Military Finance Tips on Home Buying

By Katie Spencer

If you are in the military, you’ve probably moved once or twice already and probably will do it again. You’ll most likely be able to buy and sell real estate at a profit. If you know you are going to be moving in the next two to three years you can treat the situation as an investment and maximize your profit. Figure out if you’ll need to take out a military loan, military personal loans, or other type of loan to purchase a home before purchasing a home so you know what you will be able to afford.

First, before buying a home, make sure its something that will sell in the future. If you decide to go with a fixer upper, find one in a good location perhaps close to a top school. Don’t buy something in a poor location, such as a bad neighborhood or busy road. Ask your realtor about the houses you are looking at and how long they have been on the market. With the military you’ll probably have to move with a short notice period so you don’t want something that’s been on the market for six months because it will probably take that long again or even longer to sell when you are ready to sell it.

Keep the outside of your house presentable as well as the inside. You never know when orders will change so you have to be prepared to sell at any time. If you plan to fix up a house, do as much as possible when you first move in so if you don’t get completely through with a project before its time to move, some or most of it will be done making it look better than it did at first.

A tip on fixer-uppers. Don’t buy a house that needs a new roof or has a mold problem. These types of situations will require professionals, its expensive, and it may not completely solve the problem. If you are going to buy a fixer-upper, buy something that just needs a new paint job, new fixtures, or a room that just needs updating. It will cost you some out of the pocket expenses but in return you’ll be investing in the house so you’ll turn out profitable once you sell it.

The interior design and landscape of the house are important to its resale so keep up the value or add to it. A carpet wears out about every two to three years so you may want to purchase new carpet when you move in so you can enjoy it or when you get ready to sell. If you haven’t replaced it your real estate agent may insist you replace it to add more value to the house. This is part of a cost-benefit analysis that you will have to do to determine whether putting value into the house is worth it or not, and when to if at all.

For the color and look of the house, it’s best to stick with neutral colors. People may be turned off by bright or a detailed design so in order to make the house attractive to an average audience its best to keep it simple. Patch up any holes, buff out any scratches, and clean the house so it looks presentable to the viewers and also that it looks well maintained.

As for the outside of the house, which is the first thing people see it’s important to make it look well maintained. If something isn’t eye catching, people aren’t going to remember it as well. If you are fixing up the landscaping of your house just before you sell it visit your local nursery where plants are already alive and growing inside of planting seeds which can take a while to grow. If its fall, don’t go purchase tulips which are made to be planted in the spring. Speak to someone at the nursery and see what they recommend is best for the time of year.

If you have children, keep their toys stored away. People don’t like clutter and if they see it, they may be turned away. You want to give buyers an expensive view of our lot that is going to make them feel right at home.

The military may have its ups and downs with having to move around often but you get the chance to live in different homes in different parts of the world. For more information please visit http://www.militaryfinances.com/.

Katie Spencer is a contributing writer for a number of international financial journals both online and in print. Katie has been delivering financial education to the public in a variety of areas to include budgeting, credit and debt management, and money saving tips. Recently, Katie has been in partnership with a national educational foundation to deliver financial advice to American consumers via the web.

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