Does location still matter most? Should you remodel your home to suit your tastes, or for resale value? Are starter homes still a thing? We all have plenty of questions about the ever-changing world of real estate. In our Ask an Agent series, we’re partnering with experts at Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate to answer your biggest questions about finding, buying, and selling a home.
To a non-home expert, a good home could be about the perfect location, a layout that works for them, or amenities that will improve their quality of life. However, they’re not always aware of the hundreds of other factors that make a great, livable home. Looks can be deceiving at home viewings—for example, that bathtub in the primary bathroom that sealed the deal for you might have broken plumbing and rusting drains. Learning about the house’s improvement history can help you understand the work that’s needed before moving in and how to budget accordingly.
John O’Reilly
For this installment of Ask an Agent, we spoke with John O’Reilly of the Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate Base Camp about the importance of knowing a house’s improvement history before you purchase it.
John O’Reilly is a real estate agent based in Richmond, Virginia. He sells all kinds of homes, from single-family units to condos to empty properties; O’Reilly has 26 years of real estate experience.
Ask an Agent: How Important Is a Home’s Improvement History While Making a Purchase Decision?
Some of that’s on the homebuyers, but that’s also what separates a good realtor from a great realtor. We should be able to go into a home and look at things like water heaters and HVAC systems, pull some data off of them, and see when they’ve been replaced. We can then enlighten the buyers because a lot of them are just looking at the layout. We also want to look at the foundation. We’re not experts, but we want to point that out because some buyers are just looking at the flow of the house.
We want to point out improvements or challenges that might be available to them. For example, you can tell a roof is 30 years old by the wear and tear on the shingles. You might want to mention that to the buyers because they’ll have to budget for those improvements over time. We can see if they redid the kitchen and bathrooms and how much value that adds.
But it’s always important for homeowners to stay up-to-date with house improvements. Whether it is replacements or redesigns, you want to make sure that the house you’ve lived in for 12 years does not have a carpet, paint, or curtains that are 12 years old.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
