Buying a home is one of the most significant - and normally largest - financial commitments people make in their lives. However, just like any other investment, most people hope that the money they spend on a home will, in time, generate a return and a profit.
While it can often be quite easy to become complacent as a homeowner, making small improvements (or even large improvements) may massively change how you live in your home while also likely adding significant value to your original outlay.
If you’re looking for ideas on how to change your domestic surroundings that will later give the greatest Return on Investment (ROI), below are some tried and tested tips.
Top Tips To Help You Increase The Value Of Your Home While Also Improving Your Lifestyle
Invest in technology in your home
The world has changed dramatically over the last 30 or so years with the advent of the web, better tech, and increasing levels of integration with computers. These days, a huge variety of home appliances are controlled by computers - and if those same devices also have an internet connection, you could also control them remotely using the so-called Internet of Things (IoT).
The IoT is predicted to be the next great expansion and generation of internet and computer tech - but this just isn’t the stuff of tomorrow - it’s very much here today.
Where once computer scientists merely predicted connected homes and autonomous tech, the technology industry is now finally delivering, and these days, it’s possible to buy everything from connected home heating systems that automatically regulate temperature right down to relatively simple objects like kettles that you can time to heat automatically before you even get out of bed in the morning.
Much like every other sphere of life, tech is transforming the capabilities of household appliances and massively expanding their capacity. Investing in cutting-edge home tech like video access systems or smart home devices will undoubtedly increase the value of your home – plus, it will also increase your quality of life before the time comes that you want to sell.
Add an extension
Unless you live in an apartment with little space or possibilities for an extension, most houses come complete with garden space surrounding the main building - or even roof space above the main structure - areas that could easily be used to build an extension.
Adding extra rooms to your home is one of the quickest ways to add to its value - whether that be upward via a loft extension or outward by extending existing rooms. Depending on your circumstances, your home’s location, and its build style, you could even look at adding extra space via a basement extension.
However, while extensions will almost always increase the value of your home, you should also be aware that most work of this nature will require consultation with an architect or designer to create a floor plan, plus contacting the relative planning authorities in your area.
Upgrade your kitchen
For many families, the kitchen is the beating heart of the home, and upgrading your kitchen space will, in almost all cases, add considerable value to the potential price of your house. These days, a kitchen is far more than just a place to prepare and eat food – rather, it’s become an integrated area for socializing, discussing the day’s events, and sharing experiences.
Kitchen upgrades can be as simple or complex as you want them to be - anything from upgrading appliances or changing doors to full kitchen refurbishments where you completely redesign the total layout of the space.
If you want to get super tech, you could even look at integrating some of today’s smart devices into your kitchen - everything from intelligent cookers that you can control and time remotely down to just toasters that you can control over the IoT.
Spend money on your bathrooms - or even add an ensuite
Another area of the home that has become much appreciated and valued in recent years is the family bathroom. Spending money on this essential area of your house will pretty much always increase its value while also improving your quality of life.
A bathroom is an essential part of modern life, so adding an extra facility will never go amiss. Taking that idea a stage further, adding an ensuite to bedrooms adds an extra level of privacy and will certainly increase the salability of your home.
Much like kitchen extensions or refurbs noted above, the complexity of the work you take on when it comes to bathroom upgrades could range from anything as simple as changing cupboard doors to completely refitting shower or bath units.
Change your windows
Home upgrades don’t necessarily need to be complex, and even just changing your windows can add a completely different look to your home while also adding an often much-needed boost in home efficiency. In this day and age of increased living costs and people looking to find ways to cut their expenditure, having upgraded windows could well be considered an extra bonus for potential buyers.
Think About Using Your Outdoor Space Better
If you have a garden surrounding your home, it could offer the perfect opportunity to extend the indoors outdoors by building spaces for socializing - for example, a barbecue area.
Zoned gardens are becoming increasingly common – it’s where the outdoor space is split into distinct areas. By thinking more creatively about your outdoor space, you could completely transform your garden while also improving the curb appeal of your home and, at the same time, adding value to your house. Some of the more common garden refurb ideas include:
- Zoning a relaxation area with plush, comfortable, weatherproof garden furniture.
- Adding a growing patch for vegetables - normally best placed in the sunnier areas of your garden.
- Splitting the existing available area into defined zones with illuminated walkways and pathways.
- Making a plant area dedicated solely to flowers and greenery.
- Adding a fire pit for outdoor entertaining during the evenings.
- Extending your home with a conservatory or wooden decking - literally adding an extra room or space to your home, often framed by patio doors.
