Buying an old house or property is something many do to save money and time. However, is such a house worth it?
Ask yourself the following questions before you decide to buy an old house:
1. Is a New Construction Home a Better Investment?
Real estate investing is all about knowing when a property will make a good investment and when it will not. The same goes for choosing newly constructed homes over old ones.
Knowing when it’s the right investment will help you choose to buy a brand-new home instead of an old one. Then, your real estate agents can shift their focus toward suggesting new homes that will be a far better investment compared to anything that’s been built years or even decades ago.
A new construction home means fewer maintenance costs are needed, something we’ll discuss at a later point. Apart from that, it also means your home can be a little more tech-savvy, energy efficient, and, more importantly, have better durability against harsh weather conditions. Besides, it always feels way nicer to live in a newly built house than something old, no matter how well you renovate the place.
2. Will You be Living Here for Long?
Moving into an old house is something that may not bother you at first. But after a while, it can start to get to you, especially if the house looks visibly old and you’re not doing any renovations. This won’t make you feel good about your house or yourself. If anything, you might end up regretting your decision to move into such an old house.
Therefore, it’s always a wise idea to first think about how long you plan to stay in this house and whether or not you’re okay with it before you buy the place.
If you’re thinking of staying there for a year or two, that’s okay. Even without renovations, you can make it past those couple of years before you eventually sell the place and move to a new one, or bring down the old house and newly construct one from scratch. With renovations, the house might be of your liking for five or even ten years.
However, if you have no plans to renovate and are also considering staying there for a long time, you might want to rethink things.
3. Is the Property Worth the Price?
Sometimes, old properties might be worth buying if they’re priced low. Property prices these days are very unstable. One month the prices are as low as they can be, and in another, they’re trying to rip a giant hole in your bank account. This sort of instability is what makes many people ditch the idea of buying real estate in the first place.
However, if you find a house that is priced low and you’re desperately looking to invest in real estate, by all means, you should go for it. At the same time, you should also remember to explore new options as well.
Apart from the price, you should also look into other factors like nearby services and amenities that come with the place. For instance, even if an old house is priced a bit high, you might still buy the property if it’s close to your kids’ school. Or perhaps the neighborhood is known for its relatively low crime rate.
An old property will be worth it as long as it’s affordable and can provide you and your family with everything you might need from it and the neighborhood around.
4. How Much Do You Have to Pay for Repairs and Renovations?
One major complaint that people who buy old properties often have is regarding the amount of money they have to throw into repairs and renovations afterward.
Repairs and renovations can get very costly. From things like repainting the house to replacing the entire flooring, renovations might need to be done for many reasons. You just have to see how much renovation the old property needs before you move in. Your goal is to avoid spending money on too many repair and renovation jobs.
Repair jobs involving fixtures, doors, windows, and electricals are fine. However, for cases where you have to replace the whole roof or floor or maybe rip apart the entire water pipeline and refit it, the property is just not worth it.
That’s all for this post. The next time you fancy an old property or house, ask yourself these questions before you sign those purchase papers.