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How to improve your home on a budget
How to improve your home on a budget
With the housing market taking a turn for the worse in recent years, never has it been more important for homeowners to make their property attractive to potential buyers.
Milton Keynes,
UK,
United Kingdom
(sardnews.org)
01/10/2012
With the housing market taking a turn for the worse in recent years, never has it been more important for homeowners to make their property attractive to potential buyers. Rather than relying on prices rising, it's time to pull at buyers' heartstrings and make them fall in love with your home.
Recent figures by HM Revenue and Customs has shown that over 10,000 fewer homes were sold between July 2011 and July 2012 than the year previously.
So if you're selling your home, what can you do to make it look more attractive to buyers?
The first step is to contact an estate agent to get their local expertise on how your house compares to other similar properties reaching a desirable price in your road or area. This will give you an indication of whether your house will be seen as needing modernisation or updating.
They will also be able to tell you how long your property might take to sell, the perceived condition and your target market. Once you are aware of your target market, you can gear your sale to that.
When your home is on the market and you start to undertake viewings it's obvious that a clean and tidy home is imperative to show your home's true space and potential.
You may need to do some DIY, and if this is the case, you need to make this as cost effective as possible. There's no point in undertaking decorating or renovations if you won't make back the money spent.
A recent survey by HBSC Bank showed that compared to several years ago where a new kitchen would add around £19,000 to the value of your home, today the figure is closer to £6,000. Therefore if you do need a new kitchen the most cost effective way to do this will most likely be a kitchen facelift, whereby you replace the kitchen cupboards, drawer fronts, worktop and floor. The structure of the kitchen and the cupboards all remain, you are simply updating the visual areas. This allows you to create the look of a brand new kitchen on a budget.
In addition, make sure you declutter and depersonalize all rooms in your home, this will make rooms look bigger and brighter and if you are selling a home to professionals and you have children, make sure you remove any children's toys as these can be large and bright, detracting from the key features of your home.
Don't stuff things in cupboards, as people may look inside to see storage space and you don't want to give the impression that there isn't enough space to hold all of your items!
Also make sure you keep out copies of guarantees of work completed, a sample utility bill, service histories for the boiler and even details about local schools or amenities - anything you think your target buyer will find useful.
KitchenSMART offer low cost, fast, professional kitchen makeovers. David Ball from kitchenSMART says:
"At KitchenSMARTwe believe that if you are selling your home, the best way to achieve the asking price you are seeking is to make your home as attractive as possible. The two areas that people don't want to have to spend money on is the kitchen and bathroom. If these are of good quality, then buyers perceive this to save them money when they move in as people can't live with a below par kitchen, after all it's the most important room in the home. A kitchen facelift will allow you to present a brand new kitchen, with minimal cost to yourself. We supply and fit made to measure doors and drawers, plinths, cornice, end panels, worktops, sinks, taps, appliances and also fit floor and wall tiles. We also work on a supply only basis if you fancy giving it a go yourself, but if DIY is not your thing or you simply don't have the time or inclination to do it yourself just call the experts at KitchenSMART www.kitchensmart.uk.com."
Notes to Editors
KitchenSMART offer a complete kitchen solution from a simple door change to the design and installation of a complete new kitchen. To find out why replacing kitchen doors is a low cost way to a luxury kitchen click here. The installation of your kitchen facelift focuses on replacing doors, drawers, panels, kickboards, cornices and worktops whilst retaining your existing kitchen cabinets
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About KitchenSmart UK
KitchenSmart offer a complete kitchen solution from a simple door change to the design and installation of a complete new kitchen
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