Top 12 Money Saving House Maintenance Hacks
7-MINUTE READ
Did you know that the real cost of home ownership includes 1% of your property’s value in annual house maintenance? So, if your home is worth $600,000, expect to pay $6,000 per year in maintaining the property.
Keeping on top of your house maintenance can help reduce this cost considerably. Complete a set of regular maintenance tasks and avoid astronomical costs in repairs and replacements!
Saving money on home maintenance is particularly important if you have recently bought a home Downunder as an Australian Expat. Relocating back to Oz comes with some significant expenses, despite your great home loan approval to buy your Australia property!
Similarly, after securing your perfect home loan in Australia as a foreign national, you need to look after your investment. Sensible maintenance makes financial sense, whatever your circumstances!
Read on to discover how you can save money and keep your home in great shape!
Why Is House Maintenance Necessary?
House maintenance reduces costs in the long term, preventing any necessary and expensive repairs and replacements. You can avoid significant repair works by completing regular checks and maintenance to the inside and outside of your home.
However, it is important to know which maintenance checks you should complete and when. Some types of maintenance need to be completed more regularly than others.
Other maintenance types are required at specific points in the year, coinciding with seasons and the climate of your area.
You may decide to list your home before purchasing a new home in Australia. Your home should be spotlessly clean to make a great impression on the valuer and potential home buyers!
Although, it can become confusing to try and keep track of all jobs that need to be done and when. Keeping a home maintenance checklist will point you in the right direction to never miss a maintenance opportunity!
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What Is a Home Maintenance Checklist?
A home maintenance checklist is a list of jobs that need to be completed in your home. A checklist is a great idea, enabling you to tick off each job once it is complete!
Not only will you ensure all maintenance tasks are met, but you will also feel a real sense of satisfaction. You will know your home is sufficiently maintained, reducing the chance of expensive repair work.
Important jobs such as checking smoke detectors are working will also provide you with peace of mind.
Additionally, you can take pride in your home and know that you have made a great investment.
These are the maintenance tasks you should complete monthly to keep your home in great shape!
Monthly Maintenance Checklist |
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What Home Maintenance Should Be Done Seasonally?
Seasonal maintenance jobs are necessary to pre-empt harsh weather conditions. Seasonal checklists are also useful to complete tasks that can be done every three months.
But, what maintenance activities should you complete, and when? Here is your seasonal home maintenance checklist for Spring.
Spring Home Maintenance Checklist
Have you heard of a spring clean? Here are the most important maintenance tasks that you should complete every time spring comes around.
Spring Maintenance Checklist |
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Summer Home Maintenance Checklist
Once summer rolls around, do you think you will be able to put your feet up? There will still be house maintenance jobs to complete, although they won’t take much of your time!
Here is your summer maintenance checklist to keep your home in perfect condition.
Summer Maintenance Checklist |
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Get a free Australian mortgage assessment today.
Autumn Maintenance Checklist
Your spring maintenance intends to repel insects and ensure your home air conditioning is working great. However, once autumn is approaching, you need to get prepared for the change in the climate.
Here are your top autumn maintenance tasks to complete.
Autumn Maintenance Checklist |
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Winter Maintenance Checklist
Has a whirlwind of Autumnal leaves swirled around your suburb, landing in your gutters? Your winter maintenance checklist focuses on tidying the debris and preparing for wetter weather!
Here are the tasks you should complete in your winter maintenance checklist.
Winter Maintenance Checklist |
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Why Should I Maintain My Home?
Maintaining your home can save you money and prevent large repairs from needing to be performed by professionals.
A blocked sink that is left untreated can cause big problems for your plumbing system as a whole. It can also overflow waste into your home and require a significant clean-up!
Your home has cost a substantial amount of money and is an asset that you should be proud of. Keeping your home clean and well maintained secures your investment and ensures that you are proud of your home.
If you want to sell your home, your house should be maintained to a great standard to attract a high selling price. Home buyers prefer homes where very little maintenance is required when they first move in.
If you are looking to move back to Australia as an Expat, you need the highest possible selling price for your current home! The Aussie property market has surged to unprecedented levels recently, with property prices higher than you remember!
Get a great home loan deal on your home in Australia from Odin Mortgage, experts in Expat mortgages!
We can help you secure your perfect home loan, or refinance your current home. Find out how much you could borrow using our Borrowing Power Calculator, now!
Could House Maintenance Hacks Save Me Time?
Knowing some great home maintenance hacks can save you time, effort, and money!
Simply performing a task in a different way or using a specific cleaning product can provide you with some amazing results!
Why reach for the phone and call an expert every time a task needs completing? Save yourself hundreds, or even thousands of dollars and complete home maintenance hacks yourself!
Get a free Australian mortgage assessment today.
Top 12 Home Maintenance Hacks
Check out our innovative top 12 home maintenance hacks to make YOUR life so much easier!
1. Keep Your Bin Fresh
Do the bins in your home start to quickly smell? Particularly in hotter weather, bins can smell distinctively, and leave a poor impression on guests.
Sprinkling Borax at the base of your dry bin can absorb moisture and prevent odours! Bugs will also be deterred from entering your bin, despite the hot weather. Furthermore, Borax is non-toxic and completely safe to use.
