When house hunting, many people tend to bypass the homes that don’t look attractive because they think that it will take a lot of hard work to get them to look acceptable. However, in most instances, these properties can often be purchased at bargain prices and either turned into your dream home or even be flipped for a substantial profit once renovation work has been completed.
Look for Properties with Surface Issues
When looking at ‘ugly’ properties, it is recommended to opt for homes that are in fact visually attractive, but that have one or two unappealing parts to them. This will enable you to perform a few (relatively) quick cosmetic fixes that will usually be quite affordable.
One of the best ways to determine whether you will only need to perform a few minor changes to a property is to have pest and building inspections performed beforehand. After all, you wouldn’t want to purchase what you think is a quick fixer upper, only to find out that there are serious electrical, plumbing or structural issues present.
Focus on Kitchens and Bathrooms
Most potential property buyers will look at kitchens and bathrooms before any other parts of a home. If the home in question has dated avocado, brown or blue bathroom fixtures, these can often be replaced relatively inexpensively if no rerouting of pipes is going to be needed.
In most cases, a kitchen can be turned from an ugly ducking into a gorgeous swan by performing a replacement of countertops and hardware such as cupboard door and drawer handles. With the wide variety of kitchen kits available these days, this room can be transformed from ‘yuck’ to ‘wow’ for approximately $1,000.
If changes like these need to be made, every effort should be made to ensure that a proper job is done. It’s best to focus on completing changes in the kitchen and bathroom before moving on to anything else in the rest of the property.
Familiarise yourself with Different Suburbs
Although a particular property may seem like a bargain, it’s no good jumping in to purchase it if it’s located in an undesirable town, suburb or area where there are no decent amenities available. If you intend renting the property out at some point, it is essential that you research ahead of time to find out what current rental rates are for homes of a similar size will be and how much the rates and taxes will set you back each year – you don’t want to purchase a bargain home only to find out that you won’t be making much on the deal because of costs like these.
When looking at ‘ugly duckling’ properties, it’s a good idea to try and find unique ways of converting them into something stunning. If you are willing to be creative and put in a little elbow grease, you will often be able to obtain a decent property at an excellent price.
