If you’re saving to improve your home, or taking the next step up the property ladder, your savings are protected by the FSCS. Check your money is protected and find out more here.
Taking that next step on the property ladder can be a tough one. With living costs as high as they are right now, it’s always a challenge to find ways to cut costs and places to shave off pennies to make those important savings. You’ve probably thought about improving your current property to make more money for a bigger, better one? A lot of the time, you’ll make a lot more in value than you’ll spend. But have you thought about what not to do to your home? Certain things can damage the chances of finding a buyer, and cost more money than they’re worth. Some of them might surprise you! Here are our top tips.
1. Don’t ‘over do’ your home
Let’s face it, noone is going to spend £500,000 on a house in a street where every other house is worth less than £300,000. There’s no point in adding something major, like a games room, or a studio, or a built in hot tub, because it’ll just push the price up too far and you’ll never be able to find a buyer.
2. Don’t waste money on bedrooms
If you’re looking to do up a room to help sell your house, then don’t make it a bedroom. Paint colours and soft furnishings are subjective. Buyers will be able to look beyond your daughter’s One Direction bed sheets!
3. Don’t change the windows
Some experts say you should, some say you shouldn’t…. It’s expensive and it varies from house to house whether it adds value. If your windows are really old (like, pre-double glazing old), broken or really out of keeping with the rest your house (for example, plastic, while your house is period), then do it. If not, don’t bother.
4. Don’t make rooms into things that can’t be changed
There’s nothing more valuable than a potential extra bedroom, so you need to make sure any ‘extra’ rooms could be seen as bedrooms to the buyer. For example, it’s not worth building a home cinema room if the built in furnishings can’t be easily and cheaply removed.
5. Don’t get too emotionally involved
Of course this is your home, and you’ve sweat blood and tears to make it precisely the way you want it, and the perfect home for your family. However, you need to think objectively. Your perfect isn’t someone else’s perfect. You might be a fan of shabby chic décor everywhere, but your potential buyer may not. You want to make your space look as neutral as possible so that your potential buyer can begin to see themselves living in your property.
To add value to your home, watch here for the top 7 things to do.
Whatever you’re saving for, you can sleep well knowing that your family’s savings are safe and protected by the FSCS. Click here to find out more.