2. Dispose of Disposal Smells
If your disposal starts to smell, run the water whilst dropping lemon peels into the disposer. Turn on the disposer for a few seconds and then turn off the water, allowing the lemon peel to settle for a few minutes.
The citric acid from the lemon peel will work wonders on the odour!
Then run the water again and drop some ice cubes into the disposer. Turn on the disposer and the pieces of ice will remove any debris from the edges of the disposer.
Run the water at full speed for a minute to flush the system, whilst running the disposer.
3. Re-Use Dryer Sheets
Once you have used dryer sheets in your laundry, re-use them to clean your floor! Attach the dryer sheet to a sweeper and wipe any dust and hair away from your wooden or tiled floors.
This is a much quicker way to dust your floor than using a broom, and can leave your floors smelling great too!
You can also use this method to catch dust bunnies high up on the ceiling or the cornices of your home. The extending handle of the sweeper makes this task easy!
4. Use Electric Toothbrushes as a Tool
Sometimes you need a small tool to reach nooks and crannies! Perhaps you are trying to clean corners in your home or paint a tiny area on your home’s exterior.
Toothbrushes are great for these tasks! You can re-use old toothbrushes as painting tools, and electric toothbrushes as the perfect tool to scrub and clean!
5. Clean Soap Scum
Does your shower attract soap scum that proves difficult to clean? Use a plastic putty knife and scrape the soap scum away effortlessly!
You could also try and add a waterproof layer to your shower to lessen the attraction of soap scum to your tiles. Squirting a diluted baby oil mixture can really help to create a waterproofed effect.
6. Dryer Lint Build-Up
You may regularly clean the lint from the removable screen in your dryer, but did you know that lint may still be lurking? Take a dry paintbrush or stick and cover the end with an old cloth.
Inset into the space after removing the lint screen and wipe away excess lint hiding in the crevices!
7. Faucet Water Build Up
Do your faucets experience a build-up of hard water remnants? To remove, simply cut a lemon in half and press it into the faucet end. Cover with a plastic bag and a rubber band to secure.
Leave the lemon secured to the faucet for several hours. Once removed, use a pad to scrub away the hard water build-up.
8. Remove Permanent Marker
Make your laminate countertops look brand new by rubbing cooking oil into the stain with a paper towel. Place a paper towel over the saturated stain and leave for a few minutes.
Take the paper towel away and rub the stain once again with a paper towel drenched in cooking oil. Repeat the process until the stain has disappeared.
Clean the area with soap and water to remove remnants of the cooking oil.
9. Rejuvenate Sofas
We use our sofas every day, so smells and odours are inevitable! Remove hidden smells by sprinkling baking soda over the material and leaving for up to 30 minutes.
Stains will be eliminated, and you may discover that some stains have lessened, also!
Take a handheld vacuum cleaner and clear away the baking soda to reveal a refreshed sofa!
10. Eliminate Crayon Marks
A family home may suffer from unsightly crayon marks displayed across the walls! Remove crayon marks using a cloth and baking soda and scrub moderately.
Using washable paint to cover your walls may be the best option for family homes, making the cleaning tasks so much easier!
11. Paint on Carpet?
Have you recently refreshed your walls with a modern coat of paint, but forgot to protect your carpets? Are you considering replacing the whole carpet?
Remove paint marks on your carpets simply with a cloth and denatured alcohol/methylated spirits. It will easily remove the pain without damaging your carpets!
However, use a cloth that is a similar colour to your carpet in case there is any colour transfer.
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12. Unblock Your Sink
Before calling out an expert to unblock your sink, try this trick first! Take a long zip tie and cut some ridges into it. Push the zip tie into the sink hole and try to pull the stoppage out of the sink.
As long as the blockage is not too deep, this will work every time!
Contact a Professional Broker Today!
Keep your home maintained to gain the highest selling price when you move back to Australia! House maintenance will also help to secure a higher valuation if you decide to refinance your home.
If you are looking for expert broker advice to secure a new home loan in Australia, look no further than Odin Mortgage! We are Expat experts and can help you in any personal situation. Check out our online Testimonials Wall to read what our customers think of us!
Do you want to find a home loan with a big bank or a small lender? Compare the latest home loan interest rates today from all major lenders!
Request a call from an expert broker at Odin Mortgage today and begin your journey on the Aussie property market!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to deep clean my whole house?
Tackle each task separately when deep cleaning a whole house.
Start with a complete decluttering of your belongings, giving to charity any clothes and toys you no longer want. Recycle any old newspapers and magazines, and dispose of any junk.
You should then dust the whole house from ceiling to floor, vacuuming as you go. Next, clean all windows and glass in your home, and clean all surface areas including sinks and toilets.
Sweep the floor, followed by a thorough mop, and your home will be sparklingly clean!
Should any home maintenance tasks be done annually?
Your annual home maintenance checklist includes a detailed pest inspection. You should also inspect electrical cords as damage could cause a safety hazard.
Renovating your home in Australia can mean that more maintenance tasks are completed annually. Making the right choices at the outset really can pay off over time.
How often should I get my air conditioning system serviced?
Make sure you get your air conditioning system serviced two times per year, once in the spring and once in autumn.
However, always check that outdoor air vents are clear, cleaning your air conditioner filters regularly.
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