Save on Energy Cost = Prepare Your Home to Sell

It’s important to prepare your home to sell by making it seem as beautiful and inviting as possible, but offering something unique and attractive like energy savings could make the home move on the market that much faster. Modifying your home to implement some key energy and water savings techniques, along with a savvy marketing strategy to explain the changes, might just do the trick. Here are some ideas:

• Replace all the light bulbs in the home’s permanent fixtures with compact florescent bulbs.
• Install low-flow showerheads.
• Install an Energy-Star programmable thermostat.
• Close the damper in your fireplace—make sure it opens and closes easily and is in good repair and as tight as it can be.
• Add insulation to an attic.
• Seal crawl space rim joints (this is along the top of the wall where the cement or block comes in contact with the wood frame.
• Insulate water heater tanks.
• Repair water leaks in tubs, showers, sinks, and outside spigots.
• Perform duct sealing—it’s usually wise to hire a heating contractor to do this work to make sure it’s done right.
• Replace old, inefficient appliances with Energy-Star appliances – start with the refrigerator.

Of course, it’s best to do this work at least a year before you plan to sell the house so that your utility bills prove the value of the features. In the current Flagstaff real estate market, if your life and financial situations allow you to postpone selling, I often recommend doing so. Sit tight, the market prices will be back up! It may take until 2011, but the real estate market will turn.

Of course, there are always reasons why people need to sell, and there are some situations – where you want to move up to a larger home, when you will gain financially by selling your current home and buying the larger, more expensive home in this market. That’s topic for another day.

Other, visible changes that may attract eco-savvy buyers are using renewable sources in any flooring that might be replaced, such as cork, bamboo, or re-cycled carpeting. Make these changes just prior to listing your home, so they look brand new!

For more advice on marketing your home using EcoBroker^® techniques, contact Ann Heitland, EcoBroker-Certified^® real estate agent in Flagstaff, AZ.