2020 wasn’t a great year for anyone who wanted to move house. The circumstances we were all faced with meant that moving literally wasn’t possible in a lot of places, even if you really wanted to. Even if restrictions in your area allowed you to move home, you might not have wanted to do so because of concerns about income or job security. Thankfully we’re beginning to put all of that behind us now, and the property market is slowly but surely starting to recover.
If you’ve been waiting over a year to sell your home and move on to pastures new, we understand if you’re eager to get things rolling as quickly as possible. Take a moment to think, though. Would it be better to put it on the market immediately and take whatever you can get for it, or would you prefer to make a few “quick fixes” that could boost the value of your property before you sell it? That’s more money in your pocket – and potentially more scope to buy a better new home for yourself and your family!
None of the five suggestions we’re about to make will cost you much in terms of time or money – but they could make a material difference to the offers you receive from viewers. Check them out!
Convert The Loft Into A Bedroom
Many people still believe that the easiest way to add value to a property is to add an extension. That’s not necessarily true – but it is one of the most expensive ways to go about it! You could get just as much value from converting your loft or attic space into a bedroom. In fact, if you do it right, you could boost the value of your home by between fifteen and twenty per cent. You’ll need to add an ensuite bathroom if you want to get to the upper end of that scale, but you could still achieve a fifteen per cent lift without one. The simplest way to go about the task is by getting a roof light conversion, which is the least invasive process and, therefore, usually the least expensive. You won’t need planning permission for a roof light conversion either, so that’s even more expense and hassle out of the way. Any reputable building firm in your area should be able to handle this if you don’t feel confident doing the work yourself.
Get Planning Permission For Additional Buildings
This is the cheapest and best property value hack we know. You can add up to ten per cent more value to your home without building or changing a single thing so long as you have some space to play with. Speak to your local authority and see if you can get conditional planning permission for either an extension, a garage, or a more formal loft or basement conversion. You can then list that as a benefit when you come to sell your home. It’s likely that some of the people who will be interested in buying from you are property developers, so knowing they can definitely make changes prior to making a purchase is a big drawing factor for them.
Repurpose An Unused Room
Not everyone has a great imagination. If there’s an unused room in your home – say an old bedroom, study, or a room you used for storage – it will look dull. Your viewers won’t take it into account when they’re assessing your property’s worth. Repurpose your unused space to demonstrate that it could be useful. A popular choice would be a games room. They’ve become less popular since online slots websites replaced the need for card tables in people’s spare rooms, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have value. You can have a lot of fun at an online slots website like Rose Slots CA, but it doesn’t replace the feeling of being sat around with friends playing cards or even pool. Hang a dartboard in there. Add a video games cabinet or your home consoles. Maybe even have a slots cabinet hooked up to the internet so people can still play online slots if they want to! If you throw in a projector, you could even turn it into a cinema room. The possibilities are almost endless.
Knock Down Unnecessary Walls
On the whole, people prefer open spaces to confined spaces. We’re no longer living in the 1930s and 1940s, where every room in every home had a specific purpose. Back then, we lived in houses that had specific dining rooms, lounges, and drawing rooms. Most people don’t want or need to live like that anymore. We’ve become so accustomed to living in apartments that it’s no longer unusual to have your kitchen and your front room blend into each other! The most important room to focus on here is the room you’ll be spending the most time in. Making your living area open-plan might add between five and ten per cent to your home’s value. Big rooms are brighter and look more welcoming – which is precisely the impression you want your viewers to get; when they walk in.
Convert Your Basement
If you can’t go up, go down. Not many properties have both a basement and an attic, but most have one or the other. If you have a basement, the good news is that basement conversions tend to add more to the value of a property than attic conversions. If it’s done well, we could be looking at an increase of thirty per cent. That’s big money – and it might not be quite as much work as you probably imagine. In most cases, cellar conversions are covered by “change of use,” which means planning permission shouldn’t be required. It might even be possible to create a basement where one doesn’t exist already by digging beneath the lowest floor of your property. You’ll obviously need to call in structural engineers for that task, though, so be careful that your costs don’t exceed your likely rewards.
To reiterate, our top tip is to apply for conditional planning permission before you sell your home. That’ a ten per cent top-up on your home’s value, and it’s essentially free money. A basement conversion won’t be for everybody because it’s labour intensive – but we can all repurpose a disused room if we put our minds to it. Get busy redesigning and reap the eventual rewards!
