One of the biggest adjustments first-time homeowners often struggle with after moving into their own homes is taking on the responsibility of handling home repairs and renovations.
After being used to calling on landlords or maintenance companies to complete domestic repairs for them previously, knowing who to call on when a particular problem arises within their own property can feel daunting — especially at first.
That’s why we always recommend homeowners — no matter how long they’ve owned their homes — have a handy list of trustworthy tradespeople they can rely on to help out with repairs and renovations when the need arises.
While you can never know too many talented tradespeople as a homeowner, we’ve narrowed our list down to the five most essential. Here are the top five tradespeople every homeowner should know.
1. An Electrician
For most homeowners, the status of their electrical systems and wiring isn’t often top-of-mind seeing as it’s all hidden behind drywall, but as soon as a pesky light won’t stop blinking or turn on, it’s near impossible to stop thinking about it.
Most of the time, the extent of the issue concerning a faulty light in well-configured homes is down to a burnt-out bulb, which is quite a straightforward fix for essentially anyone. But when that brand new bulb still doesn’t do the trick and you seem to have tried everything else, determining what the issue is can become infuriating.
Plus, if you don’t have a baseline knowledge of domestic electrical work, tampering with sockets and switch boxes can get dangerous. Because the last thing you want is an electric shock warning you to stay away, we always recommend having a trained electrician on-hand to help out with anything you’re unsure about.
Considering all of the responsibilities of owning a home, the buying process can feel overwhelming, especially if it’s your first time. However, not every home is going to be full of repair and maintenance issues. We can help you find the perfect home for you — let us show you how here:
2. A Plumber
Although we do agree that the plumbing trade gets a bit of an unfair reputation (it can be a dirty job, after all!), we also know that fiddling with your own pipes and fittings can certainly get messy — and fast.
While the pipes and tubing systems underneath your kitchen sink or bathroom vanity might look pretty simple, we can assure you that one wrong move has the capacity to ruin your day (and your expensive flooring).
Your home’s internal water systems are nothing to take lightly and are crucial to the everyday functioning of your home. From your kitchen to your bathroom to your laundry room, we all depend on having access to fresh, clean water more than we realize, so it’s best not to compromise when you’ve got a concern about your plumbing.
Once you’ve found an experienced and efficient plumber that won’t charge you champagne prices for water work, make sure you maintain a friendly relationship with them — they’ll eventually pay for themselves in due time.
At GoWylde Real Estate, we’re proud to have developed a comprehensive collection of trustworthy and reliable home service professionals we have full confidence in referring our clients to that work across a range of different communities. To find out more about the areas we service and where our trusted tradespeople are located, go to our Where We Work page here.
3. An HVAC Technician
If you don’t know already, HVAC stands for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning, which are essentially all of the most integral technical home systems responsible for providing your home with climate control and indoor air quality.
Needless to say, these are pretty indispensable systems as it relates to the quality of your everyday life at home, and any issues with their functionality can be devastating. Imagine having to go without adequate heating in the middle of winter, or air conditioning in the midst of summer — not ideal whatsoever.
Unfortunately, most HVAC systems are quite complex and require an expert’s knowledge and skillset to navigate, making it nearly impossible for the average homeowner to fix on their own, especially without a particular set of tools. For this reason, it’s invaluable to have a skilled HVAC technician as a contact in your Rolodex of home service people.
Even if it’s just to monitor the performance of your home systems, every responsible homeowner should regularly have your HVAC appliances monitored, most pertinently ahead of a season when things like your heating or air conditioning will be heavily relied upon.
Not sure if your current home is worth all the repairs and renovation? Not sure if you’re ready to sell? Let our informative guide help find the right answer for you — head over to our post “Renovating vs Selling Your Home As-Is” for more information.
4. A Do-It-All-er
For situations when it’s not completely necessary to call in a specialized expert for a small miscellaneous task or repair around the house, it’s always worth it to have a ‘do-it-all-er’ you can rely on to help you out.
Even if you’re a generally handy person yourself, sometimes having an extra pair of hands (and an extra toolbox) to call on and help you take on more challenging small-scale jobs can save you big-time on your time, effort, and sanity.
Preferably, this person is based locally so that they can whip over to you in a pinch when the need arises because you never really know when you’ll need to fix a broken porch step or patch up some broken drywall. And of course, the do-it-all-er is someone you’ll want to cultivate an extra-special relationship with if you aren’t particularly handy because chances are, you might need to lean on their dynamic skillset more often than you’d initially think.
At GoWylde Real Estate, we help homeowners with much more than just home service referrals. Find out about all of the advantages that come with working with us as well as what some of our past clients have had to say about their experiences with our team.
