subject: Should You Diy When It Comes To Fixing Up Investment Property? [print this page] The property investor who snaps up real estate offered at a discount price is often faced with the prospect of renovation and remodelling after the purchase.
The two choices for the investor are doing it him- or herself, or hiring someone else to do it. So which is the better route to take?
Time Investment Versus Money Investment
Perhaps the most important thing to consider is how much you value your time versus the amount of money you will spend to hire someone else.
Let's face it, when the work week stretches anywhere from 40 to 60 hours and the only time left for family and fun are the weekends, this makes spare time pretty valuable. Do you really want to exchange that for working long hours to fix up a property you bought as an investment?
The second consideration is your own ability. Knowing how to do something and actually doing it are two different things. If you've attended a property investment seminar where a so-called expert told you about how easy it is to replace light bulbs and put in a new power switch, you may have fooled yourself into believing that the work is quick and easy.
Usually, nothing could be further from the truth.
But I Like DIY Projects
Let's say you are a real DIYer around your own home. You are handy with a hammer and not afraid to get your hands dirty replacing the plumbing.
Ability is one thing, but completing a remodelling project by yourself is still going to take hard work, long hours, and trial and error.
What if you do something wrong or misidentify a problem? Now you are set back both the time and money you invested yourself as well as having to hire a professional.
When you contract the work to begin with, you have something to fall back on - the contractor's guarantee of satisfaction.
Then again, a DIY approach to property investment allows you to put all the profit from the sale of the real estate straight into your own pocket.
For the single person, it might not be such a bad trade-off to spend spare hours working on bringing the property back up to saleable standard.
The choice for any property investor boils down to time versus money.
You do not need to purchase only real estate that requires little or no renovation. The vital ingredient is finding a deal that will be profitable.
Deep discounts can result in high profits, but only if you are willing to invest either the time or the money to rent or sell the property.
by: Paul Easton
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