Trying To Add Value To Your Investment Property? Do Reconsider
When a property is bought not to keep it for end-use but to rent it out (in the short run) or sell (in the long run) with an aim to make monetary gains, it must be treated differently. Certain rules must be followed to make sure the primary purpose of this investment is fully achieved. This is why different yardsticks are used to deal with an end-use property and an investment property.
Does your property really need that change?
There are pro-active sort of investors. They like to do all it takes to earn good rentals or get a great deal when they sell a home. To do that, they invest heavily in the property. Here is a word of caution for them: do not personalise the property.
To begin with, it would require a good deal of investment on your part. Improvements that do not improve the property of the property but are only reflections are of your own taste and style would it more harm than good. If you equip the kitchen of your fully-furnished home with a microwave, for instance, it is going to a plus — we live in times when microwaves have become an essential part of our culinary life; your tenant is going to love this equipment. However, adoring your drawing room with a grand chandelier or a great painting would not really solve your primary purpose. Let the tenant decide how they want to decorate their territory, even if it is temporary.
Our homes are everything we are, but, that rule does not apply to a property which you are planning to give on rent or sell for that matter. Do be mindful of the fact that this property has to be everything that the tenant/new buyer is. A tenant will have to work a great deal to make your personalised signature off the property and create his own. When you start looking for a buyer, personalisation would again hinder your progress.
In case you are looking to sell the property, do not go for making structural alterations. This would mean a great deal of investment on your part on the one hand. This would also limit the new buyer's chances of changing the property in a way that they might have liked. The key is to let the buyer imagine the possibilities your property has to offer. You would be blocking their vision if you went ahead and made changes based on your own judgment.
Several changes that are commonly perceived as value addition also end up devaluating your investment property. The arrival of the Metro network too close to your property, for instance, is not as beneficial for you as you might have thought. Not many of the tenants would like to live in a place that would constantly be noisy and crowded. Similarly, if a telecommunication major sets a mobile network tower in your housing society and you think you could cite this as a unique selling point of your property to buyers, you would be doing wrong.
Changes that amount to health hazards would not find favour with buyers.Then, there is that category of investors who think the property will sell/rent itself. This category of investors would not do even the bare minimum that is required to make the property inhabitable. It would be good to remind yourself that the market a full of great property-we live in that kind of times. Gone are the days when property owners had the privilege to act that way. Sitting on a vacant property would only harm your monetary goals ergo make the additional investment that is required to achieve that primary goal. Also, maintenance would be your responsibility in case you give your property on rent. Do be mindful of that fact, too.