How much does property location add to house value?
Isn’t that a dominant question tickling your mind while buying a home or property?
It is, and it should be. Because purchasing a property remains a life-changing decision in your entire life.
Considering this fact, here we are discussing about the significance of location while buying a house. With an in-depth topic analysis, this guide will help you make the right decision with nine key steps for the appropriate selection of a house location.
Why Location Is Important Before Buying a Home?
A Location is immovable.
After buying a house, you can change the exterior or interior of the property. You can add or remove utilities later. The house-condition can be improved. Expenses are also a matter of alteration. The only thing that you can’t change is the location of the property.
Since you can’t change it, you need to be pretty confident about the property location of your choice. The locality around your home or invested property holds everything that will come upon you in the future. Your location choice will decide whether you are at profit or loss.
Which factor is the dearest for you? The safety and security of your family? Easy availability of all the necessities? All the comforts of a luxurious lifestyle? Good connectivity and commute time? The environment? A comfortable neighborhood? Future property potentials and appraisal of property value? Low property tax requirements? Or money?
Well, everything is inherent within your locality. Picking the right locality will provide you with most of these things.
However, budget-related contradictions might occur throughout this journey. Affordability is great. Still, remember that selecting a greater location might cost you some extra than your expected amount. But, it will help to increase your housing value in the coming years. And, compromising your property location for money will cost you every possibility of spending a better life.
How to Choose the Right Property Location?
Till this point, you must have been pretty concerned thinking about how to buy a property at the perfect location. At this part, you will get all your answers.
And the simplest answer is to ask questions. Ask questions to yourself about your requirements and preferences. There is no universal definition of a perfect location. You have to form your definition based on your needs and desires.
Notwithstanding, certain factors have universal application. For example, everyone is concerned about the safety and security of their family. But, some of your approaches will differ depending on your identity as a house owner or a property investor.
Now, coming to the point, what are the factors you will consider in choosing a location for your new house? Well, let’s have an elaborate discussion on the topic.
Easy Accessibility of Necessary Services & Facilities
A locality with easy accessibility to necessary services and amenities is one of the topmost requirements to buy a property in a good location. To be specific, a site with easy proximity to educational institutions including well-ranking schools or colleges, quality healthcare institutions, markets, or financial institutions like banks can be considered a good location for buying a home.
A location that is not within an easily accessible distance will prove to be a great disadvantage in times of emergency. Besides, families with kids are even more likely to confront issues while choosing a location without easy accessibility to such services.
A Safe & Desirable Neighborhood
The neighborhood is one of the topmost things that should come into consideration when buying a house. You still have the option to choose your neighborhood, although you can’t choose your neighbors. So, before purchasing a home, you should ensure that the crime rate of the locality is remarkably low.
A comfortable and safe neighborhood comprises a good environment — both in natural and social aspects, safety and security measures, and easy accessibility to places of your interest.
However, the condition or environment of an area is something relative. A currently safe and convenient neighborhood may not necessarily be safe after some years. Still, going for a predominantly residential area with easy proximity to the necessary places might solve your problem.
Connectivity & Commute Time
The time you spend going to and coming from your workplace matters a lot. Spending too much time driving or sitting on public transport is as much a loss as it is irritating. You could have spent that time doing something more productive or interesting. You could even have utilized that time of your day to grab some rest after a hectic day.
Easy connectivity to the main road or highway is really essential to lessen your commute time. For buying your new home, choose a property location that is within a walkable distance from the main road, if not from your workplace. It will save you the extra time, energy, and money you would spend otherwise.
Lifestyle Requirements
Your chosen location should satisfy your lifestyle needs. If you are habituated to a high city culture, buying a home away from the city center will make you dissatisfied. On the other hand, your love of nature and a tranquil environment will be ruined amidst the hustle and bustle of city life.
In case your preferences ask for peaceful surroundings along with all the luxuries and conveniences of city life, you will have to choose a society offering you a piece of nature amidst the city. However, all of your lifestyle choices can’t go hand in hand. So, choosing a location that can fulfill the majority of your lifestyle preferences is very important.
Future Prospects of the Locality
How to buy a property that will come up to have an increased housing value in the future?
Well, prior to your house purchase, check whether the locality you are choosing has the potential for future development. Future developments hold a possibility of rising resale value. To check that, inquire if there is any scope for the development of any point of importance such as schools, hospitals, or any center of great commercial importance.
Refraining from selecting an area near any large water body, farmland, or cliff-like areas would be a good decision if you are looking for future development prospects.
Infrastructure Standards of the Area
Good infrastructure is one of the primary factors behind a convenient location. Inappropriate infrastructure standards will make you face issues like water logging during monsoons. Moreover, bad road conditions with potholes and cracking of the road surface appear to be really irritating for travelers.
So, picking the right location while buying a house is crucial if you don’t want to compromise your convenience.
Budget Preferences
No matter whether you are from the lower-middle class or the elite class, budget is a primary concern of every property buyer. We desire to buy the best possible property at the lowest possible price. On the other hand, real estate investment comes to be really costly.
So, patient observation is the key here. Making haste in property purchases might result in either a bank-breaking cost or a not-so-good quality location if not an inferior property. Take a realistic time frame to select your property location. If buying your home in a posh neighborhood is outside your limitations, you can positively find a premium property at an affordable price in the best area of a smaller city if you wait and search properly.
Current Housing Values & Property Tax Implementation
A newly purchased property always conveys the proximity that someday in the future, you would consider selling it. So, it is necessary to weigh the current housing value held by your property location. Since it is a matter of change, it can predict the future appraisal of the property value too.
On the other hand, property tax implementation rules are different in different areas. Considering that, you also need to have an understanding of the current property tax implementations and the frequency of tax increases.
Availability of Lot Location
You need to consider the exact location or the exact plot of land covered by the property you decide to purchase. The reason is that it is something unchangeable. Does it stand on a busy road or a highly commercial area? Is it, or going to be, too noisy? These things matter.
This location will decide if it is going to gain or lose value over time. And this will remarkably impact if you have any intention of reselling the property.
Conclusion
Your house-hunting process starts with deciding the property location. Considering that it is a troublesome process, you need to start by narrowing down your choices and preferences after this first step of buying a house.
The process of property purchase is full of excitement, hopes, and desires. But, at the same time, you have limitations. So, at this point, compromises become necessary. However, this compromise factor is applicable to the property you are buying, not to the location of that property.
Remember, you can redesign or renovate your home whenever you find it dissatisfying for your expectations. But, you can’t make any changes to your location. By measuring your location with the considerations shared in this guide, you can make life easier and more enjoyable.
If you are a new property buyer and can’t decide which location to choose, you can ask for help to any real estate company available in your area. Today, they are easily available in most of the countries and areas. Real estate consultancy organizations like RateperSQFT are bringing a revolution in India by helping needy ones out in finding the right property at the perfect location.
