{"id":6601,"date":"2022-07-27T08:27:39","date_gmt":"2022-07-27T08:27:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/?p=6601"},"modified":"2022-07-27T08:27:40","modified_gmt":"2022-07-27T08:27:40","slug":"the-expensive-ostrich-technique","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/the-expensive-ostrich-technique\/","title":{"rendered":"The Expensive Ostrich Technique"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Many homeowners budget for buying a place but they don\u2019t budget nearly as well for maintaining that place.<\/p>\n<p>If you own a home, it\u2019s probably your most expensive and prized asset. Yet, many seem content with watching that value chip away every day due to a lack of care.<\/p>\n<p>A flat in a well-maintained building can sell for 15% more than the same one next door. A poorly looked-after home is one of the best ways to see the value of your investment depreciate.<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s not just to do with resale price. A poorly maintained home costs more to live in, in the long run. The later problems are tackled, the worse they get, and the more expensive they are to fix. A simple gutter cleanout costs hundreds of pounds, sometimes even less. Left unaddressed, these can lead to water inflows, causing timber to rot, or leaks, stone to stain and carry through humidity. That can cost you thousands of pounds to fix.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Get a house survey carried out<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>When it comes to buildings, the ostrich technique (i.e. <span class=\"ILfuVd\" lang=\"en\"><span class=\"hgKElc\">burying<\/span><\/span> one&#8217;s head <span class=\"ILfuVd\" lang=\"en\"><span class=\"hgKElc\">in the sand and pretending there is no problem)<\/span><\/span> is tempting but very expensive indeed. Better face the facts, and face them early &#8211; get a house survey done.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6603\" style=\"width: 1318px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/the-expensive-ostrich-technique\/drawing-by-john-gilbert-architect-for-under-one-roof\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6603\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6603\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6603\" src=\"https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/drawing-by-John-Gilbert-Architect-for-Under-One-Roof.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1308\" height=\"1076\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/drawing-by-John-Gilbert-Architect-for-Under-One-Roof.png 1308w, https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/drawing-by-John-Gilbert-Architect-for-Under-One-Roof-700x576.png 700w, https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/drawing-by-John-Gilbert-Architect-for-Under-One-Roof-1100x905.png 1100w, https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/drawing-by-John-Gilbert-Architect-for-Under-One-Roof-400x329.png 400w, https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/drawing-by-John-Gilbert-Architect-for-Under-One-Roof-768x632.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1308px) 100vw, 1308px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6603\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image credits: John Gilbert Architect for Under One Roof<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Chartered surveyors, for as little as two hundred pounds per property, can advise you of any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/repair-or-not-to-repair-thoughts-for-landlords-with-communal-ownership-properties\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">issues with your building<\/a> and create a neat report, leaving you to prioritise dealing with them as you see fit. That\u2019s not a \u2018nice to have\u2019 &#8211; it\u2019s a necessity &#8211; and if you\u2019re selling, it\u2019s a huge asset.<\/p>\n<p>It is advisable to have a house survey from a qualified surveyor carried out when buying a property, and not solely relying on the legally mandated \u201cHome Report\u201d. No one expects a building to be in perfect condition, but producing a proper survey dramatically reduces the buyer\u2019s perceived risk, and increases your chances of selling at a good price.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/mobile\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"attachment noopener wp-att-2791\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2791\" src=\"https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/latest-apps.png\" alt=\"latest-apps\" width=\"618\" height=\"85\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/latest-apps.png 618w, https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/latest-apps-400x55.png 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 618px) 100vw, 618px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Once the survey is done, you can put together a little <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/5-things-to-know-about-self-factoring\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">maintenance plan<\/a> to share with everyone else, so that the cost of any upcoming repair or maintenance can be budgeted well in advance. This supports the value of your home and gives you peace of mind. You\u2019re reducing to a minimum the chances for a substantial bill to come for fixing an invisible problem you knew nothing about, and that\u2019s priceless.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/the-expensive-ostrich-technique\/novoville-repair-app\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6604\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-6604\" src=\"https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Novoville-Repair-App.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"335\" height=\"625\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Novoville-Repair-App.png 1097w, https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Novoville-Repair-App-375x700.png 375w, https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Novoville-Repair-App-589x1100.png 589w, https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Novoville-Repair-App-214x400.png 214w, https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Novoville-Repair-App-768x1434.png 768w, https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Novoville-Repair-App-823x1536.png 823w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 335px) 100vw, 335px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a trick: it might be worthwhile asking people in the block next to yours if they\u2019re interested in getting a house survey done as well. When a surveyor goes up on your roof, it\u2019s easy to check everyone else\u2019s gutters and chimney too, and you could end up splitting the cost with a lot more people than just your stair!<\/p>\n<p>Whether you\u2019re looking to buy a survey or invite contractors to quote on the items in the survey, you can do it through the <a href=\"https:\/\/sharedrepairs.novoville.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Novoville Shared Repairs app<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A list of reputable surveyors can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ricsfirms.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/5-things-to-know-about-self-factoring\/in-association-novoville\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6336\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6336\" src=\"https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/in-association-novoville.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"221\" height=\"62\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many homeowners budget for buying a place but they don\u2019t budget nearly as well for maintaining that place. If you own a home, it\u2019s probably your most expensive and prized asset. Yet, many seem content with watching that value chip away every day due to a lack of care. A flat in a well-maintained building &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[779,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-common-repairs","category-property","common-repairs","property"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>The Expensive Ostrich Technique - 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