8 Ways To Add Value To A Property For Homeowners And Landlords
Whether you own a home to live in or rent to a tenant, you have a duty to yourself and your financial future to make the most of it and get a higher return on your investment. Here are eight great ways to add value to a property and increase both the value and its rental potential.
Add An Extension To The Property
By far the best way to add value to a home and yield a great return on your investment is to extend the property. The number of bedrooms in a home has a huge impact on its value, as does the amount of usable living space. With a two-floor extension, you get both.
Extending a property can affect your existing building warranty, so it is important to find a new one when you finish the work. BuildSafe searches for building warranties from all the major providers and can help you save money on a warranty that still gives you high-quality coverage. Alternatively, you can swiftly gauge costs with the newly launched J3 Advisory warranty calculator and recieve an instant indication.
Convert The Cellar Or Basement
If you want to add more bedrooms or more living space without adding an extension, one option is to convert the cellar or basement. Many older homes are sitting upon a cellar with huge potential, but the homeowners have never considered it or don’t know about it.
Even if you do not have access to a space below your living room and dining room, it may be there waiting for you to make use of it. Unless your property is a listed building you will not need any planning permission either, which helps to cut costs and speed up the process compared to an extension.
Split The Property Into Apartments
This is a great option if you are a landlord renting a property. Splitting a home into separate dwellings can have a massive impact on both the property value and its potential rental yield. Doing this as an investment in a property makes a lot of sense, as there are both short and long-term gains.
If you live in the property, this may not be an option but do not dismiss it without some consideration. This option can work if you do not make full use of all your living space and are looking for an extra income stream. You could rent out the upstairs of your home while living downstairs, for example.
Turn A Garage Into A Living Space
Garages are a great place for parking a car, but they are rarely used this way. Most homes will end up using an attached or detached garage as a dumping ground and storage space for things that don’t find a space in the home.
Clearing out this space can be a way to generate some funds by selling unwanted items and using the cash to pay for the conversion of the garage space. Garages make excellent bedrooms and living spaces. They are also perfect if you have an elderly relative moving in or you have a teenager growing older who needs their own space.
Turn A Loft Into Bedrooms
Bedrooms add the most value to a home. The loft or attic space above a home is the ideal candidate for adding extra sleep spaces without breaking the bank. Loft conversions are fairly straightforward and quick to accomplish. If you are a landlord, you may even be able to add a complete dwelling in the space.
Loft conversions that do not alter the structure of the roof are the quickest to complete and require the least amount of planning. They are also a lot cheaper. If you need to add space up there you can change the roof of the property to add usable space, but this will come at a cost to your potential returns.
Make Living Spaces Open Plan
Open-plan living is incredibly popular with families – and Rent Hero company can help find ideal properties in the UK. You can bring light into dark spaces simply by knocking a wall or two down and creating larger a larger living space. This can add both value and desirability to a property, making it a good option for rental properties too.
This can be a do-it-yourself job, but for the best results, you should contact a professional team to do the job for you. You will need some structural assessments too, which can add to the expense. Though this is a cheaper option than adding an extension to a property it has a lower return on investment.
Update The Bathrooms And Kitchen
The two rooms in the home with the highest value are the bathroom and kitchen. If your property has more than one bathroom, there is even more potential to add property value and rental yield. Updating these rooms can be expensive, but the desirability and value they add to a home make it worth the investment.
Modern appliances in a kitchen, and new sinks, baths, and toilets in a bathroom, can be pricey items to add to a home. Try to use salvaged, vintage bathroom furniture to save money. Do as much of the work as you can by yourself to keep the cost down further.
Create A Livable Garden
The gardens at the front and the back of a property often go overlooked. There is a huge amount of property value in these spaces, but also a huge amount of potential. Making the garden at the rear of the property a usable living space by adding decking or a patio can yield a great return on investment.
Front gardens and driveways should not be overlooked either. Though it is harder to make use of this space, it still has a lot of potential. How the property looks from the outside can help tempt tenants or buyers into the property. Making a home more desirable helps you to sell it more quickly, and time is money when you are selling a property or looking for a tenant.
With the right additions to a property, you can double your money. Investing in property is a great way to save for the future. As a landlord, you can also increase your annual yield from your rental by using just one or two of these excellent value-adding ideas.
