Monday, 4 February 2008

Buying Houses – Sound Investment Or The Road To Ruin?

Each type of house buyer has a different set of criteria that will affect just how quickly they sell an existing property and purchase their next one. Whether they are a first-time buyer, property developer, buy-to-let investor or a couple downsizing.

First-time house buyers and those house-sharing will often over-stretch themselves in their desperation just to get on the property ladder. Lenders have in the last few years been encouraging this by offering larger mortgages than borrowers can realistically afford to repay. The awful truth of just how much it costs to run a home can come to light several years after they have bought their first home. The temptation to buy everything new and to want everything “just right” will eventually dawn once the credit card bills have reached their limit. Young people have a greater “live for today” attitude and the thought of putting money aside to cover contingencies just doesn’t occur to them. So, when the boiler breaks, they lose their job or have an accident there is nothing in reserve. Admittedly they are likely to earn the least and have less spare cash to put aside but it reflects their general air of invincibility. These are also likely to be the house buyers who do not have contents insurance and only the most basic buildings insurance cover to satisfy their mortgage lender. When reality does finally hit home what are the options? Seek help from the parental piggy bank, sell on the open market or sell and rent back from a company specialising in buying property fast. Potential first-time buyers should think long and hard about whether having the responsibility of looking after a property is something that is right for them at this point in time.

Buy-to-let investors fall mainly into 2 camps - those who are serious about running it as a business and those who dabble at it to try to shore up their dwindling pension plans. Those who don’t fully understand the buy-to-let market can come seriously unstuck; often having invested heavily from financial reserves or even re-mortgaged their family home to start up. Problems can arise if the market takes a sudden dive, if they need to access cash quickly or if tenants don’t prove to be as reliable as they had envisaged. There are companies who will buy your investment property even if it currently has problem tenants.

In a similar predicament are inexperienced property developers who can make the mistake of under-estimating the amount of work and cost involved in a project, especially if they have bought at auction and failed to have a survey (yes it does happen). It is all too easy for unforeseen problems to arise that will seriously affect the profitability of a renovation, particularly if you have to buy in skills. The best solution in this situation is to try to find an experienced developer or property buyer who can take that money pit off your hands and allow you to start afresh with another project.

Expanding families and those down-sizing are at the mercy of very fragile property chains. There are ways of ensuring that you don’t lose that perfect house just because your property won’t sell or your buyer has pulled out. The stress involved in a protracted house sale can aggravate many health issues so if your property just isn’t shifting you could try selling it to a company that buys properties for cash. That way you can complete in around 4 weeks and exchange on a date of your choosing.

Emigrating or relocating to another area is a logistical nightmare as there are 1001 things that need to be done. By selling your property for cash you can ensure that you have at least one less problem to worry about. Some companies will even allow you to remain as a tenant until the day you emigrate/relocate. No upheaval whilst moving into rented accommodation and trying to ensure everyone knows your temporary contact details or worrying about not receiving important letters. A very simple solution to an otherwise stressful problem.

If you want to find out how much you could get for your property just complete our quick quote and we will get back to you. Need to speak to a real person? Just call FREE on 0800 804 7456 to see how we can help solve your property problem.

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