How to increase the value of a property

If you are buying a property to increase the value and sell, or maybe you already have a property and looking to sell but wish to increase its value as much as possible. See our suggestions below, but also consider what extra value it could bring you.

Determining if increasing the value can bring you a decent ROI

If you are looking at increasing the value of your property, then you must first work out if the money you spend to do so will add enough value to make it worthwhile. If you spend £10,000 on refurbishment but it does not add this much value to the property, then it's not worth the time and effort.

The best ways of doing this is... research the area, every location and type of property is different.

1. Get sold comparable of properties that are refurbished compared to non-refurbished
2. Look at properties that are as similar  to your own property as possible in the immediate neighbourhood
3. Get a professional opinion from either a valuer or even just speak to an estate agent. Make sure if you speak to an estate agent you make clear you are considering selling your property through them, as they will be more willing to help you.
4. The housing market and inflation can move quick, whatever you plan to do try and have it all wrapped up as quickly as possible.
5. Don’t make any major investments in your property if the value isn’t clear and you have gotten all your quotes and valuations.

Refurbishment

Refurbishment work is the first and most obvious way to increase the value of your property. Refurbishment options are endless, but some prove popular for a wider audience of potential buyers

• Open plan living – Open plan kitchen and living rooms are becoming increasingly popular in modern architecture.

• Bi-folding garden doors – a relatively new trend in popular architecture. Giving the property a much greater access to the exterior and adds a real premium feel to the flow of a property.

• Improve garden space – more so than ever since the pandemic people have appreciated their own outside space. This can be patio space, decking, well maintained lawn or a pavilion.

• Curve appeal – making the property appeal from the front can quite easily bring more eyes to your property as it gives a great first impression, giving you more viewings and potentially more offers.

 

• Extension – a more expensive option is extending up, sideways or into the garden. If you consider this option, make sure you do all your calculations as to the value it will add.

 

With refurbishments it may be a case that your property hasn’t been selling and you have no choice but to make some improvements to sell the property, if this is the case then try to make any improvements based on feedback as to why people won’t make offers, and make changes as cost effective as possible.

Make it appeal to wider audience

You can also market your property in different ways, by this I mean you may have a property that is in a student area, in which case it is worth seeing how HMOs perform. If you can show the property works well as a HMO in the location then you could spin the property as an investment opportunity. This will bring investment buyers. Or maybe the area is a popular holiday/short break location, so again get comparable on how much the property can yield for an investor.

These techniques are very dependent, and you may get investors trying to offer you less than a home buyer would, but it may be worth exploring as a possibility.

Other

• Add a drive – A parking space could add 5% or mor value to a property as well as making it sell faster.

• Planning permission for a drop curve – You could save yourself the money on a drive and just get the planning permission in place for a buyer. A buyer may just see the £3k-£5k extra investment for a driveway as a no brainer if everything is ready to go.

• Extension planning permission – Get permission for other extensions and improvements. This may help you sell it to a builder or someone looking to make their own improvements.

• EV point – with policies just years away with electrical vehicles more and more people will have electric cars. Make your property ready with an EV point. There are even grants available which you can read about here…

• Energy efficiency – There are lots of energy efficient options you can use to improve a property. With increases in energy prices this may prove more important than ever, you can read about all your option here, in addition there are plenty of grants