Homes Sarasota often catch unassuming Sarasota home buyers off guard with costly repairs when grass dies, water intrudes during a normal rainfall & the A/C dies.
Click the video below now to discover 3 costly – and very common – mistakes home buyers and home owners commit…out of ignorance and/or neglect!
Ignorance and neglect will cost you $1,000s…unnecessarily. 
If you are new to Florida, you must LEARN quickly about caring for your Sarasota real estate…or trust people you pay to do the job right.
If you know Sarasota but don’t know how to maintain your new Sarasota home, pay attention now or pay money later.
For some strange reason, people don’t replace A/C filters, prematurely killing their AC units and suffering when their AC fails during the hottest, most humid weeks of the summer.
They don’t water, fertilize or face bugs and weeds. Want to see what happens to lush, healthy ST. Augustine turf grass (the envy of the neighborhood) when chinch bugs move in? Click Read More below now….
They don’t seal the house against Florida’s rainy season. Want to see what happens to a house at Christmas with a pregnant wife when builders during 20o2-2007 threw houses up without regard to workmanship? Click Read More below now….
Click Read More below now for the top 3 undisputed and costly mistakes I see homeowners make, resulting in THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS in repairs…that cannot be put off.
Taking 3 minutes to read this article easily could be worth $1,000s of dollars in your pocket…I’m serious!
PAY ATTENTION NOW OR PAY MORE $MONEY$ LATER
For better or worse, the top 3 costly (& usually unnecessary) home repairs I see are:
1. Bad Grass
- Chinch bugs destroy lush ST. Augustine turf grass in days!
Chinch bugs WILL get YOU eventually - Beware ST. Augustine turf grass!
Reality: Chances are, your new Sarasota (or Florida) home will include St. Augustine grass. If no one tells you, listen carefully: St. Augustine DEMANDS time and money. It’s a grass very susceptible to drought, disease, bugs & weeds.
Still, it’s Florida’s “best” grass…to many people.
Chinch bugs destroy healthy, lush carpet in days!
What you see above is what chinch bugs can do to a once-beautiful lush St. Augustine carpet in two weeks when these voracious bugs suddenly appear to feast.
- By the time you see chinch bugs, it’s TOO LATE!
When you notice brown spots, usually it’s TOO LATE to avoid lawn damage
Whether before or after a bug attack, beware your choices:
- Most lawn pets control companies do not prevent or kill chinch bugs before it’s too late. In all my years of dealing with many different Sarasota lawn pest control companies, only ONE company gets my vote…only ONE!
- Forget trying to run to Home Depot, Lowes or even Lesco’s for over-the-counter chinch bug killer or prevention. If you’re a DIYer, my friends and I have tried all the over-the-counter preventions and bug killers. They don’t work!
- As a substitute, you’ll hear some people push you toward Zoysia, claiming Zoysia is everything St. Augustine isn’t. I have 3 friends nurturing Zoysia lawns. For 2 years, I’ve kept a close eye on this “superior” grass. I’m not seeing it.
TIP: When you’re new to St. Augustine, no one tells you the truth about it. If possible, buy a house with a well for watering the grass. Even better, don’t deal with St. Augustine: go with Bahia instead. Forget all the talk about Zoysia as a miracle grass. I can show you 4 friends who bought in to the happy talk about Zoysia, only to be disappointed.
St. Augustine grass looks good…no doubt about it. However, realize St. Augustine requires more time & money.
Cost: To replace a normal-sized lawn with St. Augustine, you’ll pay $1,800-$3,000, depending on how much prep is needed. I’ve tossed sod before. This is not (or should not) be a DIY job.
2. Caulk EVERYTHING….
The 2nd top costly (and unnecessary) repair I see involves caulk.
CAULK…those inexpensive tubes of simple caulk.
Face reality: it RAINS in Florida. It rains (or should rain) A LOT. If your new home is not tight, you will face water intrusion.
What you see below is what happens when stucco, roofing & paint contractors don’t cover for each other, one screwing up the flashing…another stuccoing over the flashing…and a third not using any cheap caulk.
The result is what you see below: an entire interior wall and 632 square feet of wood flooring needing to be replaced at a cost of $7,900.
Believe me when I say, this repair cost a helluva LOT more than $7,900!
How so, you ask?
How would you like to face a pregnant wife at Christmas, who can’t get her house put back together for one entire month…because 3 contractors screwed up and are long gone?
Pretty amazing, huh?
How many contractors does it take to create $7,900 & hormonal RAGE @ Christmas time?
Regardless of type of (or cost of) home, I see the same situation: (many) contractors did NOT (do not) caulk…or they didn’t caulk well enough.
$2.00 Caulk Or $7,900 Water Damage?
Which do you prefer: caulking everything or repairing water damage?
- New(er) houses aren’t supposed to LEAK…right? WRONG! Beware houses built b/t 2002-2007….
I used to think the county’s inspectors would catch any “inadequacies” until I understood the ratio of county building inspectors to number of houses being built.
TIP: When you buy a home in (Sarasota) Florida, caulk around every window…fill in every “stair-stepping” crack in stucco & carefully examine all roof flashing–shoot caulk everywhere! Do it even if someone tells you it’s unnecessary.
3. Simple A/C Maintenance SAVES $100s!
Here’s another totally unnecessary and VERY costly repair: HVAC system (aka “heating, ventilation & air conditioning).
Bottom Line: homeowners/renters do NOT regularly change out the a/c filter. Simply acid washing the coil in the air handler is $500. Replacing the air handler is $2,500. Replacing both air handler and air compressor is $5,000.
According to one Sarasota A/C repair contractor, his #1 repair call results from poor maintenance.
#1 reason your AC pooped out during 200 F. steamy hot Florida days, says AC repair technicians!
Simple a/c maintenance often saves $100s, even $1,000s in unnecessary repair or replacement costs.
TIP: Before you buy a house, hire a reliable HVAC contractor to examine the hvac system, including the coil. In some cases, you can see ac system neglect by spotting all the dirt deposits on and/or around the VENTS (technically the “returns”) inside the house. A home inspector is good, but a specific systems contractor inspecting is better (in my mind).
If I had a penny for every A/C filter like the one above I personally have removed, I’d be doing fine. If I had another penny for every home sold with new owners staring at the kind of grass in photo at top, I’d be doing even better. If you’re from outside Florida and buying a house in or around Sarasota, take time to GET informed on required maintenance…before you’re forced to cough up $1,000s. (BTW, if someone suggests “plugging” chinch bug-ridden dirt, don’t do it. Go ahead, ask me why).
If you want to buy or sell a house in (or around) Sarasota, call me now. I want to help you. In the meantime, please scroll down to leave me a comment. What other common (& unnecessary repairs) should I include in Part 2? What unpleasant (& costly) surprise faced you when moving to Florida? I want to hear from you….
Homes Sarasota don’t tell the entire story about previous owners and maintenance demands. Absolutely, get informed about maintenance & repair realities.
