When it comes to maintaining and repairing your property, you’re likely increasing the value of it without even knowing it. After all, you know your home – and you’re going to know what’s best when it comes to keeping it in tip top shape. If you’re planning to sell on, rent out, or even just keep your abode looking fresh as the decades go on, these top five ideas will be sure to increase your home’s value, whatever the budget may be.
1. Consider first impressions. The first thing you want people to think when they see your property for whatever reason, is to think ‘wow, that house looks suave’, rather than ‘well, it probably has a lot of potential’. Use that potential.
2. Keep interior design ‘with the times.’ And no, I don’t mean stripping it of all its classical charm and class – taking off the solid oak wood staircase rails, replacing your stainless-steel or golden bath taps with some more modern-looking ‘tat, as that will for sure decrease the value, as with any antique good, you’re taking away one of its fundamental money-makers.
It’s no news to many that older houses have much better foundations and materials, in comparison to ‘new builds’, as they have been built with unsustainable materials and were built a lot quicker than older builds. But what we in fact mean when we say keeping your property with the times, is classical minimalism. In today’s economic climate, classical minimalism is everything. Less is more but keep anything that can make you more money. For instance:
3. It will be a great idea (if within your budget) to get that extension you’ve been bickering with your other half about for years! Any way you can make more space in a family home is a massive win for everyone involved. You could do this on a budget, e.g., if you are a bit of a handy person yourself, knock down a wall or two to make one room bigger, or go all out and get a conservatory where you can get away from it all. Either way, you’re changing up what’s on the blueprint (with planning permission, of course) which will result in a bigger home by square meters, which equals more monetary value overall.
4. Never ignore your lighting fixtures! Lighting does wonders when highlighting your home's overall aesthetic, so you’ll want to ensure that maintaining this part of your home is always up to date, check with an electrician that the wattage and tone of lighting is to your preference up to standard, and you can’t go wrong. Maintaining and even upgrading with floor lamps instead of table lamps will revamp your home in terms of style, adding that essential modern twist to it, albeit subtly.
5. Kitchens and baths are major deciding factors when selling homes, so it will be no surprise that this is a key factor that will need to be maintained. If you’re fortunate to have a claw-foot tub. Emphasise this in any potential listings you put up. First popularised in the Victorian Era, people today still adore it, with its aesthetically flexible nature, freestanding nature and ability to be used as a bathroom centrepiece – it’s considered widely a form of luxurious bathing, even in 2022. (Think back to the theme of classical minimalism we discussed previously.)
Overall, just ensuring you are maintaining and upgrading your home, even in subtle ways, a new set of photo frames, new furniture, even just fresh paint goes a long way!
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By Caitlin Stimpson