Important Environmental Factors to Consider When Buying an Investment Property in 2023
When you are looking to buy a property, location is one of the most important factors that you can consider when deciding where you should buy. However, often people find themselves caught up with the community surrounding a property that they miss another key piece of criteria – the environment.
Environmental factors play an important role in both the management and maintenance of an investment property, so it is crucial that you take the time to ponder these elements of the property and its location before you spend any money.
Before we dive in, if you want to have a one-on-one discussion about which environmental factors you investments have that could impact your mortgage and investing success, click the link below to book a free strategy call with our team at LendCity today.
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Five Key Environmental Factors for You to Consider
While there are countless specifics you can get into when considering the environment on and around a property, there are five environmental factors that stand out above the rest.
Is The Property in a Flood Zone?
This is probably one of the most commonly discussed environmental factors in real estate and for good reason. Whenever a property is located below sea level or at a lower elevation than a nearby body of water, the property is going to be at risk of flooding.
These floods can range from torrential floods that can turn the yards on your property into swamp-like messes to more severe floods that allow water to pour into your properties to potentially cause severe damage to the walls, floors and foundations of your investments. While flood zones are not an immediate death sentence for the profitability of a property, they certainly are something you will need to keep an eye out for whenever you go to invest.
If you discover that a property you wish to buy is located in a flood zone, the first thing you should do is look for any flood-prevention methods on the property. This can include additional storm drains on the roads and in the yard, increased weatherproofing around the foundation in the form of steeper land slopes for water to run off of and away from the property, or ditches for the water to run into so that the water level is less likely to reach the property.
How is the Soil Condition and Health?
These two environmental factors that you will need to consider when buying a property work together and they are the soil condition and health. While normally, people may assume this is only important if you are planning to grow food on the property or use it as farmland, there are other important reasons to have the soil on a property examined.
Soil health not only impacts the health of the plants that grow on the property, but it also can impact the risk of soil erosion and the health of the people and animals who use the property. Remember, whatever is soaked into the soil has a high risk of rising back to the surface when it rains as the water displaces the contaminants in the soil.
Firstly, properties located near industrial properties and manufacturing sites have a high risk of soil contamination. This means that the chemicals and runoff from the property are much more likely to infect the soil. As well, houses located near gas stations have a high risk of poor soil health due to gas leaks and spills soaking into their soil.
Is There Any Local Wildlife?
Local wildlife can play a few key roles in determining whether a property would make a good investment depending on the type of wildlife in question.
For example, if a property is located near a clearing known for having high populations of coyotes and racoons, people may be less willing to live there because of the risk associated with these animals coming onto their property and scouring through their things.
As well, if a property is located near the home of a protected animal species such as beavers or certain species of birds, you may run into restrictions and limitations on what you can do on the property without disrupting their habitat. This may include not being allowed to cut down trees, build certain additions and more. This makes these animals major environmental factors to consider.
How Are the Air and Water Quality?
The air and water quality around a property are going to be key indicators of the quality of life that you tenants will be able to have on your property.
If a property is located in a city with poor air quality due to high levels of pollution, your tenants are more likely to become sick than tenants at a property in a region with high air quality.
As well, if the water quality is low enough, it may be more expensive to get clean water and your tenants may run the risk of facing potential boil water advisories throughout the year.
Is the Property at Risk of Natural Disasters?
This is the least common concern for most investors but, is still one worth considering.
Disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes and tropical storms can be devastating when they strike a property. So, you will likely want to get a strong insurance plan for any properties you plan to buy in a region where the conditions for these disasters are met.
Environmental Factors and Your Mortgage
On top of the management and maintenance of your property and tenant’s wellbeing, environmental factors can also play a key role in your mortgage financing.
If the environmental factors around a property are a large enough concern, you may find that certain mortgage lenders will begin to require certain tests to be run before approving a mortgage. Some may even deny your applications out of concern for certain conditions.
That is why at LendCity, we work with a wide network of lenders so that you can get approved for the best available mortgage from a lender that will finance your investment.
To get started today, simply visit us at LendCity.ca to fill out our online application or give us a call at 519-960-0370 Alternatively, you can click the link below to book a free strategy call with our team at LendCity today.