5 Home Improvements To Add Value To Your Home

March 6, 2011 by Admin
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5 Home Improvements To Add Value To Your Home

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Home Page > Finance > 5 Home Improvements To Add Value To Your Home

5 Home Improvements To Add Value To Your Home

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Posted: Jan 27, 2011 |Comments: 0
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As the British housing market continues to struggle through the aftermath of the recession, and remortgage deals have seemingly all but dried up, an increased number of homeowners are choosing to add value to their existing property instead of moving home. This way, homeowners can add value to their home and reap the financial benefits when the property market improves. Larger home improvements such as extensions and conversions, if completed correctly, can make your home a much more enjoyable and comfortable space.

The thing with bigger renovations is that you cannot expect an immediate return on the amount you spend. A return on your expenditure depends largely upon location and the state of the economic climate at the time of selling. Many homeowners find that they do not make any return at all from such drastic and expensive changes which is unfortunately the risk you take. Therefore, significant amendments should be treated firstly as a way to add improvement to your family’s living and only later as a way to encourage a sale.

1 Add an extension to your home: Perhaps one of the most common ways of improving your home and hence adding to its value is to add an extension. While this may not be a viable option for many, it can prove extremely beneficial to some. Before even contemplating an extension though you must obtain planning permission (if required) and then shop around for the most competitive builder prices. The extension also must blend in with both the aesthetics of your property and the size of land you have. So, if you have a small garden that an extensions is likely to disproportionately encroach upon, then it will in fact devalue your property rather increase the value.

Any extension built must have a recognisable purpose and not be built for the sake of it, or it will be counterproductive for any added value you were hoping for. One example that can be used is adding an extra bedroom to a 4 bed house when there is only one bathroom, the proportion and balance of the house if thrown off kilter. The extension must add something to the house and the personal space of who lives there, or little to none value will be added, so think long and hard about whether an extension is worth it.

2 Convert the loft: Loft conversions are rapidly becoming just as popular as extensions in adding value and benefit to a household, being the cheaper option and making a house seem more modern. Most conversions are priced between £8k-£15k depending on the house and cause less disruption than an extension would, scaffolding being on the roof instead of side walls of a property. Not a bad deal considering the amount of space a conversion can add to a traditionally built home.

A major edge conversions have over extensions is that they don’t necessarily need planning permission, speeding up the building process; at best they can be completed in a month. Loft conversions can add a maximum of 20% onto a property price, but to get the whole 20% depends on the style and build of your property and the loft space. The roof height has to exceed 2.4 metres to be viable (2.4m is the absolute minimum height, you can get away at this height, but the taller, the better) with a steep pitched incline also being a major advantage.

3 Affix an en suite to a bedroom: En suites are a good addition to larger houses, or house with one master bedroom that dwarves the others. For the minimal amount of space they use they are great value adders, they can be built to be discreet so it does not stick out and look tacked on, using a space such as a walk in wardrobe would be more than enough space for an en suite. Always keep in mind though that an en suite is an additional bathroom, so if the bedroom in question is next to the bathroom, don’t reduce bathroom space. A family house with 4 bedrooms is bad enough in the morning when everyone needs the bathroom; it would be ten times worse if there was just an en suite available!

4 Renovate your basement: Most basements are neglected on the whole and seen as nothing more than storage space, or to put the washing machine and drier, but extending a basement can offer a little used or thought about option. Refurbishing a basement into a room while keeping the storage space is very achievable, either by partitioning a section off or building in storage racks or space and making it part of the room. Basements are normally the quietest part of the house, so they make great areas for offices, studies, dens etc, the only drawback being most basements will require heating and insulation to be installed, which will most likely be the most costly expense of any refurbishment.

Building a basement can also be an option to consider, though I doubt it has to be pointed out this will be the most costly and disruptive to undertake and complete. Many owners and families choose to move out for all or some of the time it takes to build a basement it’s that disruptive (average time of completion is 3 months), as a lot of large and specialist machinery would be needed for the construction. As for cost, expect to spend a colossal £80,000 on average to get the project completed, the main reason for such expense and time are that the houses foundations would have to be moved and reinforced, so it’s a very complicated operation.

5 Eradicate internal walls: This is perhaps one of the cheaper methods of adding value to property. The valuation market has changed considerably over the years, from a market that prioritised the amount of rooms in a property, to one that values square footage as the most important aspect to valuing a house. Knocking down internal walls is perhaps the simplest way to gain this extra square footage. It is a particularly popular method used by modern families, where communal spaces have to be larger in order to create a comfortably sized living space for larger families.

Similarly, knocking down a wall can add much more light to a property, in turn enhancing a more inviting atmosphere for both yourself and potential buyers. This type of home improvement can benefit most when used to join a kitchen with a dining room or a utility room. Utility rooms are commonly sought after in today’s society, so by creating this extra space, your house will be much more appealing to the potential buyer.

Go on; give your home that little bit of TLC!

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Timothy Frodsham -
About the Author:

Just Remortgages provides homeowners with remortgage resources and news including the latest remortgage rates and the best remortgage deals available in the market.

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Regarding Teacher next door program, do home improvements apply? ( home safety and energy efficient)
Are there any programs for home improvement regarding improving safety and energy efficiency within Teacher next door program?
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Article Tags:
remortgage, mortgage, refinance, real estate, property investment, diy, home improvements

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