Purchasing a Second Home

Purchasing a second property?

There are many reasons to purchase a second home. Whether you’re purchasing it in order to make a profit: for renovation and to sell / let the property. Or whether you are purchasing it in order to renovate and move in for early retirement, or as a holiday home for family and friends. The possibilities are endless.

Purchasing for renovation?

If you are purchasing a second home with the aim of renovation, there are a number of issues you have to be aware off:

• In order to manage your time and finances efficiently, you will need to be extremely mindful of the amount of work needed and you will need to be conscious of how long the projected work is going to take you.
• You will also need to have a strict budget in place and it is vital that you stick to it, otherwise you may find you have run out of funds and are only half way through the renovations. Be realistic when it comes to budgeting.
• You will need to take care when choosing your tradesmen –

Helpful hint – Get all of your quotations for the work to be done early, this will give you time to calculate exactly how much money you’re going to need enabling you to budget effectively.

What type of insurance does your second property require?

Renovation-

It is a common tendency, for properties to be left unoccupied during renovations. If this is the case for you, you will need specific unoccupied property insurance. Woodstock insurance brokers deal predominately with non- standard insurance requests. Unoccupied Property insurance is one of their specific markets.  Many companies who insure unoccupied properties, have exclusions on the policies, they require that the property is visited often, and most will only provide cover for ‘FLEE’ – fire, lightning, earthquake and explosion. They also require for the property to be fitted with minimal security requirements.   It is extremely important when you are searching the market for unoccupied property insurance that your enquire about all terms and conditions and exclusions on the policy.

Holiday Home-

Holiday homes also require specific insurance, as they are often left unoccupied for substantial periods of time.  Like unoccupied property insurance many insurance companies also apply exclusions to their holiday home policies. You need to be aware of these exclusions when planning on buying your holiday home. Most of the policies will not cover for water damage, due to the property being unoccupied for long periods of time. They will also not cover you if you do not have the correct security requirements.  Like with unoccupied property insurance, you will have to be vigilant when searching the market for holiday home insurance and you should make sure you enquire about all the terms and conditions and exclusions on the policy.