There are a number of improvements both minor and substantial that can help increase the opportunity to sell your home in a difficult market. We recommend that you start the process by researching the people in your target market. Far too many owners make the mistake of investing in improvements that may not be what their target market really wants. The improvements you make will be different if your marketing to retirees or to young families. Once you have a firm understanding of these facts you’ll be able to make improvements that attract potential buyers.Exteriors
It’s important to have good kerb appeal. How your home looks on the outside will be its first impression and often its most memorable. How it looks from the kerb needs to be easy on the eye. The gutters and windows should be clean and the hedges and grass should be trimmed. According to the magazine Country Living, the colour purple is this year’s most popular, making it a good choice for doors or trim and for making a bold statement.
Hallway Improvements
Hallways are often overlooked by sellers but noticed by buyers. Even though these spaces are used for keeping shoes or hanging coats or other such items, it is nonetheless one of the first things a buyer will see when they come inside. Just as the outside gives the very first impression, the hallway is often what gives the first impression once the prospect enters the home. Using pale colours will help improve lighting and if you strategically use a mirror, it will make the space appear bigger. When showing the house, keep shoes and coats hidden away as much as possible.
Convert Your Loft
Adding a loft to your home may require checking on building regulations. You may also need to get the advice of an architect. Even so, it can be one of the best ways to add additional square footage to your property. According to some research, this type of conversion can increase the selling price by over 12%. If you also add a bathroom to the area it will very often raise the home’s value to be more than it cost to do the conversion.
Improve Areas of the Home That are Currently Wasted Space
“Homes often have areas that are not used effectively,” says a building surveyor in Farnham. Garages are a good example of this as well as spare rooms and areas in the home that have unnecessary walls. Knocking out a wall that is not weight-bearing could open up space and make it more useful. Cleaning out a spare room and transforming it into a study or small office can make that space more useful. If the garage is unused it could easily be converted into a workshop. Many of these types of improvements can be done with very minimal investment.
Bathrooms and Kitchens
One of the most important rooms you can improve on for the purpose of selling it is the kitchen. Buyers will often look at this room more closely than any other. When your budget is a concern for doing improvements, the kitchen is where you’ll want to invest if you can only choose one improvement. Some of the things you can do include painting the cabinet doors or replacing them. Make sure to remove any clutter from worktops and make every area of the kitchen as clean and shiny as possible. The same type of thing should be done for bathrooms. Freshen it up and make sure the grout is clean and add some attractive towels to the room.
You can check out programs by experts like Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer for inspiration. You should also consult with your local real estate agent as they can often give you some great tips after evaluating your property. You could also have an architect come out and take a look to help give some ideas.