5 Home Improvements To Add Value To Your Home

5 Home Improvements To Add Value To Your Home

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With house prices currently at a record lows, and remortgage deals all but dried up, more people in the UK are choosing to stay put rather than move home. This way, homeowners can wait until the market is more favourable and in the meantime make some quite worthwhile changes to their home. There are huge financial benefits to making changes within the home, be them large or small, as they can significantly increase the price of the home. Bigger changes such as home renovations and extensions can prove to be sound financial investments providing they are done correctly.

The thing with bigger renovations is that you cannot expect an immediate return on the amount you spend. A return on your expenditure depends largely upon location and the state of the economic climate at the time of selling. Many homeowners find that they do not make any return at all from such drastic and expensive changes which is unfortunately the risk you take. Therefore, significant amendments should be treated firstly as a way to add improvement to your family's living and only later as a way to encourage a sale.

1 Affix an extension to your home: Perhaps one of the most common ways of improving your home and hence adding to its value is to add an extension. While this may not be a viable option for many, it can prove extremely beneficial to some. Before even contemplating an extension though you must obtain planning permission (if required) and then shop around for the most competitive builder prices. The extension also must blend in with both the aesthetics of your property and the size of land you have. So, if you have a small garden that an extensions is likely to disproportionately encroach upon, then it will in fact devalue your property rather increase the value.

Although in saying all that, don't just build an extension for the sake of building an extension. In order for it to add real value to your property it must either act as the main focal point of the home or as an additional, functional room to the property. So, for example, adding a fourth bedroom to a property that only has one bathroom wouldn't add to the value of the property at all. Be realistic in what a potential buyer would expect in addition to how it will contribute to a better liveable space for your family.

2 Convert the loft: Conducting a loft conversion in a home is rapidly becoming a popular method of adding value to property. Not only does a loft conversion add quite a significant amount of space, but it can also modernise more traditionally styled homes. Loft conversions are much cheaper than full property extensions, with prices ranging from £8000 to £15000, and generally cause much less disruption. This is because most builders and developers construct scaffolding on the roof of the home, rather than on the outer walls of the building.

A major edge conversions have over extensions is that they don't necessarily need planning permission, speeding up the building process; at best they can be completed in a month. Loft conversions can add a maximum of 20% onto a property price, but to get the whole 20% depends on the style and build of your property and the loft space. The roof height has to exceed 2.4 metres to be viable (2.4m is the absolute minimum height, you can get away at this height, but the taller, the better) with a steep pitched incline also being a major advantage.

3 Attach an en suite to a bedroom: Properties with a master bedroom, or at least one bedroom significantly larger than the others should consider adding an en suite bathroom into the space. Using minimal space to begin with and making a bedroom much more desirable to prospective buyers. People can be amazed how little space is needed for an en suite; a little used walk in wardrobe can offer the perfect space for a discreet en suite. An en suite should be an addition and not a replacement for the main bathroom of the house, a house with 4 or more bedrooms and one bathroom can make demand and the morning queue's for the bathroom unbearable, having that sort of morning rush for a en suite would be hell on earth!

4 Renovate your basement: Older properties that already have a basement can really benefit from an extension below the main living space. Older basements tend to be used as added storage space and are often neglected. Refurbishing the cold, dark and damp area into an additional room can make your property much more attractive. This doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your vital storage space either, by adding storage racks and units in the refurbished room means you can still neatly store all your clutter. Extended basements are a popular choice to create office space or a room to just relax in as they are generally much quieter than other rooms in the home. As this type of extension involves underground space, insulation and heating will also have to be considered to ensure that the room remains an inviting and comfortable area.

Extending into the basement is popular among the celebs and the wealthy, with many properties in London having basements containing large swimming pools and even screening rooms. Unlike a loft conversion, a basement conversion unfortunately takes a much longer time to complete; expect around 3 months worth of work and disruption. The work will involve a thoroughfare of builders in and out of your home throughout that time, so temporarily relocating may be the preferred option. Not only this, but it can cost quite a hefty amount too, usually up to and around £80k, so this is certainly not a decision to take lightly.

Knock down internal walls: Easily one of, if the not the cheapest option to improve a house and living space of a property, with estate agents now valuing a house by square footage instead of the time old by how many rooms a home has. For growing families it can be an elegant and quick solution to increase living space to make a house seem more spacious and comfortable.

Knocking through and down a wall can add much more natural light to a property, meaning giving a house a lighter and fresher feeling and atmosphere to the house. Knocking walls down works most effectively when joining a dining room and kitchen, or a kitchen and utility room, with utility rooms being much more sought after and in vogue at the moment, creating a more open and accessible utility room can be a major plus point when selling a property.

Well, that's all we have, so think about giving your house that facelift it deserves!

About the Author:
Just Remortgages provides homeowners with remortgage resources and news including the latest remortgage rates and the best remortgage deals available in the market.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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