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Purchasing An Old Property To Fix It Can Turn Out Expensive

Sat 26 May 2007 - 06:55

Purchasing An Old Property To Fix It Can Turn Out Expensive
By Jess Peterson

Though this is a great idea and professional realtors make thousands of dollars this way, if you do not have the necessary expertise, such transactions can turn out to be really expensive and you may end up losing money instead of making any profit.

One would expect that an old property that is refurbished will increase its value significantly. However, there are many variables that need to be taken into account. The costs of improving a property when you plan to spend your life on it are less important than when you are planning to sell it. And thus, as we are used to spend on our own property, we sometimes forget to do the necessary budgeting before undertaking improvement projects.

Properties To Be Used As Residence

If you are planning to use the property to reside in it, then most of these suggestions will not apply because since you will live in it you probably want to spend whatever it is needed to make your home comfortable and durable.
However, it is not a bad idea to analyze the suggestions too as they will help you plan ahead and budget improvements correctly, especially when it comes to financing the improvements.

Home improvement loans come in all shapes and terms but you need to be careful and make sure you select the most advantageous terms whether you plan to resell the property or live in it. When it comes to financing there are no differences, if you can resort to equity and obtain a home equity improvement loan you will definitely be better off than with other forms of financing that come with no security.

Properties For Reselling

First of all, you need to pick a property that would be appealing if it were not because of its actual conditions. This means that the property needs to be well located, near bus stops, subways, railways, markets, shopping centers, etc. The neighborhood has to be appealing too; you will take care of the property later. Also, the more daylight the property receives, the better.

The main problems with old properties are pipes, paint, floors, tiles, gas and electricity installations and lights. You need to remember that anything that does not show is not a problem. Thus, unless you open a water tap and brown water pops out or the house becomes hell due to the noise, there is no need to replace pipes.
As regards to the bath tub and other bathroom appliances, you do not need to purchase expensive stuff made of wood or metal, you can buy those which imitate such materials but are actually made of plastic.

If wood floors are too damaged you can have them rubbed down and plasticized or you can just install a nice but inexpensive carpet (the quality of carpets only shows after continued use). As regards to lights, since properties are shown during the day, you need to install nice spots but also take advantage of daylight as far as possible.

Finally, painting walls and ceiling is essential. Go for white paint as it makes rooms bigger and enhances lights. After all, the buyers will want to repaint the property later with their chosen colors and themes.

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Jessica Peterson writes finance articles for Yourloanservices.com where she shares her knowledge about how to get money for a starting-up business, consolidating any kind of debt, repairing a home even with a bad credit history and more.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jess_Peterson
http://EzineArticles.com/?Purchasing-An-Old-Property-To-Fix-It-Can-Turn-Out-Expensive&id=579781


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