You’ve been searching months and months, scouring at every possible venue just to find the perfect home. Then you finally stumbled upon a vintage yet ultra glamorous house that you just couldn’t resist. You made the right calls and met with the right people. Every thing is falling into place until you found out that you’re about to buy a historic home.
It’s easy to fall in love with the charm of a historic home. The aesthetic and the special architectural design of a house that has historical value is truly extraordinary. There are also fun benefits when you buy a historic property such as tax incentives . And of course, the bragging rights of having a property that have a significant role in our past is hard to resist.
Houses or neighborhood that have this kind of significant value are simply hard to come by. Purchasing a historic home requires specific documents and permissions. These requirements are there to protect the property’s prestige.
But what makes a property historic? First, you have to verify the property to find out if it can be considered as historic. Try to contact a history professor from a reliable institution or go to the National Historical Commission of the Philippines to validate.
Now that you have verified that the property that you’re eyeing has great significance, then it’s time to know how you can acquire it. Below are the steps that you need to know when buying a historic property.
1. Inspect and check
First, ask the help of a home inspector to make sure that the property is safe. Get someone who has expertise with structure since you are dealing with a very old property. You must also make sure that the property passes the safety and health and safety standards.
2. Study up
In case that you see some defects or you want to put a modern twist in the house, you still have to consult authorities about renovating the house. It’s a historic property and no one would want to offend anybody when you change the place’s interior and exterior.
3. Estimate
Ask contractors that have dealings with this case for price range on how much it’s going to cost you if you want to renovate the property. This is also an opportunity to figure out if the expenses in renovation are worth all the trouble.
Of course, there are various restrictions that may apprehend you from buying your dream home. It’s a necessity to comply with all of these restrictions so that you can go home to your property without hitting any bumps along the road.
- Exterior treatments – Find out if any part of the exterior (i.e. windows, shutters and roofs) is made from original materials that cannot be found anywhere else in this era. You might need to preserve those since they cannot be found anywhere else.
- Additions/Extensions – You must adhere to the local standards of renovating a new home before you can do any change. Adding or extending beyond the house is a factor that you must ask to an expert right away.
- Taxes – Tax for historic properties may differ per location. Go to your local government and to learn how much the deduction will be.
A great home comes with great responsibility. When you finally own one, you should make sure that you’re willing to give your 100% in protecting the history of the property.
Image source: http://www.persquare.com.ph/for-sale/house-lot-central-luzon-region-3-pampanga-angeles/house-lot-for-sale-in-angeles-city-near-clark-elegant_15128 – GFJ Realty