The outlook for the next few years is a little dismal if you’re a property owner – falling house prices are making many people fret. Some property owners will find themselves in negative equity later this year or next year, if not already. All the same, there are ways to avoid this issue. Namely, to add value to your house. How to go about that? By giving your household a makeover. Do It Yourself / home improvements can contribute far greater value to your house than the effective cost of those improvements.
So where to start? A good place to start is to think about the rooms in your house that you use the least. Maybe it’s a spare bedroom or adjoining garage. Knocking down a wall can transform such a rarely used area into a kitchen or living room extension which can bring a great deal of value to your property. Also take into account plumbing and electrics. Dimmer switches can transform ugly bright rooms into cosy, warm rooms just via a dimmer dial – simply light transforming the room! Possibly your property doesn’t have a downstairs lavatory? Then get one installed where your adjoining garage is – again this can add a great deal of value to your home.
Perhaps your 4 bedroomed house could be converted to 3 bedroom by taking a wall down, and creating a much bigger room. This may sound a tad odd, but actually larger rooms will hand you a better sale value, and quite often individuals use a 4th bedroom purely as a room to store stuff in (meaning it’s not of great importance).
Next up is the garden. Do you have a shed? If not, think about installing one in the garden. Why? Well, here is one place where you can stash away all your gear that’s clogging up your utility room / spare bedroom / garage. Sheds encourage gardening also, and enthusiastic gardeners (read: your future house buyer) like a shed in their garden. And perhaps, well – you could into gardening yourself! If your garden’s been ignored, then cut the lawn, plant some flowers, cut the lawn edges. Install some decking if you have some room. Just providing a beverage to a potential buyer out in your pleasant garden can really make the place sell itself – viewers feel comfortable in such surroundings – so it turns out that your garden can help sell your home, and add value to your property!
So where to look for some help? Look online. A DIY directory like homeandgardenlistings.co.uk has all kinds of home and garden websites listed there : including a directory of bathroom fitters, directory of builders, directory of plumbers, electricians, directory of general furniture suppliers, directory of bedroom furniture and beds suppliers etc.
These are just some basic points on maximizing the cost of your house in these difficult times, but we hope this will spur you into some action!
