Renovating your home or extending the building area can boost your property's resale potential.
Upgrades needn’t be extensive, nor should they cost a fortune. However, you need to be sure that whatever project you undertake will add value and won’t detract from the property.
If you’re planning a renovation with the intention of improving your property’s selling price, estate agents generally agree that there are three main areas to prioritise. These are the entrance, kitchen and bathrooms. In addition, adding a bathroom is sure to increase the value of any property.
First impressions
Buy-to-let investors may not be too concerned about appearance if they plan to modify the property to accommodate tenants. However, most would-be homeowners tend to be attracted to properties that are neat and well maintained and ready for occupation.
Upgrading the entrance could include fairly inexpensive projects like removing clutter, painting the front wall or fence, mowing the lawn, cutting back overgrown shrubs, weeding and mulching flower beds.
As a final touch, place one or two colourful container plants at the door.
Kitchen
Many property practitioners are adamant that a kitchen can make or break a property sale. After all, most people spend a lot of time in this room daily.
Open plan kitchens adjoining a living area are generally desirable. However, exposed sculleries can spoil the feel. Concealing the scullery around a corner or behind a wall would be a real value-adding project.
When considering the cost, the general rule is that the cost of a new kitchen should be no more than two percent of the current value of your property.
If you aren’t sure what your property is worth, find out the recent prices paid for similar properties in your street and neighbourhood. A reputable property practitioner who is active in your area should be able to help with this.
Once you have decided to renovate your kitchen, it’s wise to opt for neutral colours and install appliances that are known to appeal to potential buyers. This will also help you to avoid overcapitalising.
Bathrooms
A fairly inexpensive bathroom facelift would be one that doesn’t require plumbing fixtures to be moved around.
Replacing items like taps, shower heads, and cabinet handles is relatively simple and can have a big impact.
Retiling or painting the walls would be more costly but would be well worth the effort if your bathroom is looking tired.
Retiling the floor is a fairly big project which is best left to professional tilers.
Again, as with the kitchen, neutral shades are best for bathrooms if you are aiming to appeal to potential buyers.
Professionals
Whatever renovations or additions you decide on, it’s important that the finished product must look professional. This means you shouldn’t undertake any projects yourself that you are not competent to do in the hope of saving money.
Cutting corners and doing building work on the cheap can devalue your property instead of adding value. In addition, calling in professionals to rectify badly completed renovation projects could cost you more than if you hired them from the outset.
Writer : Sarah-Jane Meyer
