It’s a bit of a minefield out there when it comes to home ownership. There are so many question marks, so much uncertainty, so many leaps of faith as you make decisions that impact your wallet, your family, your entire livelihood. We know that we sound a bit dramatic, but we’re in the business of setting you up for success, and for us, that means reinforcing your home from the ground up. We have decades of experience, here on the Restumping Melbourne team, of working with every sort of property imaginable. We’re talking about size of property, shape of property, condition of property and beyond. That means that we’ve unfortunately seen our fair share of faux pas, everything ranging from easily-fixable, to full-blown nightmare. It’s our job here on the blog to educate you in a timely manner, so that you always avoid these mishaps. Let’s dive in to our first of two posts – today, we highlight exactly why you need to avoid these pitfalls. Tomorrow, we explain how.
Today’s post is very much a “by the numbers” type post. According to the Herald Sun, “Things such as restumping, repairing termite damage and rewiring generally come in $5000 and $10,000 lots and unbudgeted repair bills can bring financial ruin to buyers already stretched to their limit.” This is beyond mortgages, interest rates, down payments and more. It’s absolutely vital to incorporate these into the planning process.
It’s unfortunate but true that many a time, vendors know the defects that are common in different styles and ages of homes. Instead of creating long-term solutions, they instead opt to patch with short-term fixes, which mean that you’ll just spend more money over time. That’s why it’s key to do a home inspection before you ever sign on the dotted line. Here’s another fun fact – more than 80% of home purchases in this country take place sans home inspection. Once you bypass a home inspection, you’re basically giving up your power to ask the previous owners to make any sort of adjustments or improvements. While you may be enthusiastic about racing to the finish line of purchase, it should never come at the cost of emptying out your wallet over years to come.
The challenges are amplified when you aim to purchase a period home. Yes, they’re beautiful, and yes, they have many stories to tell. But you want to be able to repeat stories of the past, not have to create your own when you add on surprise maintenance costs. Families around the area have been doing this more and more frequently, spending up to 50% more than they anticipated when they kicked off the process.
We’re teasing you a bit today, ensuring that you’ll come back for the next post. Looking for tips on avoiding these pitfalls, these will definitely be coming shortly. Questions? Comments? Give us a shout. The Restumping Melbourne team would love to hear from you.