Selling Property

Get the price you deserve.

Find out the maximum potential value of your property. It's pointless spending £20,000 on improving a property if it will only add £10,000 to the sale price. Look at local property papers and visit estate agents to find out the asking price for similar properties on the same street.

The best time for selling is spring and autumn; the market slows down during late summer and over Christmas and New Year. If a property is sold while the market is buoyant, it's much more likely to attract the asking price.

Repairs and maintenance

Sprucing up your home prior to selling it can add thousands of pounds to the asking price, but bad DIY can actually reduce the value of a property.

So, what steps should you take to get the best possible price?

Figures from Privilege Home Insurance show that Britons have added more than £51billion to the value of their homes after being inspired by television property makeover shows. Researchers found that one in five homeowners had added an average of £7,870 to the value of their property after watching programmes such as Changing Rooms, Grand Designs and Property Ladder.

And Handy Andy – of Changing Rooms fame – is so sure he can add value to a property through DIY he recently starred in a Living TV series in which he and his team vowed to give homeowners £10,000 if they could not boost the asking price of their home by that amount from a £1,000 outlay.

But it is worth remembering that DIY can actually reduce the value of your home if you do a botch job as anything that looks unprofessional will encourage buyers to ask questions.

You might even end up having to pay someone to rectify your mistakes. Four out of 10 of those questioned by Privilege admitted to damaging their property while doing DIY.

If you are nervous about making mistakes, you can take a DIY course. John Laing Training in London, for example, run courses covering all aspects of DIY at a cost of £150 for four evenings.

But you must still make the right decisions about what work to do.

Knight Frank, an estate agent, recently warned homeowners to think carefully before splashing out on major changes to their home.

Its research reveals that carrying out minor work could prove more rewarding financially than having a major refurbishment done.

A minor kitchen refit, for example, is likely to cost between £2,000 and £8,500, and to reap a payback of between 94% and 102% of the cost. A major kitchen refurbishment, on the other hand, could cost between £10,000 and £80,000 with a 90% payback.

A seemingly desirable big-ticket item such as a swimming pool is also not terribly likely to add value to your property.

The number of buyers specifically looking for a pool is relatively small, and you may also find that having a pool alienates some people because they don't want the hassle and cost of maintaining one.

And giving the garden a completely new look can prove financially disappointing. Such work can cost between £2,000 and £15,000, but a modest tidy-up by a professional gardener is likely to be just as beneficial, according to Knight Frank.

You can typically pick up a derelict or poorly maintained house or flat for £20,000 less than its potential open-market value, which is why so many cash-strapped first-time buyers are snapping up homes in need of modernisation. But renovating a property takes a lot of hard graft, and many projects go over budget. It also recently emerged that John Prescott, the deputy prime minister, is planning to use satellite cameras to work out whether homeowners have added extensions, conservatories or even sheds that could increase the value of their properties for council tax purposes. The pictures taken will be used, along with other information, to re-band people's homes over the next few years so that council tax payments more accurately reflect the true value of properties.

Getting the best price is not all about DIY, of course. Property stylists, who advise vendors on how to prepare for a sale, claim that most people have too much furniture and other clutter to show their homes to their best advantage. They therefore recommend putting some stuff in storage when you plan to sell – to give your home a more spacious feel.

Perhaps the most important thing is to make your home somewhere that other people will aspire to live. So, other tips include tidying up the garden and the front of the property to give a good first impression, turning bedrooms used as offices or studies back into bedrooms, making sure surfaces are clear and getting rid of any pet smells.

What to improve?

adding Value: What Homeowners Said

Homeowners: What Adds Value

When asked which home improvements were likely to add the most value to a home, a modern, fitted kitchen was the clear winner with 29 per cent of respondents picking this option.

Double glazing and a conservatory were next with eight per cent each; seven per cent went for an extension or extra rooms; and six per cent picked central heating.

In terms of first impressions, a well-presented and well-kept garden was picked by 43 per cent as the best means of creating a good initial impact. Well-maintained windows and driveways came joint second with 13 per cent.

Rooms That Matter: What Homeowners Said

Homeowners: Most Important Rooms

The sitting room is the most important room in the house, according to 36 per cent of respondents, as this is the room that would appeal most to them in a future move - providing they liked the décor and design. Kitchens came in at a very close second with 34 per cent of the vote.

However, splitting this question of most important room by gender, 40 per cent of men plumped for the sitting room compared with 32 per cent of women while the kitchen was most important to 43 per cent of women compared to just 25 per cent of men.

But it was kitchens that topped the list of rooms that people most wanted to change, scoring 25 per cent.
Bathrooms were next at 16 per cent and sitting rooms came in third with 11 per cent. Mater bedrooms scored five per cent and other bedrooms four per cent.

Reducing value: When it came to detracting from a property's value, not having a parking space scored highest with 12 per cent. Not far behind, at 11 per cent, was a build up of mould or limescale, and the lack of a garden.

Adding Value: What Valuers Said

Valuers: Best Improvements

So that's what the survey respondents say but how does that stack up with the experts' views? Halifax also asked their valuers to spill the beans on what home improvements they thought were likely to have most effect on a property's value.

Although most improvements will add some monetary value, said the valuers, the amount recouped may only represent a fraction of the cost.

With this in mind, they ranked different home improvements out of ten in terms of how much they would add in the right circumstances and locations - although they also stress that each case is different and it's worthwhile to seek professional advice before spending a lot of money.

Valuers' View: Lofts The Best

Top of the valuers' table are loft conversions which they say can score a perfect ten out of ten in terms of value and improvement, particularly in areas such as London where land and property prices are at a premium - Nationwide's research was also in favour of loft conversions.

Before starting on this type of work, however, it's imperative to secure building regulation and planning permission, says Halifax, and leaseholders must also have consent from the landlord.

It may also be worth seeking advice from a Chartered Surveyor for an idea of how much value the conversion will add, and be aware that a badly done conversion could detract from your home's value.

Kitchens: Heart of the home

Next up in the league table is a new kitchen which the valuers have ranked as eight out of ten.
They advise keeping the amount spent in proportion with the overall value of the home, however - a £20,000 kitchen in a house valued at just £150,000 could prove to be over the top in terms of adding value.
Also scoring eight out of ten is painting and decorating which is a good and cost-effective way of freshening up a home which will also add to its saleability and appeal.

Again, Halifax advises against going over the top here, both in terms of cost and in décor; any wild design ideas may limit your target market, and neutral colours are usually the most effective.

Extensions: More Space

Scoring seven out of ten are extensions and extra rooms, although the valuers agree that this can be higher depending on the property:

"Quality, attractive, well-proportioned extensions will generally add value, but you may not always get your expenditure back, depending upon the location of your property.

"However, alterations must be kept in line with the style of the home, size of plot and layout of accommodation. For example, seven bedrooms and only two living rooms on a postage stamp plot is not a good design."

A new bathroom also scores seven, with the valuers saying that while this will add value, it's unlikely to recoup the entire costs unless the previous one was in a particularly awful state.

Gardens: Room Outside

Despite gardens having hit the top-spot for creating a good first impression with the survey's respondents, the valuers ranked a garden makeover as a midway five out of ten.

They agree that attractive outdoor space will improve the appeal of a property and that reasonable expenditure can be recouped, but over the top decking and water features can be expensive and won't be to everyone's taste.

"Well-planned and executed improvements can add to the value of your property significantly. But by the same measure, personal taste and botched work can strip thousands off the price of your home."