It Is What It Is – 5 Home Factors to Consider Carefully When Buying a House that Will Impact Your Home Value When You Sell
I work with both home buyers and home sellers, so I hear the conversation about
houses from both the home buying and home selling perspectives.
When it comes to purchasing a home, it’s important to think not just about the house
and how you’ll use that home yourself.
It’s also worth considering characteristics of the house that won’t change and how those factors will impact the home value when it comes time to sell.
5 Factors that Impact Property Value When You Sell
The 5 factors below will decrease the number of home buyers interested in the house just because they exist.
The only way to overcome these negative characteristics is to price the house below
other similar properties and make buying the house such a bargain that the future home buyer can’t resist.
Chances are, it was a lower price is what drew you to that house in the first place. So, expect the same will happen when you go to sell.
Factor 1 – A Steep Driveway
If the home buyer can’t bring themselves to park in your driveway when they come to see your house, that’s going to immediately disqualify your house for some home buyers.
For homebuyers over 50, they especially can’t see themselves hauling garbage cans up and down that driveway.
A steep driveway is what it is. Even if the house itself is lovely inside and as wonderful as other houses or even better than houses in the same subdivision, know that a steep driveway will cause your house to be valued less when you go to sell.
Special Note: When I first got into real estate, a friend told me about buying a house in a new build subdivision and having no idea how steep their driveway would end up being. If you’re buying a home in a hilly subdivision, do what you can to mitigate the challenges of a steep driveway and hire your own real estate agent to represent your best interests in the purchase.
Factor 2 – Backing Up to a Busy Road
While good windows and doors that block out noise might help, backing up to a busy
road makes the house less desirable. For some homebuyers, the view of the road will be a turn off. For dog owners, they worry about their pet escaping the yard and getting hit by a car.
For a number of homebuyers, a busy road is a deal breaker.
Factor 3 – Being One of the First Homes in the Subdivision
Similar to backing to a busy road, having one of the first few homes within a subdivision is less desirable for many homeowners. Proximity to the front of the neighborhood and the road that enters the neighborhood will cause many home purchasers to rule out your property for them.
Factor 4 – Poor School Ratings
Even if you don’t have kids and don’t worry about the quality of the schools for your own purposes, future home buyers will care.
Being in an area with a poorly rated school will impact the home value.
To see how the schools in the area rate, try looking at websites like these:
The Governor’s Office of Student Achievement
State of Georgia
Great Schools.org
Of course, school rating can change over time. But be sure to check before you make an unfortunate decision at the time you purchase.
Factor 5 – Your “Neighbors”
There are sometimes when it’s easy to guess what “neighbors” might be considered
less desirable by many homebuyers.
For instance, if your property backs up to a commercial property or an apartment
building, or if you drive past a septic company or an “adult entertainment” store to get to the property, those would be considered undesirable by many homebuyers.
Other “neighbors” are more difficult to predict. For instance, if the house you’re buying backs up to the property that hasn’t been developed, that land could potentially be sold and turn into something that makes the property less appealing to future home buyers.
So, if it’s not obvious what’s behind the property you’re looking at, ask your real estate agent to help you figure that out.
One thing that also has an influence the impact of your “neighbor” is if the house is in a non-HOA neighborhood.
When a Homeowners Association is in place, there are rules about condition to the
property. In non-HOA neighborhoods, there’s no way to control what your next-door
neighbor does with their property as long as they’re not violating a city ordinance.
There’s no way to know if the neighbor you have when you move in will be the same
neighbor when it’s time to sell. And even a nice neighbor now, could suffer from health issues and let their house fall into disrepair.
You’re less likely to have neighbors that have unsightly properties in an HOA community which means you’re less likely to have to discount your sales price because of a neighbor’s unkempt property.
Bottom line: Consider what you know at the time of purchase and how that could
change while you own the property.
It Is What It Is
This is not an all-exhaustive list. There are other factors that “are what they are” with
any property you consider buying.
It might be worth it to you to get the dream house you want and deal with these factors later when it’s time to sell.
The point here is to go in with your eyes open. And when it does come time to sell,
know that these factors that can’t be changed will reduce the home value compared to similar houses when you go to sell.
If you want help making a smart decision when you buy a house or when you sell a
house and you’re in the north Metro Atlanta area, call or text me at 770-597-1108.
Let’s find time to talk about you and your real estate needs.
