10 Ways to Add Value to Your Home

1. 10 Ways to Add Value to Your Home

2. 1. CONVERT A SPACE Consider a Loft Conversion This is one of the simplest ways to get an extra bathroom and bedroom and it will not disrupt your home very much, as most of the work will be done from outside. Of course, it is important to make sure that the loft matches the style of the rest of the house and that it doesn’t appear “grafted on”. You will need to strengthen the floor joists of the loft which will raise the floor level, so make sure that you have enough ceiling height to stand up. A survey of 110 estate agents carried out by GE Money (a mortgage lender) found that a loft conversion adds 12.5 on average percent to the house selling price. Turn Your Garage into Living Space Did you know that 90 percent of British garages don’t contain a car? If you have a garage and you are not currently using it to store your car, why not turn it into a more practical space? A garage conversion can be quite an easy project and usually costs around £10,000. In order to find out how much value you would add to your home, you can multiply the average local price per square foot with the square footage added. Add a Conservatory Another way to extend your living space is to add a conservatory. Again, make sure that this add on matches the design and style of the rest of the home. It should feel like it was always there, rather than something that has just been bolted onto the back of the house. One way to make it appear as part of the home is to us the same type of flooring all throughout your downstairs living area, which will create a visual connection and make it feel like one space flows into the next. It is estimated that a conservatory will add around 7% to the value of the home.

3. 2. PAVE YOUR FRONT GARDEN In any city area where parking is a premium, paving over your front garden to create a parking spot will add a lot of value to your property. Of course, if you live in a rural area then the flower beds and grass will be a more valuable element to the property’s curb appeal. Consider where you are located and whether or not the space in front of your home would be more valuable as concrete or as flowers. In order to pave over your front garden you might need to spend £10-£20,000. However, in many expensive urban locations in the UK the added value of the parking space could be £50,000. 3. ADD A NEW COAT OF PAINT Nothing makes a house look new and lovely again like a new coat of paint on all of the exterior surfaces. This might cost you anywhere between a hundred and a thousand pounds, but it could add five thousand pounds to the value of the property. Your house will stand out from the neighbours and have wonderful curb appeal. While you are at it, make sure that you clean the dirty windows, unblock the gutters and clear the driveway.

4. 4. CHANGE THE WINDOWS Check the windows to see if they are in good shape and if they reflect the style of the property. If they have been changed over the years and do not reflect the original style of the property, make sure that you add in windows that do. 5. SPRUCE UP THE FRONT DOOR How is your front door looking? The front door is the first thing that people see when they enter your home, so make sure that you are making a good first impression. Try buying a new doorknob or a brass letterbox or a stainless steel house number to add a bit of charm to the front of your home.

5. 6. HANG MIRRORS IN THE HALL When potential buyers visit your home they walk into the entrance hall and the first thing they see is this narrow and cramped space. A simple way to make it seem bigger and brighter is to add in a mirror on either side of the wall. 7. FOCUS ON THE KITCHEN If you only have enough time and budget to improve one room of the house, it should be the kitchen. It is a very important space within the home, as it is where you cook meals, socialise, hold dinner parties and much more. When you renovate your kitchen you want to create a stylish and elegant working area that is practical and easy to use. Make sure that you install appliances that are as recent as possible, so that the kitchen won’t look out of date in 10 years. Also, consider the price bracket of your house. If you install a kitchen that is too expensive in a house that isn’t you will not see the money back, but if you install a budget kitchen in a very expensive house you will bring down the value.

6. 8. RENOVATE THE BATHROOM After the kitchen this is the second most important room to renovate. Even if you just add a new set of taps, a heated towel rail, a new power shower and a big new shower head it will make a difference. 9. THINK ABOUT YOUR BUYER Consider your target buyer - the type of person who would be most likely to buy your property. Who are they? How old are they? What are they interested in? What do they do with their time? Thinking about this will help you to determine whether you should convert that attic space or spare room into a playroom for kids, a study, a home office or a gym. 10. LOOK UP! Are there ways that you can increase storage space by using the ceiling voids of the home? Lot’s of storage in clever places will increase the practical appeal of the house.

7. Thank You For Reading And Good Luck Selling Those Homes! Contact Us Greenaway Residential Estate Agents Boscobel House, 109 High Street, Crawley West Sussex. RH10 1DD T 01293 561188 www.greenawayresidential.com