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Steps to a Safer Home

Pillar To Post blog post

Is your home safe? Studies show that burglaries occur at an average of every eight seconds, 400,000 serious residential fires happen every year, and more child deaths result from accidents than from all diseases combined.

Though we can never be completely safe at home, we can take certain steps to dramatically reduce hazards and the possibility of injury or tragedy.

  1. Make sure your home is fire-safe. Test every smoke detector in your house by pressing the test button. If it doesn’t sound an alert, replace the battery. Keep at least two fully charged, multipurpose fire extinguishers in your home: One in the kitchen area and one in the garage, located in clear view.
  2. Prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. The surest prevention is to have a professional technician inspect flues and vents, chimneys, and any fuel-burning equipment.
  3. Make your home more secure. A home security system can protect your house and family from burglary, carbon monoxide, and fire whether you’re home or away.
  4. Be prepared for emergencies. Develop an escape plan and practice with a family drill. Each room should have at least two exits.
  5. Make your home safe for children. If you have a swimming pool, pond or hot tub, be sure kids can’t get to it on their own. Never leave children unattended near pools or tubs.

Additionally, if you have small children in your home, check for poisons or objects that could be ingested, and eliminate the potential for falls.

Pre-listing Home Inspections

You invest a great deal of time, money, and energy to market your listings, and you need to get a good return on that investment. Don’t be caught unaware of problems that could seriously undermine your dedicated efforts to sell a home, or that could keep a property from selling at its highest potential price. One of the best steps you can take to avoid this is to recommend a professional home inspection prior to listing.

A pre-listing inspection can uncover previously unknown problems – major and minor – allowing sellers the opportunity to make repairs, updates, or replacements as needed or as they wish. By addressing these issues before the home goes on the market, you can list a home with greater knowledge of its condition. This can result in cleaner offers and a smoother transaction for both parties. Having well-informed sellers and buyers will work to everyone’s advantage, including yours.

Be sure that the home inspection is comprehensive and that you will get the report immediately upon completion of the inspection. This will allow your sellers to get the information they need right away, so they can decide on their next steps prior to listing. Photographs should also always be part of a professional report so that full documentation of conditions is available to both the sellers and potential buyers. This is especially important when it comes to issues that might not be addressed or repaired prior to sale.

With a pre-listing inspection in hand, you can market your sellers’ homes with greater confidence.

Repairs and Upgrades: How Much Will They Cost?

During the process of buying or selling a home, your clients often learn about recommended or required repairs and upgrades. This can happen as a result of the home inspection as well as your expert knowledge of your market and comparable homes. Of course, the first thing homeowners want to know is, “How much will that cost?”

Pillar To Post is pleased to offer our popular Residential Construction and Remodeling Estimates cost guide, which provides estimated cost ranges for repair and/or replacement of the major systems and components in a home. It also includes general guidelines for the life expectancies of those systems. This information can help your clients make informed decisions when they’re considering home repairs or improvements, and is valued by buyers and sellers alike. Below is just a sampling of our list of estimated costs for hundreds of repairs/upgrades.

Floors

Hardwood Floor Refinish              $3-$6 / sq ft
Carpet – Clean                                 $125 / room
Ceramic Tile                                     $6-$11 / sq ft

Kitchen

Renovation                                       $7,500+
Kitchen Counter – Laminate          $45 / lin ft
Kitchen Counter – Marble              $80 / lin ft

Security System

Alarm System                                   $2,500
Alarm Monitoring                            $35 / month

Deck

Pressure Treated                             $15-$30 /sq ft
Custom Designed & Built               $55-$80 / sq ft

Windows

Skylight                                             $800 and up
Casement – Replace                       $50 / sq ft

These estimates reflect the average basic costs for supplies and installation of building materials in United States and Canada. Costs may vary depending on regions, upgrades, complexity, and disposal fees.

For complimentary copies of our Construction and Remodeling Estimates cost guide, please contact your local Pillar To Post office, or download from www.pillartopost.com/costguide.

Pillar To Post Ranked Top Home Inspection Franchise

Pillar To Post Home Inspectors was recognized today in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 (2017) as the 58 out of 500 franchises who are at the top of their game. In addition Pillar To Post was named the Top Franchise in the Home Inspection category in the iconic ranking.

“Pillar To Post is outperforming the real estate market fivefold,” said Dan Steward, president and CEO. “We have built a strong national brand and taken strategic initiatives that have positioned us to be a leader in the marketplace by focusing on the customer experience and by providing an unparalleled value in the inspection services we provide.”

Pillar To Post Home Inspectors continue to be an industry leader because of their constantly evolving and innovative programs. Read more about this story and the Pillar To Post franchise opportunity, click here.