Knowing what factors are essential to the real estate market can help you make intelligent decisions if you’re considering selling or buying a home.
Here are the five most important factors in real estate, including how to spot a good real estate investment:
Location
The most critical factor in real estate is location. Location determines how much you can sell your home for, how much rent you can charge, and whether someone wants to buy your home.
Once you purchase a property, only one thing cannot be altered or modified – its location, which remains permanent. Suppose your house is in an area with high crime rates or bad schools.
In that case, no matter what updates or improvements are made to the house’s interior (and there are plenty of reasons why this would be important). It won’t sell for as much as another similar house with better access to amenities like grocery stores and parks.
The same goes for rental properties: if you have poor access to public transportation routes (or no access), fewer potential tenants will consider living there.
Condition
Condition is the most tangible thing you can see when you walk through a house. The home’s condition will significantly impact what it sells for, which means it’s essential to know how to judge a home’s condition and what to look for when deciding whether or not to buy.
- Look at the walls and ceilings: Are there stains or cracks? If so, how big are they? Do they look like they’ve been painted over multiple times (which could mean more damage)? Is there any apparent damage caused by water infiltration (like peeling paint)?
- Check out floors: Look down at your feet while walking through each room–do any boards creak underfoot or feel loose in any way? Do you hear anything unusual when you step on them (like squeaking), which would indicate rot beneath the surface?
Age and size of the home
The age and size of your home can impact its value. While it’s often assumed that older homes have a higher price tag than newer ones, this notion isn’t always accurate. Larger homes are often more expensive than smaller ones, but this rule also has exceptions.
How much does the condition of a home affect its value? That depends on how much work needs to be done before it can be lived in comfortably again or sold at market price (the highest amount someone would pay).
New vs. renovated vs. not renovated at all
The first factor to consider is whether you want a new or renovated home. New homes are more expensive than renovated ones, but they also have higher maintenance costs and can be more challenging to sell in the future.
On the other hand, renovated properties tend to be in better condition than their counterparts that haven’t been updated at all–and they’re easier on your wallet when it comes time for repairs or maintenance work down the line.
In many cases (but not all), renovating an old home makes sense if you plan on living there for years; however, if you’re looking at flipping properties as an investment opportunity, then purchasing newer models may make more sense because they’ll hold their value better over time and require less upkeep throughout their lifetimes.
Price
Price is the most crucial factor in real estate. It’s the only factor you can control, and it determines your home’s value. For example, if you’re buying a new house, the price will likely be your biggest concern because it will determine how much money you have left over after buying the house.
You may wonder why I’m so focused on price when other things like location and condition affect how much people pay for homes. First, those two factors aren’t entirely under our control since we can’t change where our homes are located or their condition (unless we’re willing to move them).
Secondly, even though those two other factors matter too, it all comes down to whether or not someone else believes those things matter enough for them before deciding whether they’ll pay more than market value for said property.
