With property prices continuing to fall more and more people are facing negative equity which is where your house is worth less than the mortgage you have on it. Rather than sitting and waiting for the market to improve there are ways out of this problem like improving your home to get the value back up. The way to do this is to maximise the space without spending too heavily.
There are many different ways of improving your that will add value and converting the loft is one option. If you convert your loft into an extra bedroom you instantly add value to your home and the cost can start from around £8000 but could easily be doubled. You could be adding at least £20,000 to the value of your property so it is well worth the initial payout.
Another option is installing an ensuite bathroom for one or more of your bedrooms. The master bedroom is the best option and according to the Nation Association of Estate Agents this could add up to 5% value to your home.
With large kitchen and dining space in demand you could easily add value by extending your kitchen. This can be quite costly though so make sure you get quite a few quotes before going ahead.
Garage conversions are an excellent way of adding space and value to a home and can cost as little at £5000. If you never use your garage but tend to use it as a dumping ground why not make use of this space and turn it into a games room or an extra bedroom. If you are lucky enough to have a double garage you could convert just half of it keeping the other half as a garage.
Another option would be to have your garden landscaped. You could do this yourself if you’re not afraid of getting your hands dirty. There are plenty of gardening programmes and magazines that could give you some inspiration and advice.
Remember all of these home improvements will benefit you and your family while we all crawl out of the credit crunch. What better way of adding value to your home than improving it.
Finding a reputable building company is foremost in most people’s mind when thinking of having an extension or improvements to the home. With so many cowboys around it’s difficult to know if the company you choose is going to do you a cost effective professional job. The best builders are those that are recommended to you but if you don’t have any recommendations you will have to do a bit of ground work. You could look though the yellow pages but this just gives you phone numbers which could be anybody. The best bet is to look online and search for local companies. Legitimate building companies will have nothing to hide, they will show their address and phone numbers and have pictures of recently completed work. Testimonials are always good to look for and if you think they have been made up, ask the company for a recent customers contact details so you can phone and speak to someone who recently used the company.
