Let The Home Buyers Be Aware! Avoid Buying Houses With Potential Natural Disaster Risk
By tk | November 24, 2008
Despite, or maybe because of the present economic downturn, there is an ever growing number of Home Buyer Organisations coming into the UK market. These are either private individuals or companies who have come to the decision that, even with House Prices sinking, it’s still a very much safer bet to put spare funds into Properties rather than leave it in a Bank.
The view behind this is straightforward enough. Hefty deposits in banks along with any funds owned by companies are not covered by government guarantees, so could in theory disappear if the Bank folds. Properties on the other hand can’t under normal circumstances disappear. It’s also unthinkable that their values could drop to anything like zero, and in the medium to long term, it’s very likely that they’ll recover as the economic climate picks up.
But, it’s simply too easy for the House buyers to get carried away, and shore up more problems for themselves. Let’s just pause and consider for a moment about what that phrase “under normal circumstance” means. Just as we are experiencing monstrous upheavals in the economic climate, we must also be aware of the potential changes in our real climate due to global warming.
These changes could have a disastrous impact on the value, and perhaps the continued existence of any House you may buy as an investment. The House Buyer who’s purchasing for an investment or as a safe home for his spare funds may be tempted to just look at the findings of a good survey which shows the value and condition of the home along with any present threats that may affect it.
A “real” House Buyer who’s planning to live in the House will look much more closely at such threats as coastal erosion, increased rainfall, old mining works, altitude, present and future industrial, commercial and Infrastructure developments, schooling etc. etc, and make his considered opinion about the effect of these during his lifetime.
Anyone lucky enough to be cash rich at the moment can be forgiven for keeping their eye firmly on the present economic downturn and its probable consequences. However, when buying Properties as an alternative to funds in the bank, you need to treat the due diligence as seriously as though you were going to live in the House.
To paraphrase: Let the Home Buyers beware! When people buy Properties to live in; they make sure of all sorts of things; like present and possible future risks of flood, storm, landslip and other risks. It’s much too easy for those who buy Properties for investment to pay lip service to these aspects.
These kinds of investors often just wait for a call from a home owner in trouble to “Buy House”. They jump on the opportunity with a minimum of effort, and return to running their businesses. However, before I Buy Houses, I take as much care as if I was going to live there myself.
Topics: Real Estate |
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