Enhancing The Value Of Your Property

People often ask me when I am valuing their property whether I suggest they refurbish the kitchen, bathroom etc. before they put the property on the market.

More often than not I advise against this.

There are several reasons for this and they include the following:

-    What might be your taste isn’t necessarily some else’s.
-    People aren’t always keen to pay a premium for someone else’s work.
-    It will delay putting the property on the market and in a good market you don’t want to miss the boat.
-    People want to put their own stamp on a property.
-    There is no point doing half a job i.e. either you refurbish the whole property or not at all.

Some people are willing to take this a step further and extend their property before putting it on the market.

I don’t necessarily advise against this in so far as it will certainly enhance the value of the property but it is debatable how much net profit doing such work will bring.

The overriding factor is the time it will take and the “hassle” factor.

What I do recommend to all vendors is to do their very best to enhance the presentation of their property.

For a few hundred pounds you could make a few thousand pounds.

As they always tell you in the many property programmes, de-cluttering is a big thing and it really does make a difference.

Secondly, freshening up a property is a highly effective marketing tool such as painting walls, re-grouting in a bathroom, replacing cracked tiles etc.

You want your property to show in its best light. If you notice there is something wrong within the property, someone viewing your property is sure to notice it too.

Always remember first impressions count for everything.

I often use the analogy of when one goes to buy a new car. You’re not likely to pay the asking price if there is a big scratch down one side nor are you likely to pay the full price if you go for a test drive and the car has a bad odour.

The same principles apply when selling a property.

I’m not suggesting you need to bake bread and put flowers on each table but, for example, if you smoke in the house, for the duration of the marketing process try and smoke outside.

I think it’s a misconception that most people can “see past” these things. Yes there are some people that can and will but the majority can’t and won’t.

Edward, Director of Squires Estates