Whether you have years until you are looking to sell your home, or simply a matter of months, it is important that you are aware of the features of your house that will enable it to sell for the best price possible. From extensions, to adding value with solid oak flooring, to solving the house’s structural issues, there are many solutions that you can use to add value to your home, make your house appealing for viewers, and prepare it in time for the move. This guide will help you to establish the best ways that you can upgrade your home for a move whether you have lots of time or no time at all.
- Fit Solid Oak Flooring
If the rooms in your home are beginning to feel a little tired, renovating your flooring can be a great way to spruce up your rooms and make them look fresh again. Flooring such as carpets and even wooden flooring can become worn over time from the amount of wear and tear it receives, and this is often the first thing that can dampen the look of your house. However, by renovating your flooring and installing solid oak flooring, you can make your rooms look more spacious, increase the cleanliness of your home, and make it look smart and professional. Wooden floors such as solid oak flooring are much better than carpet as they maintain their appearance for longer and look much smarter than carpet, which can gather dirt and dust much quicker than flooring. However, you should always make sure that you choose wood of a high quality rather than laminate or other types of flooring which quickly chip or start to peel. Wooden floorings are especially important if you have animals as pets can often scratch or put pressure on carpets and soft floorings.
- De-Clutter
Once you have renovated your house, the first thing that you should think about is de-cluttering your home. This de-cluttering will make it much easier when it comes to the move as your possessions will be more organised and you will have less unnecessary items in need of packing. Not only this, but although viewers do not expect perfectly clean houses, it is easier for potential buyers to envision themselves living in your home if they are able to see the space available to you. De-cluttering also helps to maximise the space available and make rooms look larger than they truly are. To de-clutter your home, you should give yourself a goal a day such as one room at a time, and challenge yourself to organise this into what you would like to keep, and any unnecessary items which you do not love or use anymore. De-cluttering will be helped if you invest in extensive storage areas, or consider putting your possessions in storage until after the move.
- Add a Porch
Porches are extremely coveted in the modern day and can add a lot of extra value onto your home immediately. People want porches as they can help them to save on electricity bills through trapping more hot air within the house and stopping draughts from entering. Porches can also be a successful way to keep children and pets safe from enabling there to be a two-door system before you enter the house. Porches also give the homeowner to have an extra storage space where they can store muddy boots and coats without affecting the cleanliness of the rest of the house, something which is important to people who do outdoor sports or who spend a lot of their time outside. What’s more, you will not need to have planning permission for your porch as long as its size does not extend past 3 square metres, which most porches do not.
- Convert Your Garage, Cellar or Loft
Before you consider adding more rooms and areas to your house however, you should try to make the most of the underutilised space that you already have in your home. You can do this by converting your garage, cellar, or loft into useful spaces that can be used by larger families or converted into desirable rooms that people are looking for when seeking the perfect home. For instance, garages can make perfect spaces to store cars and other vehicles off the road if you do not have the space in front of your house. However, if you already have off-road parking, both a garage or a cellar can be turned into games and entertainment rooms that are separated from the rest of the house, allowing family members to both escape each other and entertain their guests indoors. Lofts can also make valuable additions to your home. If you already have enough storage space without it, you should turn your loft into another bedroom that can be used as a guest or spare bedroom, or even to house a larger family looking to buy.
- Add a Conservatory or Extension
If you have no more rooms in your house to convert or maximise, you should consider building a conservatory or extension onto your house to both enlarge it and make it more spacious and to add value onto your home. Extensions make perfect living spaces for families, and usually house dining rooms, living rooms or kitchens in an open area which can add a huge amount of space onto your home. However, they can cause significant disruption for a larger period of time and can be extremely costly, making it easy to go over-budget. Although conservatories are better for those on a budget and fulfil the same needs, you do need to consider that conservatories age quicker than extensions and can be difficult to heat appropriately during both winter and summer months. If you would like a simple extension to your house, you should consider an orangery as these do not need planning permission if they do not exceed 50% of the surface area of the original build, and give you some of the same advantages in space as an extension or conservatory.
