There are many ways to maximise the value of your home, such as renovating your porch, installing a conservatory, giving your front door a fresh lick of paint and more. While most homeowners have the best intentions when it comes to renovating property renovation, sometimes their plans can backfire – resulting in a devaluation when the time comes to sell.
Here are some of the most common mistakes that will devalue your property.
1 – Not accounting for your neighbourhood
If people are searching for a property within a specific neighbourhood, all the properties typically sit within a specific pricing threshold. In other words, there is a ceiling to how much you can reasonably expect people to pay for your property in any one neighbourhood.
If you renovate too extensively and implement grandiose new elements which are inappropriate within the context of your neighbourhood, this could lower your final sale value – if you want to renovate for your own personal pleasure, however, go ahead!
2 – Cheap renovations
If you want to improve your home, it’s better to only do so if you can afford to do it well. A botched renovation job or one which is cheaply constructed and uses cheap materials is never a good idea.
Done correctly, a new conservatory can give you extra living space and improve the curb appeal of your property, but bad DIY conservatories can easily give a negative impression. Proceed with caution when renovating.
3 – Inappropriate colours
This applies to both the exterior and interior of your property. Using colours which are a bad choice for the style of your architecture can really hurt the value of your property. For instance, a rustic cottage should never be painted with bold purple or orange tones.
While it would seem logical that re-painting isn’t a difficult procedure, first impressions definitely count for new buyers, so don’t choose a colour scheme for your home that will hurt you in the long-run (even if you love it personally). Take care when choosing the colour for your conservatory too!
4 – Excessive personalisation
Most homeowners want to tailor their property to their particular preferences, however, if those preferences are significantly out of line with the general consensus, problems can emerge.
By excessively personalising your home to the point where it would be difficult to return the home to a neutral style, this will hurt you when potential buyers come to visit and wonder how they can inject their own personalities into the home.
5 – Lack of regular maintenance
If you own a property for years without maintaining it carefully and then hope that you can get it up to scratch when it’s time to sell, you’re in for a reality check. For instance, if you don’t clean your gutters on a regular basis, this can leave your home open to water damage which may not be immediately detectable but will be if you are planning to sell. Cleaning the exterior of your home and mowing the lawn on a regular basis is also essential if you want to make the right impression to potential buyers.
Andrew Lisa, writing for GoBankingRates, states: “Cleaning the gutters is absolutely necessary. Gutters carry water away from the home, its roof and foundation.”