If you’re planning to sell your home sometime soon and want to get the most money that you possibly can for it, then you’re going to need to start thinking about the improvements that you can make to boost your property’s value. Adding value to your home is a mission most homeowners enjoy, but it’s not as simple as it often appears. It’s easy to go overboard when you’re having fun renovating, which often results in spending more money than the value you add. If you want to make upgrades that are worth the cash, then here are five you could try and five you should avoid.
Do Fix Structural Problems
Before you even start thinking about upgrades and cosmetic improvements, you need to make sure that there aren’t any major structural problems. These include things like cracks in the walls, rising damp, a leaking roof, and pest infestations. All of these improvements are going to come at a cost, but when it comes to adding value to your home, they are absolutely vital. If you’re not sure whether or not you have structural problems, then contact a surveyor for an inspection.
Do Increase Kerb Appeal
First impressions always count, so it’s important that the front of your home leaves a pleasant one on potential buyers. If your front garden is filled with weeds and trash, and your porch is dirty and uncared for, then viewers are going to assume that your whole house has been treated the same way, and will put in a much lower offer. Tidying up your garden and giving your front door a lick of paint takes very little time and money, but can add some serious value to your home.
Do Install Double Glazing
If you want to add value to your home and start to save money right away, then you should contact a company like Professional Glass as soon as you can, and have double glazed windows installed. Double glazed windows let out much less heat than their single counterparts, which means you’ll use less heating, and your energy bills will decrease. This is useful to you but is also incredibly appealing to potential buyers, and as such, they will offer more money.
Do Renovate The Kitchen
They say the route to a person’s heart is through their stomach, so the route to potential buyers’ pockets is definitely through the kitchen. If you want to get the most for your home, then a hygienic, practical, and beautiful kitchen is vital. Of course, you may not need to completely change the space, so consider all of its aspects and figure out what really needs an upgrade before you spend more money than you necessarily need to. The cupboard units, for example, may be salvageable, in which case you’d only need to buy new doors, which much cheaper.
Do Add A Conservatory
Conservatories generally add a lot more value to your property than what they cost, and as such is a brilliant addition to most homes. However, you need to make sure that your conservatory is designed and built well, and that it fits onto the house as if it were originally a part of it, rather than a random add-on. If yours lacks any of these key aspects, then it could have the opposite effect, and actually decrease the value of your home, completely wasting the money you spent.
Don’t Add A Swimming Pool
If you live somewhere warm and sunny, where a swimming pool could be used pretty much every day of the year, then it could possibly add some value to your home, but if you live somewhere a bit colder, then it’s completely useless. All potential buyers will see is a large amount of maintenance they’re going to have to do to keep it clean and running, which will put them off. Families and animal lovers will also see it as a safety hazard.
Don’t Install Solar Panels
Solar panels are a great way to appeal to greener and more environmentally conscious people, but they won’t add enough value to your home to warrant the price tag, so you shouldn’t get them installed for this reason. Sure, you’ll save money on energy bills, and will be able to sell the energy you don’t use back to the grid, but you won’t break even for years. This means that, if you’re planning to sell up and move out sometime soon, it’s really not worth the money, and isn’t a sensible investment.
Don’t Landscape Extravagantly
Although you should keep your garden in a tidy and cared for condition, you should avoid adding too many personal touches, like new shrubbery or trees, ornaments, and water features. This sort of extravagant landscaping can put potential buyers off, as they want to see a garden that has potential and that they can add to, rather than one that been completed. Instead of changing your garden, maintain it well, by mowing the lawn, watering the plants, and raking the leaves.
Don’t Knock Down Any Walls
If you’re thinking about knocking down any walls within your property, then it’s important that you think it through carefully. Sure, removing the wall between the dining room and kitchen could be a good idea, as it doesn’t disrupt the purpose of either room, but knocking down the wall between two bedrooms is a bad idea. This means you have one less room, even if you’ve now got a slightly bigger one.
Don’t Make Invisible Improvements
Potential buyers aren’t going to pay more money for improvements that they can’t see. Although you may appreciate a new plumbing system or air conditioning, they aren’t going to notice the difference. If you’re planning to move out soon, then it makes much more sense to stick to improvements your buyers are actually going to notice, as these are the things that will get them putting their hands in their pockets.
If you’re planning to sell your house in the near future, then use the advice above to get the best offer for your home.
