Preventive maintenance is crucial to the value and upkeep of your home. Keeping your Santa Cruz real estate in great shape with regular check-ups will save you the headache and cost of emergency repairs.
Here are six items to add to your outdoor spring maintenance checklist:
1. Clean the Gutters: Gutters work best when clean and free of gunk. Check yours for foliage, tree limbs, etc., especially if trees hang over the roof.
2. Make sure the downspouts are clean: They should point at least two feet away from foundation walls.
3. Check exterior paint: Look for chipped, cracked paint. Scrape off any failing paint, sand it down, prime the surface, and paint it with a high-quality, low-VOC exterior paint.
4. Brighten your Santa Cruz real estate with a good power washing: Rent a power washer or borrow your neighbor’s. This should always be one of the first things you do after winter to brighten and freshen the exterior of your home.
5. Trim overgrown trees and hedges: Trim away from the home to discourage growth of mildew and moisture. Don’t forget to trim along your property line to make it appealing to potential buyers.
6. Rake up all the downed leaves: Leaves will suffocate your grass and stop it from growing. Pull up weeds and dead flowers and replace with low-maintenance varieties such as pansies, begonias or mums.
7. Inspect trees for broken branches. If the limb is high up, hire a licensed arborist. If you can reach it from the ground, take it down using the three-cut technique, which prevents bark from tearing and creating an open wound on the trunk. If you had heavy snowfall this winter, look for bending branches and check to make sure they produce leaves this spring.
8. Repair cracked pavement: Before weeds have a chance to take hold, repair cracks in your asphalt driveway and concrete walkways. On surfaces that have ruptured from the effects of frost heaving, hire a professional to pour or pave a new surface.
If you’re thinking of selling your Santa Cruz real estate, I’d be happy to do a walk through at no cost to help you identify repairs or maintenance that will help your home sell faster and for more money. Call me at 831.662.6522 or email me at Lauren@LaurenSpencer.com to schedule an appointment.
For additional real estate information, please visit my homepage at www.MySantaCruzRealEstate.com.
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