Refurbish

by Elizabeth Wordsmith

Created on: January 01, 2010   Last Updated: January 02, 2010

While you take your risks when buying an older home, there are many advantages to buying in an established neighborhood that appeal to me.  History, established trees, nearness of community shops and schools, the individual character of each home, reflecting each owner's personality, and even the loving care given by the former owner:  these things give me a feeling of buying into not only a home but a community of friends.  I then become a caretaker of something very special.

Naturally when buying a refurbished home, you will obtain inspections and, hopefully, appreciate the improvements made.  Often higher quality products are used than those in the base package of a builder's grade home.  When purchasing a new home, such things as hardwood floors and custom cabinetry will be add-ons to the final cost.  In making these up-grades, you risk over-improving your property with no idea if you can recoup these costs in a future sale.

Older homes in established neighborhoods already have a sales history indicating past and current market conditions for the area.  If you decide to sell your home at some time, it will be an advantage to be able to compare your house with recent sales to establish an asking price and predict a return on your investment.

Older neighborhoods, unless designated as having historical significance, have fewer restrictions regarding changes made to the exterior of the home.  Many new homes in housing developments come with rules and regulations about what color you can paint the exterior, what type of light fixtures you can use, and so forth.  New developments like to maintain uniformity rather than develop individuality in the homes.

While uniformity in appearance is often attractive during the height of fashion for particular architectural styles, some time down the road these homes will begin to look dated and become out of style.  In the 70s and 80s the California style home with rough-sawn cedar walls and ceilings was the thing.  Later it was the Spanish or Italian Riviera type architectural style that prevailed.  Lately I have noticed the Cape Cod influence coming into favor.  When these are sprinkled in amongst other styles, it is not so jarring to the eye when someone decides to make exterior architectural changes. 

Finally, I come to my pet peeve: the home owners' association and accompanying fees.  If you belong to one of these, you know what I mean.  Quarterly you will have to pay an association fee to maintain the association and common areas, whatever they may be.   You will have a panel of homeowners and the property manager regularly inspecting your home's exterior to let you know if you have broken any rules, if you have failed to mow your lawn or if you have painted your home a color they dislike.  Homeowners' associations can impose fines on infractions, levy special assessments, incur liens for non-payment, and increase dues as needed.  They might even establish rules about what kind of pet you can have.  These powers I find a little worrisome.

Whenever purchasing a home, it is as much an emotional decision as it is a financial one.  Talk to the neighbors and ask them what they like about living there.  Drive around the surrounding area to determine what other amenities there are in the neighborhood such as hospitals, schools, parks and recreational areas, and shopping districts.   Find out if there are any neighborhood restrictions and regulations about the use of your property, i.e. home owners associations.  Check with your real estate broker about recent sales activity in the area and prevailing sales conditions.  Definitely look for signs of improvement or deterioration of the surrounding neighborhood.  If the current owner has deemed it wise to spend money refurbishing his home that is an indicator that others in the neighborhood are probably doing likewise.

Sometimes buyers can put too much emphasis on such things as paint color, carpeting, cabinets, and so forth.  Even if you needn't or can't change those things today, you will most likely sometime in the future.  Don't let the temporary, changeable attributes of a house overly influence your buying decision.  Consider more those things you can't change, the primary one being location.  There is a good reason why the cardinal rule of real estate is location, location, location.

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