The Creative Girl's Guide to Buying a New Home (+ Thinking About Future Sales)
When you decide to purchase a home, it’s important to remember that it is not just a place where you're going to live.
It is, without a doubt one of the greatest and most important investments that you will make in your life. Why is this? Well, first, it’s something that most people do at some point or another which means that it is basically a universal investment. It’s relevant to everyone and anyone. It’s also an investment that you can make sooner than you think. If you are making a fairly solid income, you should start saving for your first home in your twenties. There are even government subsidies that can make things easier for you and ensure that you get a solid deposit. That’s important because a larger deposit will mean a better deal on the mortgage. It’s just what you need.
This purchase is also important because of the vast potential it brings on the market. If you buy the right property and make the right decisions on the market, you can double or even quadruple your investment. That’s right, the right property purchase could keep you set for life. Worried about retirement? There’s no need because you’ll have already purchased a home that is set to rise massively in value over the next few years.
As you might have guessed then, there are a number of factors to think about when choosing, buying, and improving a home if you’re thinking about the future resale.
Should I Buy A Fixer Upper?
One of the first questions you will probably ask yourself will be whether it is worth or even beneficial buying a fixer-upper. It’s a difficult question to answer for a number of reasons. You might get lucky and buy a brilliant fixer-upper, but you could also purchase one by mistake, riddled with problems that are going to be an expensive repair job. An, of course, each option leads to different scenarios. In the former case, you could get a fantastic deal on a home that you probably managed to scrape up for a fraction of what it was actually worth. In the latter case, the home becomes a money pit, and you’ll be lucky if you break even.
But let’s say for the moment that you do want to move forward with purchasing a fixer-upper. How should you do it? Well, first, according to any investing blog, it’s important to make sure that you do get the advice of an expert. Talk to them and always get a survey on a home before you buy. Sellers of fixer-uppers are always looking for a fast sale even if it is selling a fantastic low price. They’ll use a number of tactics to make you proceed with the sale faster, skipping the survey and avoiding finding out about any issues with the home. They might tell you that a number of buyers are actively looking at the property. This will most likely be a lie and you should never a trust a seller when they tell you how many interested parties there are.
Once you have completed a survey, you should have a full idea about whether the home is worth buying. Researching different issues that need fixing online will tell you how much repairs are going to cost and whether the purchase is indeed worth the trouble. A major consideration will almost undoubtedly be whether you can complete the work yourself or need help to get it sorted. If you can DIY, it’s going to be significantly cheaper and a far more solid investment option.
What If I Buy New?
Buying new can be a smart move because you’ll avoid a lot of the issues of buying an old home, but it’s not all good news. If you buy a brand new home, then you’re going to struggle to get a sizeable ROI from it. Why? Basically, you’ll buy the home at such a high price that regardless of the add-ons you make, it probably won’t impact the value that much. If it does, you should expect it to take a significant amount of time. In other words, you might have built up an ROI by the time you retire but not a few years after purchasing the home. So, buying a new home should really be seen as an investment for the future.
It’s also worth pointing out that buying a new home doesn’t mean that, as most people assume your work is done. Properties, like any other purchase, do grow out of style and need updated quite often. You should be looking at add-ons and exciting possibilities that will make your home a modern buyers dream. Obviously, we can’t tell you what these changes should be for the future. But, if you already own a property, you should be thinking about investing in laminate flooring, redesigning your home so that it is open plan and including automated tech. These are some of the features that are most sought out by buyers right now, but it is difficult to predict home trends of the future.
As well as this, you should consider where you are going to buy the home. If you want the property to rise in value as quickly as possible, you need to think about infrastructure. An area with an existing infrastructure will already be incredibly valuable and thus will cost a lot more on the market. If you purchase a home in a planned development, you can expect the value to grow overtime greatly to the point where it could be worth a lot more than what you paid. This is how homes that were worth a couple 100K grow to be worth a couple million.
You need to be aware of location when you purchase a fixer upper as well. Don’t make the mistake of missing the significance of where a home is located because it does have an impact on value. You can fix up a home to look absolutely stunning, but if it isn’t in the right area, then you will always struggle to get that key sale. Don’t buy because you like the neighbourhood. Buy in the hope that someone in ten years will love it. As such, you always need to be on the lookout for areas that local authorities are investing a lot of money in.
What Improvements Should I Make?
Congratulations you have chosen a house with a future sale in mind. It doesn’t matter whether this is a fixer upper or a brand new home. Both will need improvements over the years to look fresh, exciting and attract potential buyers one day. The question you need to ask and answer is what improvements you should make because there are quite a few to choose from.
You can start off by thinking about curb appeal. It is crucial that you do make sure the home looks picture perfect from the outside. You need to do what you can to make it look unique as well. Be aware that well you sell a home there is typically going to be plenty of others on the market as well. Yours has to stand out if you’re going to be able to get the best price otherwise buyers will just choose the competition.
A unique sculpture can be just what you need to make the property look absolutely fantastic. Or, you may want to think about investing in the services of a landscaper. With landscaping, you can give the property some great texture, ensuring that it looks phenomenal. Add layers to the garden with different sections for everything from flowers to waterworks and a seating area.
On the inside, you need to make sure that you keep a modern design. You can find design ideas on online blogs and make sure that there are lots of different choices for your home style. Think about keeping things minimalistic and relatively simple. There’s no need to dress your home up with lots of different accessories as this will just ensure that it seems cramped and cluttered. That is the absolute last thing that you want.
If you are looking for specific rooms that will need improvements, you should think about making changes to both your kitchens and your bathroom. These are the most important areas of the home to buyers, and by making changes in these areas you will be able to add a fortune onto your overall home value, and the best part is that it won’t even be that difficult.
You can make changes over time, first replacing the light fixtures in your kitchen and then the tiles in your bathroom. Move forward further, sanding down and varnishing the cupboard doors, and you’ll be able to give your kitchen a completely fresh aesthetic. This an exciting way to revamp a room.
Take this advice, and you’ll be able to make sure that you get a great home and a fantastic investment. Ensuring you will get both really will put you in an excellent position for the future.
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This is a contributed article written for WhimMagazine.com