- Spruce up Your Front Garden
Preparing to sell your house is also an excellent invitation to begin to spruce up your front garden as much as possible. To do this, there are many simple actions that you can perform such as de-weeding, deadheading, and digging the soil, as well as more complex ones, such as planting new beds and installing colourful flowers that will help to brighten up the exterior of your house and off-set your home. You should choose flowers for this that grow in every season or interchange them as the season’s pass, choosing flowers like pansies in the winter and geraniums in summer. You can also spruce up your front garden by adding furniture like benches which can help to make you of the space and advertise this as an extra living space, as well as giving your fences and any existing outdoor furniture a lick of paint to help your garden feel fresh and brand new again.
- Invest in New Windows
The exterior of your house is the first part of your house that your potential buyers will be able to view. With this in mind, your windows and doorway will be part of the first impression that you will give your visitors of your house, meaning that if they are run-down or shabby, this may taint the lasting impression of your house. You can change this by investing in new windows and doors- neutral colours such as white are best for this as they are more likely to look new for longer due to their hardier material. Not only this, but new windows will be double or triple glazed and will do a much better job of keeping in the heat and stopping draughts, which may increase your energy bills. Buyers will be more likely to buy your house if they know that the energy bills are low, as the costs of running your house will be one of their priorities when deciding on their ideal home.
- Fix Structural Problems
Among other issues that you may face when looking to sell your home, when they are looking around your home, one of the most vital elements that your potential investors are likely to consider is how much money will have to be spent on the maintenance of your house once it has been bought. This includes any structural problems that your house may have, such as a damaged roof or issues with the walls of the house, such as peeling paint or missing tiles. Although it may be expensive to do so, you will encourage buyers to consider your house if you are able to fix any structural problems that it may have. To do this, you may have to look into employing a professional builder who can establish the best route to fixing your house and maintaining it for the future, such as roof guards which protect the edges of the tiles from damage. If you have the skills yourself, you can solve these problems through DIY. However you should check that you are performing these solutions to industry standards and that you have performed health and safety checks beforehand.
- Solve Damp and Mould Issues
Another aspect which potential buyers are likely to check for when viewing houses is the likelihood of damp and mould becoming a problem in the house. Damp and mould is caused by poor ventilation, damage to the windows or frames, and leaking roofs. Although this is not a major problem, damp can cause serious illness, especially in older people, and is extremely unsightly when it causes mould to spread along walls and ceilings. Luckily, there are many DIY methods to help you to stop and prevent damp from spreading in your house, such as fixing the source of the leak in your roof, putting ventilation fans and shafts into your windows and bathroom, opening windows, washing mould away with soapy water, and using mould spray.
- Redecorate Your Rooms
If you have the time and the budget to do so, you should also consider redecorating the rooms in your house to make sure that they look fresh, clean and bright. There are many methods to help you to redecorate your rooms, and one of the best of these includes rearranging your furniture so that it provides you with more space through a more streamlined layout that allows your room to feel more airy and uncluttered. You should also consider giving your walls an extra coating of paint to smooth over any bumps or scratches that may have appeared through wear and tear, and replacing any furniture which has become shabby or torn. This will enable you to update your style to match existing trends and make your house appealing to others as well as yourself.
- Change the Lighting
One of the major factors that can make people bypass your house is its lack of light and darkened rooms. Although you cannot change the positioning of your room, there are many ways that you can increase the light to your room. You can add natural lighting by cutting down any shrubbery or trees which shadow your windows or block your windows from light, as well as taking any furniture away that is in front of the window. You can also make rooms seem brighter by installing brighter furniture rather than dark woods and by painting your walls in lighter or neutral shades such as creams and greens. You should also install bright eco lights that can help to add artificial lighting to your room, and make sure that these are turned on during your viewings.
- Return to Original Fixtures
If you have an old house such as a cottage which has natural character, you should strip the house back to return to its original fixtures, as buyers often look for houses with original personality and history. One of the ways that you can do this is by sanding the floorboards to return them to their original state, as well as renovating fireplaces which may have been blocked off or plastered over. However, if you have an extremely modern house, you should make sure that the style of your furnishings matches that of your house.