5 Ways to Increase Your Properties Asking Price – Without Breaking the Bank

Moving house has been marked as one of the topmost stressful life events a person can go through. Especially when you’ve recently had your home valued and the price point wasn’t as prosperous as you hoped for.

Anyone can add a basement conversion (with the correct planning permission, obviously!) or get a shiny new kitchen to bump up their valuation. However, not everyone has the funds or the time to do so. Fear not! There are some home improvements you can make without breaking the bank.

Did you know that home buyers decide whether they like the property or not within 8-10 seconds? Judging only from exterior alone. Barclays Mortgages revealed that around 35% of buyers base their decision entirely on the front of the house.  Meaning that you could be losing buyers before they’ve even seen inside!

Freshen the front door – Starting with the front door. The front door is the focal point of your home. It’s what peoples eyes are immediately drawn to. So If you’re looking to pull in buyers and increase the property value, the front door is the best place to start. This doesn’t have to be paying out big bucks to buy a state of the art door with a central locking system. If your door is looking tired and dull,  adding a lick of paint could make a world of difference. Sticking to exterior design trends, the right colour palette is important. For example, using mushroom greys, royal blue or sage. Another couple of ways to spruce up your door is replacing a rusting letterbox or adding a fancy knocker.

Kit out the kitchen – A kitchen is the heart of the home. Replacing a kitchen can be very pricey but there are some simple home improvements you can make to increase value. Again, repainting cabinets and changing handles to enhance your kitchen is often an inexpensive alternative to modernisation. New lighting fixtures can brighten and transform the room and really set the mood of your kitchen. Decluttering and clean surfaces are also cost-free improvements which will further add value.

Save your spare room – Do you have a spare room or a study which nobody uses? Well if so, this is another great way of upping the value. Home buyers tend to spend more on a property if the house has more bedrooms. However tread lightly with this, there can often be a ceiling price for every street (meaning houses often sell for a price within the guidelines of the street, making it difficult to achieve more than this without major extensive work). Keeping in mind, bedroom to bathroom ratio, usually having a one to three ratio, as a minimum.

Spruce up your garden – Garden appeal is vital. This includes both front and back. Along with the front door, the garden it the first thing potential buyers spot, so it’s important. Trimming borers, clearing pathways, weeding the driveway. If you’re a busy person and gardening isn’t at the top of your agenda. Then adding pebbles or grey slate to flower beds is often a quick cost-free way of improving the presentation of your garden. Depending on your budget, investing in either a patio or decking for the back garden will add to your saleability. Buyers love being able to picture themselves relaxing in the garden on a warm summer’s day. The garden should feel like an extension of their living space and adding outdoor furniture, along with a patio, allows the garden to feel more habitable.

Clean the carpets – Finally, replacing worn-out carpets/flooring. You need to make the buyer want to take their shoes off! A fresh carpet can make a huge difference but it’s important not to over personalise your decor. Adding a stripey carpet might be appealing to you but unfortunately, it isn’t to everyone’s taste. That’s why keeping or interior fairly neutral is a good idea, people need to visualise living in the property. If you don’t have the funds to replace your flooring, you can hire home cleaning kits which will significantly improve the appearance of your carpet. As for wooden floors, you can sand them down, varnish them or give them a deep clean before viewings.

Moving house doesn’t always have to be expensive and it’s often the smaller changes that go a long way. Haven’t had your property valuated yet? Here at Move Now Properties, we offer free home, no-obligation property valuation. Contact us at http://movenowproperties.com/selling/