Investors, what would you prefer to put your money into – a brand new home or a renovation property? Or would you also consider a “new home” in a renovated property?
The benefits for investing in a new home are clear; the home is new and ready for a tenant to move into and with up to ten years’ warranty, a fair number of repairs could be covered as well.
Property Q&A #6: Are studio apartments a good buy-to-let investment?
New homes often hold appeal to tenants as well, they look smart and photograph well for advertising. On the down side, these properties tend to lack character and are usually not as generous in size as they might be in, for example, a converted Victorian property.
Conversely, a new property is likely to have slower capital appreciation, with owners often seeing an immediate drop in value. It is also possible, if the property was purchased off plan, that you may have to wait until the build is finished to begin collecting rent payments.
Renovating property isn’t for the faint hearted, although many take on the challenge to reap the reward of quick capital appreciation. It may also give an investor more control over build time and quality of finish, resulting in a quicker turnaround time and a characterful building to attract tenants.
However, without experience and trusted tradespeople, builds can often overrun on time and budget, and any problems that occur during the build come out of the investor’s pocket.
Perhaps the solution is to buy a renovated property off plan from a developer. This way the investor benefits from quick capital appreciation, a unique property in a desirable building with modern fixtures and fittings and up to 6 years warranty.
We believe this is the right solution – developing on brownfield land, giving unique and often historical buildings a new lease of life, whilst giving investors and tenants modern fixtures and fittings, good returns and the security of a warranty.