As we enter the dog days of August in Ohio. The real estate market is in full swing and not having central air in your home can have a couple of effects on your selling price. While it is matter of opinion if central air is a luxury or not, it won’t be your opinion that counts when trying to sell your home. Some might even say you won’t touch your central air system until mid-July or August, so it would only be used two months out of the year . But can your home be negatively effected if there is no central air installed?
1. The Properties Around You
If you find other properties around you have central air and not window units. then there is one sign to install A/C in your home. By not having A/C in your home, you could actually hurt the overall value of your property. The best scenario here is to break even. By installing A/C you could eliminate anyone who tries to lower the price because of no A/C unit.
2. Central Cooling and Heat Combo
For all the homeowners with older homes or even older heating systems like radiator heating. Making the switch to central cooling & central heating could increase the value of your home because it will become more efficient. While the those old radiator heating systems might look cool, most people view them as a space hog. Adding both heating and cooling to your home you can add value, make or break a deal, or at the least make it more attractive in a competitive market.
3. Size of Your Home
Here is where you really have to line up the pros and cons before you go installing a central air. It will be cheaper and easier to recover cost on smaller home than a larger home. This is because larger homes take more to cool and takes a bigger unit(s). A home within 800 sq. ft. and 1400 sq. ft. should be able recover the cost depending on your local market. Also, if the duct work is already done in the home because you have central heat, that will save you on cost of adding central air.
Conclusion
The most important thing to remember here is that all of these depends on the market, your location, and the current value of your home before a system is installed. Remember in some areas central air maybe needed a living condition and by making sure your property has it, then at least your property won’t lost value.
What kind of experiences have you had trying to buy or sell a home with or without A/C?
