In today’s property market owners not only need to focus on how to increase the chances of selling their home when they’re ready, but also how to capitalise on individualistic features and add value to the property. We’re not saying we know the magic ingredient to satisfying both puzzles, but we can offer some advice from our years in the industry as to what can add a lot of depth and that little bit of glamour to your home.
Before we get into a few specific ideas on how to add value to your home, we should note that there are a lot of comparisons between marketing a business and marketing your house. After all, when trying to sell a home marketing is really want you’re doing. So before you begin blindly building extra rooms and creating a gold chimney (not an actual suggestion!) make sure you research your audience. What sort of buyer will you be attracting? There are lots of questions that can lead to this answer, like ‘what’s the price range?’ and ‘are there schools nearby?’. You need to know whom you’re pitching to.
So some ideas; there are the obvious ones that add a grandeur and beauty to most homes like back-of-house extensions and loft conversions, but there are also some more subtle things you could try when looking to increase property value.
Think about paving the garden. If your neighborhood has seen a lot of elderly people purchase property and they’re tending to concrete the yard so they don’t have to care for plants or a lawn, save them the trouble and do it nicely.
Sort out planning permissions if you think that buyers might like to extend the house in the future. This might cost a couple of grand but could change the type of viewers you attract, and will probably get you a tastier package at the end.
There are lots of small things you can undertake as well: add new coats of paint to areas that are suffering from age; do what you can to lower energy bills, like installing a solar panel on the roof; instead of paving the yard, plant an extra tree.
Always be thinking about what your buyer would want, and you’ll be well on your way to succeeding in increasing the value of your home. It’s always important to call a professional for the bigger jobs though – nothing lowers the value of a home like a botched DIY job that brings safety issues with the ruined aesthetics!