Before putting your house up for sale on the market, it is worth  making some adjustments to your property to  increase your chances of getting offers the same as, or even larger than your initial asking price. Increasing the value of your property doesn’t have to be an extensive and overly costly project. Small house improvement projects which you can easily do yourself can increase the value of your house and help you land a sale faster. 

What homebuyers look for 

Certain factors that boost a property’s value are unfortunately taken out of our hands. According to research, things such as the area the house is in, good transport links, its location to essential amenities and the amount of crime within the area are high rankers on every house buyers list. 

However, as the housing market grows more competitive and demand grows, even houses in less desirable areas have increased in value to the delight of sellers.

This means that oftentimes, all that’s required are small house improvements to make your property stand out, with those who choose to undertake more significant changes being able to potentially increase the price of their home by thousands. 

A study conducted in 2018, researching the behaviours and attitudes of house-hunters and recent house buyers, found that most buyers looking to purchase new homes are looking to avoid renovations and potential problems related to plumbing and electricity down the line. Therefore making sure that your property is free of leaky taps, toilets, or radiators and that your boiler has a regular service history or has been recently upgraded can catch a potential buyer’s eye. 

Improve your energy efficiency 

Making your home more energy efficient, particularly at a time where the cost of common house bills is skyrocketing, is also likely to help you stand out.

This might be a good time to have a look at your property’s EPC, or energy performance certificate. 

An EPC will rate your property’s energy efficiency by providing an overall rating raging from A (most officiant) to G (least efficient). The EPC rating can be calculated by conducting a non-invasive inspection of the property, and assigning an appropriate score to every area that influences the energy efficiency of your home. An official EPC can be issues by a formal domestic EPC assessor. You can find government accredited EPC assessors on the gov.uk site.

If you’re looking to improve your EPC, you can start by conducting a simple DIY home energy audit. You can do so by reassessing these four main areas of your home:

• Insulation - There are many things that can suggest that your property is poorly insulated. The most obvious one being cold drafts and breezes finding their way inside. Interior walls being unusually cold to the touch can also be a sign of poor insulation across your home. 
• Draught Proofing - Check around windows, doors, and other openings for signs of cold air getting inside. 
• Heating - Make sure your boiler, radiators or other heat sources are working efficiently.
• Lighting: Make sure all lights are fitted with LED bulbs, including any outdoor lighting. 

During your EPC audit you may find that there are fairly inexpensive improvements you can make across your home that will make it more environmentally friendly, and will bring down the price of your bills down significantly, whilst increasing the value of your property. 

Always start small 

Many home improvements can appear more intimidating than they are, and you may be surprised at how much you can do on a tight budget.

However, if you are simply looking to avoid making significant changes to your home, or do not have the time to devote to extensive audits, don’t fret! There is a myriad of things you can do to spruce up your space to improve the value of your home and ensure a quick sale. With only a couple of hundred pounds, you can drastically improve your interiors with minimal effort. 

The best approach to take when looking to start your home improvement journey is to always start small. Look at the most obvious signs of wear and tear that you may have missed over the years. A fresh coat of paint on the walls, replacing a worn out carpets, fixing any cracks in ceilings and plasterwork will always give you an advantage over competing properties, as future house viewers are likely to be on the hunt for any flaws that may be present. 

If you want to take it up a notch, you can look into modernising and cleaning up your space to make it more neutral and presentable to potential buyers. With a variety of DIY projects out there, the internet will be your best friend when it comes to coming up with creative ideas on how to breathe new life into existing features. Taking a day to revive your kitchen, by giving the cabinets a fresh coat of neutral coloured paint can give it the wow factor it needs to impress viewers. 

Take a look outside 

A recent survey, conducted amongst UK residents who have recently purchased a property shone light on their most important criteria when purchasing their dream abode. A staggering 33% of participants put ‘outside space’ on top of their list, meaning that an attractive garden, or well kept and usable backyard, can be the ultimate selling point of your property.

Take a look outside, does it look like your garden could do with a bit of TLC? Outdoor projects are usually simple and can often be done on a small budget. 

If you’ve got the space to play with consider adding in a patio to your garden. A survey looking to explore the most in demand features of a property indicated that over 82% of buyers stated a patio as a highly desirable addition to a home. The same survey also indicated that almost 90% of individuals questioned said exterior lighting is high on their list when looking at a new property. Therefore, investing a little bit of time and effort into your outside space is likely to help you land a bigger sale. 

Keep it open & versatile 

Open plan spaces have grown in popularity over the past few years. According to Fixr, 90% of homebuyers want an open floor plan.

Trend reports from the past couple of years are continuously proving that this is becoming one of the most desirable home layouts, and is likely to continue as home design trends embrace modern, light and well lit spaces. 

There is however, a slight difference in demand depending on which spaces are joined together. Open plan living areas, conjoined with a kitchen prove to be the most desirable, as almost 85% of people surveyed conveyed their interest in owning a home with said features.

If you are willing to take on a slightly bigger home renovation project, removing the wall between your kitchen and living room, or kitchen and dining room, can definitely help you land a bigger sale down the line. 

Another thing worth noting is the recent rise in interest in spaces that can be used as a home office, laundry room or gym - with all of these being stated as desirable within a new property by buyers.

Consider turning a small, unused area of your home, such as the space underneath the staircase into a utility room to bump up your final asking price, or turn an unused nook of your home into a small office space to really steal a buyer’s heart.