Purchasing Your First Fixer Upper Property

What You Should Know To Buy Your First Property To Refurbish!

When purchasing your first fixer upper property, whether to live in or as an investment, you ideally want to look for a bargain house.

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While buying a property that’s ready to move into will save you some time and effort, you don’t always get the best deals for them. 

A refurbishment project is a huge undertaking, but it can be more than worth it.

You can add tens of thousands of dollars to the value of a property while spending a fraction of that price if you make intelligent purchases.

Here are some things to consider.

Moving In, Selling, Or Renting Out?

The first thing to consider is the purpose of purchasing this property.

If you plan to move into the house, then you will likely have a different mindset.

Rather than turning it into a building that will sell quickly or that tenants will immediately move into, you’re buying it in order to turn it into a dream home. 

If you’re moving in, then you’ll likely want to spend more money to turn it into something that better fits your personal style, rather than something generic.

You can splash out on luxuries that otherwise wouldn’t meaningfully improve the value of your home. 

Once all the hard work is done, all that’s left to do is to contact some reliable removalists and furnish your new home.

However, if you don’t plan on living there, then you should focus on balancing the cost of your refurbishment with the value that it adds to your property. 

Balance

Sometimes you might find a property with plenty of potential, but it’s so run down that it needs to be essentially rebuilt.

In this case, it’s wise to use balance out the time, money, and effort that it takes to refurbish the property with the potential reward.

Even if you want to move into the property, taking on a project that’s too big can be a fatal mistake.

If it will take too much work, then you’ll end up stuck with a building project rather than a home.

This is enough to make someone fall out of love with a home.

It’s important to make sure that there are no hidden surprises when it comes to purchasing a home as well.

Something might look benign or minor, but it could be a sign of a major and expensive problem.

Get a surveyor to check for potential issues like this.

Hiring Contractors

Depending on the project, you may be able to save money by taking on a lot of the work yourself.

However, hiring a contractor is often necessary when making any major refurbishments.

A contractor can make sure that the job gets done quickly and safely, without causing any extra damage.

This way, you can get the best result without ending up having to spend more money to repair shoddy work. 

Make sure that you hire a contractor that you can trust and get a quote before they start the work so you know exactly what to expect.

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