8 ways to add value to your home

Do you want to improve your home and add value to it? In this article, we have listed 8 ways that you can do so.

1. Create more space

Potential buyers and homeowners often want to get more living space, which can mean better kitchen and dining areas, additional bedrooms, or a home office. If you add an extension to your house, make sure it isn’t any bigger than 20-25% of the outside space, otherwise the house could become unbalanced.

2. Add an ensuite

A large house with just one or two bathrooms could benefit from an ensuite in the master bedroom. To improve saleability even more, use efficient products to give access to water and energy rating certificates.

3. Go open plan

Homes with a large open plan kitchen/dining room tend to appeal – people often want a big family room where families live and eat together. If you plan to take out existing walls, ensure that your builder works with a structural engineer, for peace of mind.

4. Go green

Good insulation will not only improve your property’s thermal performance, but it’ll reduce energy bills too. Timber floors and cavity walls are easy to insulate. Concrete floors are sometimes more difficult and may involve losing some floor-to-ceiling height.

5. Keep your home maintained

It’s important to stay on top of upkeep. Key areas include timber window frames (refinish every couple of years to preserve them) and the roof (regularly check that there aren’t any tiles that need replacing). Also replacing your guttering if necessary can be a quick, cost-effective way to smarten up your home and add value.

6. Refresh flooring

Flooring makes a great impact on the overall value and feel of a home. Unattractive worn carpets and old tired laminates are a sign that your home needs updating. Upgrade options could include going for a new high-quality carpet or switching to tiles in the kitchen and bathrooms. But one of the instantly impactful and simplest choices can be putting in a wooden floor.

7. Get glazing

Getting suitable fenestration will straightaway add visual appeal, and bi-fold doors will give you great access to the garden as well as that “wow factor”. The cost of triple glazing is not really much more than the cost of double, yet it will really add value as you will be saving energy.

8. Stay focussed

Go into your project with a developer’s hat on. The first thing you should do is look at what the ultimate resale value of the property will be. Every street has a ceiling price – find out what yours is by getting valuations from estate agents and get quotes on the work you wish to undertake.