There is so much urgency in our lives that sometimes we run out of time before addressing what is most important to us. For example, I had plans to visit a friend’s home she had remodeled up the
McKenzie River, but I canceled for a second time Labor Day weekend because I had ‘too much to
do’ in town. The shared experience that I canceled is now lost to the Holiday Farm fire.
The challenge that we have is to recognize what is most important and then to act on those priorities
in their order of importance. Author and educator Steven Covey attributes the success of most Fortune 500 Companies CEO’s to their ability to carve out time to focus on what is important but not urgent. For us to get the most out of our lives, our careers, and our investments we must find time for the higher return activities over urgent but less important matters.
So often I find myself in a conversation like this with a homeowner: “we had always planned to replace these gutters, repair the discolored vinyl in the bathroom, or cap the chimney. Now that we are selling and have the inspection findings in hand, we see that it would have been a lot less expensive if we had not put off those maintenance items.” Over time, deferred maintenance will cost much more than incremental maintenance. Small scale repairs will prevent large scale urgent (and more expensive) repairs in the future.
One of my mentors, Bob Nelson (Realtor) says most people who buy a fixer-upper end up being sellers of the same fixer upper. And most of us can point to something in our house that we said we would change when we viewed our home for the first time that to this day remains unchanged.
I am no exception. The last home I sold required me to make a significant financial investment prior to listing the house in order to prepare it for sale, between the deferred maintenance and dated surfaces. By doing the work, I knew that I would optimize the opportunity in the market and optimize my net return on my investment. And so, I opened my wallet and replaced the teetering back fence, took down and replaced the overworked cover on the back porch, and gave my kitchen an overdue facelift. Like
many owners, I kicked myself for not having done the improvements earlier so that I could enjoy the newer amenities during my ownership. Not to mention, financially this approach was overwhelming.
I will not turn my back on my home this time. Home maintenance is too important. I have learned that being more attentive to what is important but not necessarily urgent will prevent future grief and expense.
This also applies to buyers. Just this weekend I met a lovely couple in their early 70’s. These two clearly like their current home. Despite this, they were out looking at homes, exploring the options
for their next home. When I asked them why they were out looking at homes instead of playing on
this sunny Sunday morning, they said that they felt very confident that their needs would change over
the coming years and they are choosing to be proactive and adjust their housing before it was required
of them. This is another great example of doing of doing what is important before it became urgent.
These beautiful fall days will evolve into the rain and colder days. The changing of the
seasons will reveal our homes’ shortcomings. These times give us an opportunity to focus on what’s important in our lives and in our homes.
Marcia Edwards, MBA is a Principal Broker at Windermere Real Estate of Lane County. Marcia offers expertise to homebuyers and sellers in the Eugene area. To learn all the steps to selling smart, contact Marcia at me@marciaedwards.com or 541-221-1454. RealEstateSmart.org.