Resolutions you need for your home

January is the month of New Year’s resolutions, where goals are set in the pursuit of growth and improvement.
Goals are often set around health and fitness, spiritual well-being, finances and even around one’s career.
By adding household goals to the list, homeowners could create greater financial freedoms in the place they call home.
“As one of the largest assets a person will ever own, it makes sense to want to set goals around how better to care for it to ensure greater enjoyment and safeguard future returns,” said Adrian Goslett, regional director and CEO of RE/MAX of Southern Africa.
To help homeowners achieve this, RE/MAX of Southern Africa suggested a few resolutions homeowners could set for their household in 2022:
Pay extra towards bond repayments
A series of interest rate hikes are predicted to take place this year.
By adding a little extra towards your bond repayments each month, not only will you be better prepared for what lies ahead, but you could also end up shaving years off our loan term and save thousands on interest charges.
For example, BetterBond states that by paying just R1 000 extra each month on a 20-year bond for an R1-million home, at the current prime lending rate of 7.25%, it's possible to save about R219 000 in interest and reduce the loan repayment period by four years.
Contribute towards a household maintenance fund
Unexpected repair work often crops up at the most inconvenient of times.
To make sure you are better prepared for this, make 2022 the year that you start a household maintenance fund.
It is far easier to find a way to afford contributing a couple hundred rands each month towards a tax-free savings fund than it will be to find a couple of thousand of rands when disaster strikes or for when the need for some regular maintenance arises.
Tackle laborious chores monthly
Nobody enjoys cleaning out the gutters or pressure washing the driveway.
But, to maintain the resale value of the property, these are tasks that simply need to be done.
This year, create a household chore schedule and tackle at least one of these sorts of household maintenance jobs each month.
Below are a few other tasks that might need to be added to your list:
• Sand and varnish all wooden door and window frames
• Repaint the home’s exterior
• Pressure wash the roof tiles
• Scrub down or repaint scruffy interior walls
• Scrub the interiors of all cupboards to prevent stains
• Weed the pavements
“No matter whether you are the type to create resolutions or not, developing good habits that will safeguard the future investment value of your home is important.
“If you’re unsure where to start, speak to a financial advisor or invite a real estate agent over and ask for their advice. They can guide you towards which features need to be better maintained or even renovated to help increase the resale value of the home,” Goslett said.