Some people own a vacation home that serves as a private getaway when they need time away from their everyday stressors. Others own a vacation house in another country or state as another form of real estate investment. No matter your reasons for owning a second home, know that now can be the perfect time to renovate that property. You can use this opportunity to put your attention on a productive project, improve property value, and save your investment from deteriorating. But why choose the pandemic when renovating your second home?
Turn It into Your Private and Safe Haven
Renovating your second home is a good way to ensure it can accommodate your current needs and lifestyle. During the pandemic, you will benefit from turning your second home into a private and safe haven where you can get out of your daily life. You want your investment to look good, feel good, and feel safe.
You can use your second home as your private refuge in case your primary home is located in an area where there are already many Covid-19 cases. This will give you better peace of mind knowing you have another place to stay to keep the family safe.
Whether you plan on staying on your second home beyond the pandemic or not, it is a must that you increase the home’s security and prevent break-ins. In these modern times, the bad guys are a lot more creative when it comes to trespassing and doing their evil deeds in residential units. The last thing you want is to find an intruder in your property while your family is inside the house.
Choose projects that can boost your home’s safety and privacy. Start with securing all possible entry points, like your gate, the front and back doors, windows, and garage. Invest in a garage door motor service if needed to make sure no unwanted visitors can break through your garage.
A privacy fence is a good way to add more privacy to your home. If you have a deck, go for portable partitions, bamboo plants, privacy screen, or retractable awnings. Smart home technologies like smart lighting, smart locks, motion lights, smart doorbells, and even a smart garage door are all wise investments.
Use It for a Safer Self-quarantine
Even with utmost precautions, you or a family member can end up getting sick. All of your family members may be updated with flu shots and are doing whatever needs to be done to protect yourself from the virus. But if you get exposed to someone who has Covid-19 or a family member ends up with the virus, it would be best to isolate that family member to protect the others.
Preparing your second home for such circumstances will put your heart at ease knowing you have another home you can use to isolate. You would want to make sure the house is ready in case of an immediate need. Aside from the necessary renovations, you can consider the following projects.
Touchless soap dispensers and faucets are a nice addition to any home. Since the pandemic made people more conscious about their handwashing habits, such touchless fixtures allow you to keep up with better hand hygiene. The same goes for smart home technologies that allow you to control your home using your voice.
Boost Value in Case of an Attractive Offer
One remarkable thing about the housing market is that it stayed stable despite the current pandemic. Many real estate experts were surprised to find real estate to be more resilient during these challenging times. This is even though fewer sellers are listing their homes for sale.
With a lower number of houses for sale, you can use this opportunity to open up the possibility of selling one of your houses. Homebuyers are out in the market looking for houses they can call their forever home. With the lower supply of houses being sold, you can take advantage of this time to sell your home for an attractive price.
Did you know that mortgage rates are lower during COVID-19? Buyers are leveraging on low mortgage rates to finally buy their own property. For potential home sellers like you, this increases your chances of quickly selling the house.
To boost your second home’s appeal to pandemic buyers, consider a professional cleaning service before and after letting buyers inside the property. This will give better peace of mind knowing you did your part in keeping the house safe. Find a cleaning service that offers thorough home disinfection.
Spice up your yard with lawn care and low maintenance landscaping to treat your buyers with an extra living space. Since the shelter in place order, people want more time to indoors but still wants to enjoy nature inside their own yard. If you revamp your yard into something that can make your buyers envision themselves enjoying the backyard, then you can influence their decisions and close the sale.
Renovating mid-pandemic is not an easy decision to make. But if you have the funds to do so, then consider it as an investment. You can turn your humble second home into a safe and private haven, convenient enough to self-isolate and boost its value in case of a future sale.
