There are a small number of worthwhile home improvements that Miami home buyers often fail to remember factoring in when negotiating the price of a house they are planning to purchase. This article discusses two of these, namely, sprinkler systems and hurricane shutters.

Before closing a deal for a home in Miami, one must ascertain that it provides an automatic sprinkler system that is in perfect working order. The significance of having an automatic sprinkler system in a home is one of the items that Miami home buyers often take for granted. The cost of installing an automatic sprinkler system likely varies within the range of $1,400 on the low end to over $5,000 if the property is very wide. Albeit having to cash out for the installation, an automatic sprinkler system can actually save you money. Most homes that have an automatic sprinkler system that uses either well or lake water effectively accumulates lower water bills. Therefore the cost is usually limited to the electricity utilized to operate the pump and for system maintenance.

While some Miami home buyers may not be particularly concerned about this as an important amenity, they often switch their minds eventually, even after just a few months or years, because of the hassle of having to water their lawns themselves. If a lawn is badly neglected and needs replacement, it can amount to hundreds of dollars to replace it with new sod. This is a disadvantage that needs to be taken into account when negotiating the purchase of a Miami home. As a last note about automatic sprinkler systems, be sure to investigate, most especially before starting to negotiate the home price, whether the sprinkler system is in good working order. Seeing sprinkler heads in the yard does not necessarily mean that the sprinkler system is functioning properly, albeit a lush green lawn can serve as sufficient evidence of this.

As you are comparing one home with another in Miami, also make sure to give due consideration whether each house has hurricane shutters. This is another item that needs to be included in the calculation when you are planning to negotiate the sale price of a home. The number of hurricanes that have affected South Florida in recent years has caused many Miami home owners to invest in hurricane shutters. Nevertheless, a vast majority of Miami homes still do not have hurricane shutters; quite ironic if one thinks about how much they can alleviate the severity of the damage usually caused by a hurricane.

The cost of having hurricane shutters installed in a home can range widely from a minimum of around $1,200 to well above $10,000, which depends primarily on the number of doors and windows that has to be protected, and secondly on the type of shutters that are chosen. Accordion shutters typically are more expensive than panel-type shutters, but is generally easier to use and much faster to shut and open. Other types of shutters are available but the two shutters mentioned here are the most often installed nowadays. In addition, keep in mind that the demand for installing hurricane shutters shoots up dramatically just after the occurrence of a hurricane. When this happens, prices necessarily increase as does the waiting time before they are ever installed When comparing a home that provides hurricane shutters with another one that does not, it is important to take the cost into consideration when negotiating the house price.