Best Resale Location | How Location Can Affect A Home's Resale Value

Learn where to buy your home while considering what will happen when you sell.

Over the years, you have probably seen homes that always seem to be for sale. No matter how much the price is reduced, no one seems to want to live there. Many of these homes have a specific issue that is keeping home buyers away.

When you go to buy a home, try not to end up as one of those future home owners stuck with a home that they just cannot sell. The best advice to follow is that it is better to remain a renter than to settle for a property with a problem.

Obviously, the main reason you are buying a home is because you want a place to live. The same positive features about your home that attract you will also attract future buyers of your home. Similarly, the negatives of your home will turn off those same buyers.

Buying a home that is hard to resell causes two problems in the future. First, problem properties always take longer to sell, so you cannot plan on moving quickly if you need to sell in the future. Second, home sellers of these types of properties almost always end up dramatically cutting their sales prices. So any theoretical equity in a property often disappears in order to get the property sold.

How do you find out whether a property is a don't-wanter? First, ask your Realtor because they usually know most problem properties in their area. Second, ask your Realtor for data about the property. Your Realtor can give you information from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) including a listing and sale history, total days on the market now, the original price and all previous sales prices. A lot of data goes back at least 15 years, so you can get a good idea as to how hard it was for previous owners to sell the property.

So what are the types of issues that negatively affect your ability to resell your home in the future? The major examples include:

1. Power lines. While studies have been ambiguous about the possible adverse affects of living near power lines, many people do not want to take a chance. As a result, there are few buyers who will even consider living near them no matter how nice the actual home. And the price differential will be dramatic as compared to properties away from power lines.
2. Highways. The noise levels and air pollution caused by living near a highway will very often deter buyers. While city dwellers can live with higher noise levels, suburban homes definitely take a price hit when located near or next to major Interstates.
3. Busy Corners. Many homes are perilously close to highly trafficked corners and roadways, making it dangerous for kids. If parents would pass on a property because of child safety issues, the property loses a large portion of the market and resale will be difficult.

Numerous other factors can affect the resale value of a property. When evaluating your ability to re-sell a home, it is important to determine whether the factors that affect resale can be fixed or not. Location cannot be fixed, structural issues can be addressed.

There is no perfect place to live, but by avoiding clear problems you will save yourself a headache trying to sell your home in the future.

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