When does doing up your home end up doing yourself out of money?
It’s not the opening to a poor joke but a serious question we thought we’d answer for homeowners in Fife.
Not all home improvements add value to your home’s worth in the eyes of future buyers.
It can often be the reverse.
Here are five things to avoid if you do not want to de-value your property.
Planning Pain – It’s surprising the number of homes we see which have made improvements without the proper planning permission – this can cause significant problems when coming to sell it. Don’t do it. – Example is a house in Methil had no planning and by the time the solicitor had finished trying to sort it out and the fees charged it was worthless to the people selling.
Poor Quality DIY – Badly plastered walls, sloppily painted walls, poorly laid paths, and ill-fitting kitchen doors turn off buyers. If you are getting work done it often pays to get in an expert unless you’re a whizz at DIY.- we still see the ramifications of this in artexing, fife stone fireplaces, interior wood cladding, half-baked efforts to get electricity to their garage or shed.
Daring Décor – if you have decorated your home in unusual and ‘far out’ colours you could be putting buyers off at worst or at best giving them a bargaining tool. Some buyers may try to negotiate on the basis that ‘to get it looking how we want it will cost X number of pounds.’ I’ll go back to artex, wood chip (especially if you have painted it with vinyl silk), painted the house in a colour that was impossible to get rid of. I once had a couple splitting up and when I walked into the house to sell it the whole house was painted black. I could not believe it! Then he told me the story of how his partner accused him of never cleaning the house and how it was always black. So, what did he do……. You can work the rest out, but it did take a few thousand off what it could have achieved.
Cladding Calamity – Not such a problem nowadays but stone cladding and pebble dashing was once the scourge of successfully selling a home. It does you very little favours when it comes to attracting buyers willing to pay the asking price. I’ll go back to the 1970’s and 80’s fireplaces.
Less Mess – If your home is untidy and cluttered, it will reduce online interest for starters as the photos will highlight this. This is the most straightforward tip of all. A big clean-up will add thousands to your home’s potential value. Long gone are the days you and I walked into a home, saw the potential regardless, moved in and renovated it as we went almost living in a building site most of the time. Buyers want to see how they can move in and live in the house immediately.
However ultimately life is for living so if your current home is your forever home do what makes you happy as you’re not selling.
But if it isn’t your happy ever after home, consider the above points carefully. Remember we see this day in day out and know most things that will get you the highest value in the shortest time. So, if you need some advice then don’t be afraid to ask.
