3 Advantages of buying a renovated unit.
My first property was a renovated unit (way back in 2002)
The first time I bought a property, it happened to be a renovated unit. The owner sold it because he was moving out to stay at the upper floor of his newly bought shop-house. It was walking distance to his shop-house too. He extended the bathroom in the master bedroom which meant that I saved many thousands of ringgit in advance.
Without this extension, I would have to do it because the toilet design from the developer was very poor.
My first property outside the state I work in was also a renovated unit
I was still working in Penang when I decided to invest into a property outside Penang. My first condo in the Klang Valley was in Kelana Jaya and it was also a renovated unit. The kitchen was fully renovated with kitchen cabinets and I think I saved many thousands of ringgit just for that cabinet alone. So, yes, when it comes to secondary units, I prefer to buy renovated units. Below are some reasons I love buying a renovated unit.
#1 Value for money.
If the property’s market price is RM500,000 and the total renovation is RM100,000 what is the price which we could buy the property? It’s definitely lower than RM600,000 because no buyer would pay for the renovations which was not his / her idea in the first place. So, instead of RM600,000 maybe the buyer is willing to pay slightly higher than market price for it. Thus renovated unit in the secondary market is value-for-money units too.
#2 We Save Money.
Typically, an extended bathroom so that it’s bigger and more comfortable would have been easily many thousands of ringgit. A kitchen cabinet with a length of 10 feet alone would have been a few thousands too. Some may have electrical cooker and hob built into them and these are again, thousands of ringgit depending on the brand.
Curtain railings done meant a savings of a few hundred ringgit and we just need to get the measurement to do new curtains. I could go on but I think you get the idea. All these renovations meant that I could now focus my funds on other things such as a higher qualify sofa, a better bedframe and mattress, a twin-door fridge, branded air-conditioners etc.
Else, all these would have been extra costs for me, not to mention I needed to buy something cheaper since my funds would have been stretched thin because I had to also allocate it for renovations too.
#3 We Save Time.
A friend just said that all the renovation timelines given by the contractor is never accurate. It’s usually off by a couple of weeks. (I think it also depends very much on whether the owner decides to change this and that half way too…) Anyway, typical renovations may take 1 – 2 months. Very extensive ones will take longer yeah.
However, it’s not just the duration of the renovation which is long. It will also mean we needed to occasionally drive over and check the work progress and this also takes away our precious time as well. Might as well use those extra time for a dinner with family instead? Or to bring the kids to the playground instead? Lots of things to do versus just driving over and checking progress…
Not everything is awesome with buying a renovated unit yeah
You may not like the renovations and the owner refused to sell it at market price as the market price is for bare units. Most owners would want a little premium if their unit is a renovated one.
What if you really and totally dislike the renovations? Move on to the next unit lah. Surely it’s better to buy an empty unit then. If you want to renovate the unit to your highest satisfaction, its best to get an empty unit and start everything from scratch.
Depending on how you do it, it’s really possible to reduce the overall expenses to a minimum. Time and effort must still be spent though unless we have a contractor who knows our wants and needs very well. Happy buying a renovated unit or if you are getting an empty unit, then happy renovating.
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