If you are reading this article chances are you already own a flat or a house, which you most likely bought yourself.
Therefore, you should be familiar with the main points prospect buyers are influenced by when reading local classified ads or browsing through a website to search for a possible new property. Of course, after finding the webpage listing all houses available to buy in London or having hit the right page of the local newspapers, prospect buyers’ attention is grabbed by the biggest and nicest pictures available. However, it is then immediately focused on a few other key elements. Knowing what these elements are and how to influence them is key to succeeding in increasing the value of your home, so we hope this short list can help you out:
1. Bedrooms
The amount of bedrooms is essentially what sets the perceived size (and value) of a home. Therefore, if you find a way to get one more bedroom out of your available space this will result in an increase in value. A good possibility is to convert your attic – if you have one – into a small bedroom. This will make the home more appealing to couples with kids.
Apart from the number of bedrooms available, also their size and level of comfort plays a great role in setting the market value of a home. A room’s size is hard to modify, but the level of perceived comfort can easily be influenced. A good tip is improving the rooms’ lighting options, for example by adding some dimmers and recessed lightning.
2. Kitchen
After considering bedrooms, the kitchen is the second most important element of the house evaluated by prospect buyers. When evaluating a kitchen, a great deal of attention is given to appliances: new appliances will make your home feel new and comfortable, just in the same way as old appliances will make the perceived quality of your property decrease. If your appliaces are amore than 5 year old, you should definitely consider changing them before selling your house: newer models, possibly with professional-looking, stainless steel details, will most certainly drive the price up.
Apart from appliances, also kitchen cabinets play an important role in defining your home’s image and perceived value. Wooden cabinetry is always preferable to laminate, especially if accompanied by some custom woodworking that makes your kitchen unique. If you are on a budget, a good trick could be to just replace cabinet doors with newer ones, leaving the main cabinets’ structure untouched.
3. Bathrooms
While your home most likely has more than one bathroom, the master bathroom is the one that will be most closely evaluated and that will therefore play a more important role in setting your home’s price. If you have a shower and can not afford a change towards a spa-like bath tub, try to change the shower to a multi-sprayer one or to improve the bathroom floor by changing its tiles to newer ones.
As we have seen the elements considered by prospect buyers looking for a home to buy are rather basic, but can still be influenced and improved by future sellers. Bedrooms, kitchen and bathrooms are the key elements that – given a certain location and size – will define the price of a house. Improve them how you can and you can be sure you will get a good return on your investments!
I do believe that you are correct. Although most people don’t need 4+ bedrooms they perceive it as adding more value to a house thus spend a lot more money on stuff they will most likely not use. The question is: who has 400k+ to spend on a gigantic house nowadays ?