If you’re looking into buying a property, this is great news. Property - whether you intend to live in it, rent it out, refurbish and sell it or anything else - is one of the best investments that you can make. Often, property retains value and provides you with an asset to add to your portfolio. Of course, property doesn’t come cheap. So, you're going to want to make sure that you make the right decision the first time around. This can help to reduce losses, maximize profits and generally make you more money. It can also help to save time, as buying and selling property can be a complex and time consuming process. But what can you do to get the right property straight off the bat? Here are some tips that should help you to achieve this.

Official Surveys and Valuation

Sure, it’s fine to browse the market without professional assistance. But when you find a property that catches your eye, it’s absolutely essential to have professional surveys and valuations carried out. This will help you to get insight into the property and what state it is really in. Many issues can be covered up by nice furnishing and decorations, but can actually decrease property value and cause issues down the line. A good example is foundation damage or issues. These may not be immediately obvious to a buyer, but can be found by official surveys and valuators.

Location

One of the key factors that can drive real estate value is location. Where a property is located can boost its value or completely reduce it. So, it’s important that you put a lot of thought into where you want to buy. There are, of course, extremely desirable locations, but these tend to come hand in hand with a huge price tag that not all investors have to hand. At the same time, you don’t want to buy in a neighborhood that has no signs of improvement or value increase any time soon. Look into up and coming areas that are being refurbished and are receiving a lot of commercial investment. As places begin to have more restaurants, cafes, bars, cinemas and other amenities, more people will look into moving there. You should also make sure to keep an eye out for planned developments in the area that could reduce value, such as the addition of a sewage plant, abattoir, highway or airport.

How Much Work Are You Willing to Put In?

Another key factor in whether you should invest in a property is how much work you are looking to put into it. If you’re looking for something that you can buy and resell for a higher price quickly, you’ll want something that’s suitable for people to move straight into. If you’re happy to take on more of a project, you can look at more run-down options that will require rebuilding or renovation work in order to sell on for profit. There’s no right or wrong answer in this. You simply need to decide whether this is a small-scale project for you, or if you’re willing to wait and invest time, money and effort into it.

These are just a few steps towards finding the right property to invest in. Hopefully, they’ll help you on your journey to profit and success!