You may be anticipating a move in the near future, or you may be intent on staying put for the long run. Either way, there is no harm in doing everything you can to add value to your home. Regardless of when you think you might sell your property, making improvements now can lead to a positive future for you and your bank account. Below are seven stress-free tips you can use to boost the value of your home.
1. Repaint
If you are very much hoping to put your home on the market in a relatively short space of time, you might believe that there is little you can do to add value before the process begins. However, repainting the walls of your home is a quick and effective way to make spaces more attractive to potential buyers.
If your walls haven’t seen a paintbrush in the last five to seven years, it’s likely time to freshen things up. Through the years, walls can absorb moisture, grease stains, and sun filtering through the windows as well as show dirt, scuffs, fingerprints and paw-prints from the people and pets who inhabit a home.
People tend to have an easier time envisioning themselves living within a space when the walls are bright and light. Painting your walls is easy, affordable and massively valuable.
2. Focus on Kerb Appeal
Refresh the outside of your property by repairing any damaged window frames, painting your front door, or replanting your garden. Clean windows not only look attractive but also allow more light into your home, creating an overall brighter space. Cleanliness and greenery are popular among people looking to buy a new home, so add some colour to your front lawn with flowers and keep the exterior paintwork in good condition. Whether your home has wooden cladding, brickwork, or stone, ensuring the exterior is in tiptop shape can really improve kerb appeal. If in doubt, walk past your home and try to imagine what a stranger’s impression of it would be from the kerb.
3. Replace Your Flooring
Good flooring can make all the difference. Think about the purpose of the flooring depending on which room you want to work on. For example, the options at mystonefloor.com are ideal for kitchens, bathrooms, and even gardens. Be honest with yourself about whether your current flooring will appeal to the public. Maybe your home has a floor with a more eccentric color and you love the way it looks, but chances are that’s too bold for most people’s tastes. When you’re selling your home, it’s generally best to stick with neutral colors (tan, brown, gray, etc.) for the flooring. Neutral colors are a safe choice most people will be fine with. It is best to choose flooring carefully and hire a professional for installation so that it looks its best. An updated floor can make a whole room seem new.
4. Renovate the Kitchen
The look of your kitchen is important. Eighty percent of homebuyers say the kitchen is the most important room in a house. Kitchens today are more than just somewhere to prepare a meal. It is the area of the house where people congregate, cook and eat. Buyers will be looking for a lifestyle and they will want to imagine themselves entertaining friends and family in and around the kitchen.
More than half of all recent homebuyers report that kitchen style played a key role in their home-buying decisions. Over two-thirds of buyers specifically stated that they were willing to pay more for homes whose kitchens featured key upgrades.
If you have the time and the budget, giving your kitchen a renovation can add plenty of value to your home. Visit showrooms and look online for inspiration without adhering too closely to fleeting style trends.
5. Extend
By adding extra rooms to your home, you can create significant value for potential buyers. Think about whether you want to extend outwards or upwards based on your property type and planning permission.
Most home additions are done because they add space, increase comfort, and improve your quality of life overall. For example, this might mean adding an office or study for people who work from home, a sunroom for people who love the outdoors, or a master suite.
It’s important to remember that “adding value” is not the same as return on investment (ROI). Understanding how much a project could potentially add to your home’s resale value is the first step in determining whether or not the investment will pay off. The second step is understanding the cost. There are certainly factors that can affect the rate and value of the appreciation, but the fact remains that the value increases.
6. Rethink the Layout
Consider breaking down a wall to create one large room out of two, or divide a space into separate areas for increased functionality. A new layout can be surprisingly effective at increasing a property’s value, especially when adding a bedroom.
You can convert unused spaces. A well-designed attic will create extra habitable space to help free up a busy household and introduce extra living space into your home. Depending on the space you have to utilise, you can also make it self-sufficient by adding a lounge, bathroom, bed and a small kitchen. It’s a really clever alternative to an extension that could increase your property’s value, and is perfect for guests, grandparents or as a teen’s retreat. Rethinking and rearranging your rooms to live more comfortably makes sense.
7. Enhance Energy Efficiency
Studies have shown that green homes sell faster and for more money than homes without energy-efficient designations.
An efficient home is one that reduces unnecessary energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and the demand for non-renewable resources. At the same time, it provides more sustainable living conditions and saves significant sums of money.
Renovating a home to make it more efficient, means choosing thermal insulation materials for walls, ceilings, doors and windows, and using renewable sources of energy — such as solar panels — and electricity storage systems. There are also technological solutions, like installing LED light bulbs, responsible appliances and smart control systems that optimise consumption.
Any changes you can make to improve your home’s energy efficiency will add value.
Endnote
Even if you don’t think that you will want to sell your home any time soon, it is good to think of your property as the investment it is. By adding value to it, you make it a more worthwhile investment for the day you finally decide to move. Hopefully, these seven ideas have inspired you to make the most of your home.
