How Millennials Can Take The Risk Out Of Buying A House

Buying a home is one of the biggest struggles that millennials face right now and for a lot of people, it just feels like it’s never going to happen.

Deposits are so high and with such a high percentage going into high rents, it’s so hard to pull together the cash you need to get a house. But if you do eventually manage to get that cash together, you’ll likely be putting everything that you have into that house.

You’re putting all of your eggs in one basket and if the value of your house starts to drop, you’ll lose out big time. That doesn’t seem likely at the moment because house prices are always rising, that’s one of the reasons that it’s so difficult for young people to buy. But prices aren’t guaranteed to carry on rising forever and there’s always the chance that house prices could plummet. That’s why it’s important that you take steps to reduce the risk of buying a house. Here are some of the ways that you can do it.

Buy In an Up-and-Coming Area

If you want to buy a house in a popular neighborhood the price is going to shoot up pretty quickly and, chances are, you won’t be able to afford it. You’ll be able to get a similar property a lot cheaper in a less than desirable area, but the value of it is likely to fall when the neighborhood starts to fade and people move away. When it comes time to try to sell the house and move on, you’ll really struggle and you’ll be stuck living in a place where there’s nothing going on. The solution to this is finding an up and coming neighborhood that is likely to become popular in the next couple of years. You should be able to get a reasonably priced house that will increase in value as the area gets more popular.

You’re always going to be taking a risk because you might be wrong about the neighborhood but if you take the advice of a good real estate agent, they should be able to advise you on the best neighborhoods to look at.

Don’t Buy Too Early

There’s a lot of pressure to get on the property ladder as soon as possible and you might be tempted to buy a place as soon as you can get a deposit but don’t fall into the trap of thinking that something is better than nothing. If you only have the minimum deposit, you’ll end up with a huge loan that you may struggle to pay back. It’s often better to wait another year or two so you can pay a bigger deposit and get a more manageable loan.

Rushing into things also makes you more likely to make bad decisions on the place. If you’re not taking the time to think about it before you buy a place, you’ll be more likely to end up with a house riddled with problems that are expensive to fix.

Get A Surveyor

On the face of it, a house might look like it’s in great condition but there could still be some serious problems lurking under the surface. You’re not an expert so you don’t know how to spot the signs of structural damage or damp etc. The seller can easily cover up problems in the short term so the average buyer won’t be able to tell that anything is wrong. Then you buy the house and 6 months down the line, those problems start to become apparent and you’re stuck with a house that’s falling apart and you’ll have to pay to fix it up.

You can avoid all of that hassle if you get a surveyor to come in and look at the house before you agree to buy it. They’ll be able to spot any serious structural problems or damage to the roof etc. which will cause you problems down the line. Never sign anything without having a proper survey of the house done first.

Add Value to the House

The best way to offset any potential dips in the value of your house is to add value to it yourself. You can do this gradually over the years so when you do come to sell, you’re not at risk of making a loss on it and you can upgrade to a bigger house. There are all sorts of ways to add value to the house, some cheap and some more expensive. It’s worth remembering though, there are some DIY jobs that you should always get a professional for, otherwise, you could make it worse.

Giving the outside of the house a bit of a makeover is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to add value because as soon as a potential buyer sees it, they’ll make a judgment before even going inside. Simple things like fitting panel lift garage doors to replace an old one with peeling paint make the house look better and they make it more secure as well. A quick coat of paint on the front of the house, the windows and the doors will make all the difference as well.

Safety is another big concern as well so it’s worth making the house harder to break into. Replace all of the locks on the doors and windows with more robust ones, especially on the ground floor. Securing the back gate is another cheap way to make the house safer as well.

Energy efficiency is another thing that people look at when valuing a house. If it’s expensive to heat the house, people will be reluctant to buy it. If it doesn’t already have double glazed windows, you should put some in. It’ll cost you a bit of money but remember, you’ll be making big savings on your energy bills while you’re living there as well. You should also look at the appliances in the house because if they’re older ones, they’ll be burning through electricity and costing you a load of money. New ones will use far less energy, saving you money and adding value to the house as well.

Buying a house as a young person is going to be difficult and there’s always going to be a big risk involved, but you can reduce that risk if you follow these steps.  

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This is a contributed article written for WhimMagazine.com