Strike While The Iron’s Hot
In metallurgy, when a blacksmith went to shape a sword, he would first put the metal atop hot coals in order to heat it such that it became nigh-molten. At that point the blacksmith would beat impurities from the metal, and shape it to his will. But seldom is a blacksmith seen to beat cold metal. This doesn’t have the desired effect!
From this reality comes the phrase “strike while the iron’s hot”, which refers to getting things done when you have the opportunity to, and conditions are conducive to your efforts.
Spring cleaning is an example of this kind of thinking put into practice. It’s not too hot or cold in spring, and cleaning is much easier. It’s good to get certain chores impossible during the winter done at this transitionary period between winter and summer.
Spring Cleaning Strategies
There are a lot of different things you can do. You can stick with basic maintenance and repair, but spring is also a great time to augment your property. For example, what kind of irrigation maintains your landscaping? Do you have to go out there with a hose, or screw one of those hardware store sprinklers on the male end and place it in the middle of the lawn? There’s a better way!
Automatic Lawn Sprinkler is a company that can really help you keep your landscape at its peak; according to the site, they serve a broad variety of clientele as well: “Automatic Lawn Sprinkler serves New Jersey, New York, Long Island, and Connecticut as the area’s premier design/build irrigation system and landscape lighting contractor.”
Spring is also a great time to hire an HVAC Contractor and get your heating and air conditioning technology spruced up—HVACContractors.com provide professionals who render service in terms of customer satisfaction as well as repair: “Trust and courtesy may not be the first thing that comes to mot people’s mind when it comes to HVAC repairs, but with HVAC Contractors, we make sure you get the best treatment along with your service.”
Something else that’s a great idea to do in the spring is remodeling work. There are plenty of projects you can do yourself that will only require a few weeks’ worth, and could very well bring value to your property when complete. Adding renewable energy solutions like solar panels will increase energy and can help protect your roof, netting you a tax-break and expanding the value of your home simultaneously. Whatever kind of augmentations are cost-effective and could increase property value are worth considering.
The Reality
Your property will depreciate eventually, but if you are diligent to maintain it and renovate it at intervals, you can get ahead of that depreciation with added value. Provided said property is in a good location, you can see the stationary investment of your home yield high return in the fullness of time.
However, homes are some of the least liquid investments out there. If you invest in a home, you’d better be willing to stay put for a decade or more. Being so willing, and then not properly taking care of the property you own, is basically just throwing money away.
Spring cleaning can be made into a natural expression of your property ownership on an annual basis. Make for yourself a list in late summer, and keep updating that list until the springtime thaw; then get to it with a vengeance before the heat hits.
Do that often enough and not only will you maintain your property’s value, you’ll reduce the overall work involved in spring cleaning, meaning less work will provide more benefit over time. But you’ll have to reach your “cruising altitude” in terms of regular cleaning and maintenance first! Take stock of your property’s situation right now, figure out what you need to do, and get it done. Once that’s a tradition in your house, it will continue to get easier.
