Is it better to buy an apartment before or after renovation?

11/22/2021 - If you are buying an older apartment or a completely new one from a developer, the price will vary not only depending on the area of ​​the apartment and the location, but also depending on the condition of the apartment. Even the condition of a new apartment can be very different, fully furnished or without partitions and equipment. This also determines its price.

An older apartment after renovation can be a lottery win When you buy an older apartment, it can have a very different level. Some apartments are completely renovated and modernly equipped. These are then sold at a price corresponding to almost a new development project. Some can be more expensive if they are located in attractive locations where there are enough services, shops and good transport accessibility. Even good development projects, which are often created on the outskirts of cities or in places where the infrastructure is still being built, may not have that. An apartment before renovation is usually the cheapest. An older apartment before renovation should be the cheapest. It will require significant investments, which should, however, be assessed by an expert. With today's price changes, few people orientate themselves on the construction work and materials market and are not able to understand what all will need to be renovated in a given apartment. Therefore, it is good if the interested party or his broker invites a construction technician to the apartment, who will assess the condition of the apartment and prepare a proposal for the necessary repairs. Such material can then be used as a starting point when calculating the finances that will need to be invested in the apartment. This is the only way to arrive at the final price that the apartment will cost you before it can be lived in quality. New apartment - standard equipment or shell & core? By the term shell & core refers to apartments in new buildings, which are handed over after the completion of the rough construction, i.e. without any finishing touches to the interior, including partitions. Usually, the owner himself decides where the partitions will be, chooses the interior doors, floor coverings, tiling, type of stairs, sanitary equipment, sometimes even windows, their style and shape. Selling at this stage is beneficial for both parties, saves money and time of the future owner and developer. The owner has a lot of space to implement his ideas about living, and the developer does not have to deal with the individual requirements of individual clients for various changes, whether it is differently placed partitions, different tiles, floor coverings, etc. The apartment is in a shell & core is therefore quite different from a regular new apartment, which is furnished as standard (or even above standard) and equipped with plaster, floors, sanitary facilities, or, by agreement, a kitchen unit. This apartment must be accepted as is, or agreed with the developer on changes, which, however, will always bring additional costs. When selling a furnished apartment, the quality of the equipment depends. It depends on what and how it is furnished. Older furnished apartments, in which someone has lived before, are rarely sold. People usually move in with the existing equipment or wish to completely refurbish the apartment according to their taste. And so these types of apartments are mostly bought by those who are in the city, or even in the country, new and need to live quickly. An apartment furnished with older furniture will also be welcomed by students or people who are looking for a starter apartment and their financial resources are tight. However, abroad, it is a common option that the investor buys the apartment, cleans it, completely renovates it and equips it. Then he sells it. This style of selling apartments has not quite arrived yet, although some investors are already offering their luxury properties furnished. It would seem that it is more difficult for such apartments to find owners, but sometimes the opposite can be true. If a person is not a designer himself, does not have an overview of the field, he would have to devote hundreds of hours to the stylish furnishing of the apartment or entrust the furnishing to an expert anyway. However, when buying a custom-furnished apartment, this phase is omitted, and he can move in right away. Each option has its pros and cons. Of course, it is primarily a financial matter. Buy an older apartment before renovation or a new apartment in shell condition & core means that the cost of furnishing the apartment is entirely in your hands. But it will require a lot of effort and a lot of time. The purchase price of a new or renovated and luxuriously furnished apartment will certainly be higher. But the owner saves time and can immediately move in. Are you interested in the topic? We recommend: Who to inform about the renovation of the apartment What can affect the net income of the property Are you buying a property? Also ask about what is not visible. The price of the property is affected by its technical condition. How significantly? Is it possible to use model contracts from the Internet for the sale or lease of real estate?

Jindra Svitáková