In St George real estate, water can be pretty important! After all we are in a desert! Are you aware that today is World Water Day? Most of us won’t recognize it, or celebrate it.
It got me thinking, though… In buying real estate, one of the things we see come up in home inspections are issues with water.
When you walk through looking at homes to buy, you’ll want to look for evidence of a leak on a ceiling, a gurgling sink, or a leaky faucet. If you are looking at a lot to purchase for a new home to be built, you’ll want to ask about whether or not the Washington County Water Conservancy District Fee has been paid. This is important — and overlooking it can be costly. The fee this year is over $8400 and goes up every year! No… this isn’t a water connection fee or a permit fee. It is completely separate. Some lots will have already had the fee paid by the seller. Other lots it will be required for you to pay either at closing or prior to building a home.
Water is often a problem people deal with when buying or selling a house. These issues frustrate buyers and sellers to no end. It is important to ask these questions with your real estate agent prior to passing your due diligence deadline.
And water related problems certainly are frustrating, and sometimes costly to deal with. But in the grand scheme of things, they are “first world problems”.
Many homeowners simply ignore water related issues around the home because almost every plumbing issue is going to cost at least a few hundred dollars. And many people just don’t have even a few hundred dollars extra laying around to throw at what seems like a nuisance.
So these problems get put off. There’s a term for this in real estate…“deferred maintenance”. Lots of people put off dealing with water issues until they are selling their home.
If you have water related issues around your home, you should not ignore them. Get them addressed as soon as you discover them…or at least as quickly as you can. Don’t wait until you’re selling your home.
Those few-hundred-dollar-problems can become much bigger problems and cost you much more down the road once you’re selling your home. A buyer may ask for a bigger credit than they’re worth. Or you may pay more just because it’s now an emergency situation.
As much as you may not want to deal with these issues, look at the bright side… dealing with them is minor in comparison to people who have no running water, or plumbing at all. Sometimes it helps to have perspective. And gaining perspective is as good a way to recognize World Water Day.
P.S. We’d be glad to recommend a plumber or handy-man in St George or the surrounding areas if you have any issues around your home you want to get fixed. Just give us a call!