Whether you’ve just moved into a
new house, or you’ve been settled for several years and you’re planning to sell, there are a number of ways you can breathe life into a worn-in
property, give yourself some extra space and comfort, and ultimately add a
little more value to your home to help boost the asking price. While home improvement is the most
effective way to ensure a good price when it's time to sell, some people
invest their time and money in things that offer little return, or that
even bring down the overall value of the house. Obviously, you want to make
sure the money and effort is going to be worth it, so here are a few suggestions for home improvements that are certain to add value to your home.
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Attic Conversions
If you want a good return on your investment, consider an
attic conversion. It's a safe investment, and can be carried out with relative
ease and little disruption to your daily life. For most homes, this is the easiest way to add an extra bedroom,
perhaps with an en suite. Extra bedrooms typically add between 10 and
15 percent to the value of any property, and can be a very practical
addition for young couples with a growing family. The only drawback to
an attic conversion is that it takes a large initial investment, which
can be hard to cover for many people. A new staircase, and a large
bedroom with skylights or dormer windows can typically cost close to $50,000. Although it can be a little nerve-wracking to pump this
amount of money into your home, the immediate increase in
value makes the investment well worth it!
Fine-Tune the Presentation
While this is a home improvement that usually comes closer to the sale,
it’s still something to bear in mind when you’re trying to add value to
your home in the long run. You only get one chance to make a first
impression, especially when the people you’re trying to charm are
indecisive home buyers! Curb appeal has a massive influence on the
decisions of house-hunters and can make all the difference in how long
your house is on the market before you get an offer.
When you’re
looking to improve the presentation of your home to prospective buyers, one handy trick is
taking pictures of the interior and exterior of the home, trying to
make the images as appealing as possible. It’s easy to forget how your home appears to objective buyers when you’ve been living
in it for so many years. This exercise can be helpful
in opening your eyes to little tweaks and improvements you could make.
Boosting your curb appeal simply by tidying up the front of your house
is one of the most affordable, simple, and worthwhile home improvements you can make. Give the front door a fresh coat of paint, replace anything
that’s broken, and consider investing in window boxes or potted plants.
If your home is older than others in the local area, it can be a good
idea to go for a bold, fresh paint job that will make it stand out, or
replace door hardware and light fixtures to instantly add more appeal. You can find some
more tips on upping curb appeal at
http://www.popularmechanics.com/.
Fix Anything That Is Broken
While good presentation can cover up various problems from buyers, most
house-hunters will want to know they’re getting decent value, and can’t
be fooled that easily. Things like fixing leaks in the roof, preventing
the possibility of mold, fixing the HVAC system and patching up any
structural faults in the walls, should all be high on your to-do list.
The total cost of fixing these kinds of problems can vary greatly, and
can therefore be quite difficult to factor into your plans. You can
make your plans a little more structured by contacting companies like
https://www.assuredcomfort.com/ in advance, and getting some quotes on the work you want done.
On the
subject of getting professional help, make sure you’re doing your
homework on local companies in the area, checking reviews and making
sure they don’t have any black marks in their history. If you cheap out
or cut corners with these kinds of home improvements, it’s almost
certain to come back to haunt you later. Making sure you get a good
standard of work can be very expensive, but in terms of value,
screening the traders thoroughly is absolutely essential to making sure
you come out on top. Ask friends for recommendations. Word of mouth is often the most reliable source. Peeling paint, jammed or damaged
windows, squeaky doors, and similar minor issues should all be attended
to, but only after you’ve paid to fix the larger, more glaring
problems.
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Rethink the Layout
While adding space through an attic extension or another new room will
do a lot for the value of a property, you should also make a point of
considering how you can improve the use of the existing space. It can
be tough, but once again, try to look at your interior from an
objective viewpoint. Does the space have a
good flow to it? Is there some way for you to make the layout work better? Knocking down walls to open the space up, along with using the same
flooring, running in the same direction through the entire home, can
really help to open up the space. One increasingly popular design
convention is using similar floor tiles both in the kitchen and the
patio, ensuring that the inside and the outside feels nicely connected
to anyone viewing the home. You should also look at your bathrooms,
and consider rethinking the layout of the bath, toilet and sink,
ensuring maximum space and privacy for anyone using it.
Another good
way to bring in a great sense of flow is installing large glass doors
or windows at the rear of the house, filling the interior with natural
light, opening the property up, and creating an illusion of a larger
combined space. Good storage is also important for keeping all the
floors and walking space free of obstructing clutter.
Budget for the Kitchen
The kitchen is the heart of the home. While every buyer
is going to be different, the state of
the kitchen can make or break a sale in many situations. Kitchens can be given a
major refresh by keeping the fundamentals, but replacing the doors,
cabinet handles, and other details. Whatever you’ve been using the
kitchen for, try to look at it from the perspective of someone who
wants it to be versatile and multi-functional. Make it a space for kids
to do their homework, for guests to be entertained, and obviously, for
meals to be prepared. Don’t think that you have to spend a small
fortune on a totally new kitchen. For $10,000, you’ll be able
to replace the fronts on all your cabinets, install new flooring, and
fit new countertops that will make the whole space feel as good as new.
The one mistake you don’t want to make is getting a kitchen that’s
significantly more modern than the rest of the house. This can
suffocate an older home’s rustic charm, and turn off a lot of buyers
who want to go with something more unique and dated.
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