. A squirrel in the attic. A crack in the plaster from settling. A tree that falls in a storm. Appliances need repairing and bushes need pruning. Everyone deals with this stuff. It’s all part of owning a home.
For example, I just had a fence put up to keep my cats in the yard. The workers didn’t construct it properly, and within six months, one section of the fence separated and my cat was again able to get out of the yard. This was especially frustrating because during their installation, I had pointed out this potential problem and suggested a way to avoid it. However, the fence installers did not take my advice, and now they need to come back and fix it. When I was a new homeowner, I’d have found this entire process — getting stuff fixed and fixed again — overwhelming. Now, it’s simply another call to make, another thing to check off my list.
All houses need maintenance. And if you’re buying a new home, there may even be things your home inspector points out that need maintenance right away. Don’t worry — this is not uncommon. I have enough experience to let you know what you actually have to worry over as far as home repair goes, and I have many resources that can make what might seem like gigantic challenges into manageable tasks. I help buyers and sellers make molehills out of mountains every single day. And I’m happy to do that with you, too!
