Furnace/AC Question

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yler4cy

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Jun 23, 2009
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Ankeny, IA
My wife and I are pretty set of moving out of our current house in about 5 years. With that being said, our Furnace and A/C work great (fingers crossed) but are ancient. What are everyone's thoughts on replacing them now compared to when we are closer to selling our house? We want the "wow" they just replace their furnace and A/C.
 

CyAg

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May 22, 2006
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Do not replace, offer a 1 year sellers warranty and if in doubt, make it 2 years.
 
  • Agree
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BCClone

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Not exactly sure.
You may make 500 bucks extra off a house. People want the outside to look good. Then they want a nice kitchen, then bathrooms and a master suite.

They will pick a house to look at on bedrooms and location. 90-95% will at most ask if everything works. You should not replace them unless you feel like you want to give the new owner free money.
 

CascadeClone

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Oct 24, 2009
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Just wanted to put this out there:
gf has an older small home, built in the early 50s. Far as I can tell, her furnace was installed in the 70s, so it is 40-50 years old.

The furnace is a Singer. As in the sewing machine manufacturer. It runs like a top, and every Mx guy is astounded but then adds "its in great shape". It is a bit oversized for the house, but it sure keeps it warm.

TL/DR: Don't replace unless unreliable or it dies on you.
 

jbhtexas

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Oct 20, 2006
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Arlington, TX
Well, this can depend where you are, and what the market is. If it's a seller's market, and homes get snatched up before they even get listed, then don't worry about it. On the other hand, my sister was looking at unloading a property in CA a few years ago in the Bakersfield area (hot, hot hot temps in the summer). High electric rates + depressed market = taking a fairly big hit for an outdated AC.
 

CloneGuy8

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Mar 20, 2017
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Let the buyers worry about that. You wont get the $ back in the sale price
 

motorcy90

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Aug 12, 2018
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Iowa
I'm in the same debate. will be looking to move possibly within the next 5-10 years. House was built in 82', with the furnace and AC done in 94', furnace is a 100,000btu unit with 80% efficiency rating, my gas bill this winter averaged pretty steady around $120 a month for 1,800sq.ft and will drop down to about $25-30 this summer for just the water heater. looking at a new system, parents just put a new AC/furnace combo in at a cost of around $6,500 I think after rebates from MidAm and the manufacturer, and one of my coworkers is looking at about the same cost for his house. I won't make the investment back in my bill over the amount of time we live here, and it won't be that big of an improvement to the house compared to us adding a 4th bedroom and a deck among other smaller details when we go to sell. the AC is what I am most concerned about over the furnace as it looks in rough shape but it works. right now I just plan to keep both older units until they need to be replaced due to breakdown.