It is not a fail-safe guarantee that water treatment systems will increase the direct resale value of your home. For many prospective buyers, however, an existing and professionally installed water system is an appealing feature in a home in areas with particularly hard water. While your home’s sale price won’t automatically increase, the convenience and appeal to buyers might do just that.
How Buyers/Agents Perceive Homes With Existing Treatment
Increasingly, buyers consider water quality when looking for a new home. If they’ve done their research and found that an area has water hardness or contamination concerns, a ready-installed system in their new home can feel like a real bonus. A whole-house system can be viewed as an excellent home improvement, rather than an additional cost the buyer will need to research and install during the already-stressful process of moving home.
Buyers can associate water treatment systems with the following benefits:
- Tastier drinking water that feels cleaner.
- Reduced scale so reduced damage to pipes and appliances.
- Convenience of having treated water throughout the home.
Find out more about our water softener systems and whole-house water systems.
Hard Water Damage as a Home-Inspection Red Flag
The mineral content of hard water can contribute to scale buildup across your home, on faucets and plumbing fixtures, showerheads, plumbing components such as pipework, water heaters, and water appliances such as dishwashers and washing machines. Visible scale or signs of neglected home maintenance can raise questions during home inspections and be a real turn-off for prospective buyers.
A well-maintained water softening system can demonstrate that a homeowner is proactive about taking care of their home in a hard-water area, which is an attractive prospect for buyers. While water treatment can’t erase existing damage, it helps to reduce the ongoing exposure of your home to water contaminants and heavy mineral content.
System Transferability When Selling
Most whole-house water treatment systems are installed into the home’s existing plumbing infrastructure, meaning they can remain with the home when transferring to a new owner.
Documentation matters when transferring ownership. New owners will need installation records, system specifications, maintenance and service histories and results of recent water tests to ensure they can keep the system running well and continue protecting their family from heavy mineral content and water contaminants.
Always ensure that you clarify with a buyer what equipment from the system is included in the sale of your home. A functioning and well-maintained system with clear records is much easier for a buyer to understand than one which has been abandoned or poorly maintained over time.
ROI: Appliance Longevity vs Resale Premium
The Return on Investment (ROI) of a water-treatment system comes from its ongoing reduction in household outgoings and the continued protection of residents and appliances, rather than its resale profit.
Reduced scale can help appliances operate at peak efficiency and reduce the need for repairs or replacement over the lifetime of the appliance. Water softeners may reduce the need for cleaning in bathroom and kitchen sinks by reducing the deposits made by hard water with heavy mineral content. Water filtration can address the specific water quality concerns of a client depending on water test results in their area.
On this page, you can learn more about the average lifespan of a water softener, which will help you best inform potential buyers about what to expect from the system in your home.
Free Water Test Before Listing
If you’re preparing to sell your home, we recommend learning about your local water quality and existing plumbing setup before you put the property on the market. This puts you in the best position to inform real estate agents and potential buyers.
Water tests can identify your water hardness and other potential concerns – from this, Aqua Clear can recommend a suitable water treatment based on your actual conditions rather than loose assumptions. Contact us today to see how we can help you.
