Property is one of the most expensive markets in the world. With most people only ever being able to afford a single home at any given time, it’s easy to see how important this part of life is, and a lot of people work very hard to make sure that can love the place they have. Of course, though, even when you love a place, you’ll always want to get the very best deal.

To help you out with this, this post will explore both buying and selling, along with some tips to help you make sure that you’re always getting everything you can out of this sort of transaction. It will take some work, but it will always be well worth the effort.

Buying

When you’re buying a home, getting a good deal isn’t simply about negotiating and fighting your corner. Instead, you have to be prepared to make some compromises along the way, choosing the places you look at and make offers based on what they can give back to you.

For some, space will be important, and it won’t matter where the place is. Others, though, will need a specific location to make their lifestyle work, and this could mean compromising on the size of the place. Below, you can find some examples of the sort of elements that will impact your decision, along with some tips to help you get the best deal in each scenario.

Location: The location you choose is likely to be one of the most important parts of your home purchase. A lot of people want to be somewhere exact when they are buying a home, and this can make things slightly challenging.

The area which is place calls home is often the deciding factor in the price which it commands. If you don’t want to compromise with this, one of the best routes to take will be buying a home that needs to have some work done on it. While this will mean getting your hands dirty with some DIY, it will ultimately save a lot of money and will be worth it for anyone on a budget.

Size: Other people will be much more interested in getting something the right size for their needs, rather than wanting to have a home in a specific place. Like location, size is another deciding factor in the price of a lot of homes, with bigger places taking up more valuable land.

If you’re not worried about your location at all, using something like a loan calculator in Malaysia for property to find something in a country where the property is very cheap could be a good idea. Otherwise, moving to another road or a slightly more affordable part of the city you like could also work, making it easy to save some money while retaining the space you need.

Amenities: When you’re living in a city or a town, having the resources you need local to you is very important. Schools, shopping areas, and even things like gyms can be very important to people when they are choosing a home. Of course, though, everyone likes to have things close by, and this means that properties with these sorts of features will often cost the most.

To save some money in this area, looking for homes with excellent transport links can be a good idea. Being close to train stations or bus stops is great, and living within a short drive of what you need can be even better.

Negotiation: While not all of the work you will do when buying a home is to do with negotiation, it will help if you’re able to take this part of the job on with gusto. A lot of people struggle to know how to talk to someone who is selling something like this, and this means that you may have to work hard to learn while you’re going through the process, making the whole thing a big challenge.

To avoid this struggle, getting the help of a professional real estate agent can be a great route to take. You should always offer something fair, but also shouldn’t be afraid to ask for more of your money if you are unhappy with what is on the table.

You also have to weigh the pros and cons of getting a move-in ready or fixer-upper home. Most people aren’t the fixer-upper type but don’t discount the possibility without giving it careful thought. A move-in-ready home can save you energy and time, but a fixer-upper gives you more freedom to build your dream home and incorporate many efficient systems to maximize the convenience and cost-effectiveness of your abode.

However, if you can find a move-in ready home that checks off everything on your list (all your non-negotiables and many or all of your negotiables) that is within your budget, there’s no reason to expend more time, energy, and resources on a fixer-upper.

Selling

Selling your home to someone else is a bit of a different story. A lot of people don’t realise how long this sort of process can take and will be very disheartened when they have to wait for a while before they can start looking towards their new place.

In reality, though, getting the best price for your place can take some time. You should avoid jumping the gun and accepting offers that don’t make you happy, instead use the tips below to push people in the right direction when they come to view the place.

Presentation: The way that your home is presented to people looking to buy it will always impact the offers you receive for it. For example, if you try to sell someone a place that is dirty, they will find it hard to look past the dust and grime, making the whole place worthless in their mind.

With a quick tidy, you can make a place go up in value by a surprising amount. Along with this, you can also take advantage of people’s other senses, like sight and hearing. The smell of baking bread, the sound of rivers running, and even making sure that the place is nice and warm will all impact the way your potential buyers will feel about it.

Fix Issues: If the property you’re trying to sell has anything wrong with it, people will instantly start working on mental calculations to figure out how much it will cost them to fix it. With this in mind, they won’t be anywhere near as happy to give an offer that makes you feel good, and this can leave you getting a bad deal.

By fixing issues like this yourself, not only will you save them money, but you can also let them know that work has recently been done to put them at ease about the future. It’s amazing how big a difference not having to do a little bit of work can make for people.

Make Small Improvements: The value of a property is mostly dictated by the location and size, but this isn’t the only part of the story. Along with the basic stats, people will also be more inclined to offer a greater price when they can see that the place has more on offer than others in the same area.

A driveway, for example, will be invaluable to a lot of people and doesn’t cost too much to add to your place. People won’t think about what it costs you to install this element, but will usually offer more money as a result. Of course, though, you will have to be creative to find the best improvements to make for the smallest price.

With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to start pursuing the best possible deal on your next home. A lot of people struggle in this area, finding it hard to make the money they want from the homes they purchase. Of course, though, it doesn’t have to be this way. Instead, if you take the right steps, you can get the best deals on your property, whether you’re buying or selling; you may just need to get some help along the way.

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.