Leonardo Mazzola

Guy Bell of NEVER PAINT AGAIN tells us of the best and worst home imporvements for your home in 2011

Most houses need at least SOME sort of repair, decoration or improvement before you could even consider selling, and before anyone will even respond to the Estate agents advert, let alone come around and take a look! There are many ways in which you can do a little to your home and reap the rewards in either its value, or at last, in its sale-ability, but on the flip side, there are a few things than have the exact OPPOSITE effect!

Selling your home can be tricky business in anyone’s books, but here we are in 2011 and the housing market looks decidedly shaky and of course no-one knows whether houses will rise or fall, or whether all the banks us tax payers kindly bailed out, will actually start lending again?

If like me you grew up in the 1970′s, you will no doubt remember quite a few fads and fashions that our parents used to inflict upon our poor houses? How many times I walked down the stairs and brushed up against a rough artexed wall or (horrors!), coarse woodchip wall paper! And having a bath in a bathroom will dark brown or “sick” green bathroom suites and trying not to throw up every time you looked at it was quite an achievement!

So which are the WORST things you could do, or maybe already HAVE done, to your home? Here are some suggestions according to the survey carried out by the Post office.

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So if your home has possession of any of the above, maybe it’s time to be realistic and get the mistakes of the past corrected NOW! You could be quite surprised how much “value” this can stick onto your asking price!

Well, according to the mortgage survey, the biggest turn off when viewing a home are as follows…………..

Evidence of damp in the home.
Evidence of pests such as rats, bugs and so on…..
Botched DIY jobs and poorly done repairs
An untidy home exterior lacking a good Wall Coating paint scheme.
Bad smells, eg cigarettes, mould, drains, animals and stinking trainer shoes!
Mouldy/stained and old fashioned carpets
Internal walls and ceilings with “stains”
Stone cladding (click to read more)
Old-fashioned bathroom suites (, Brown, peach or avocado)
Mock Tudor (beams or false lead on windows)

It’s not all “doom and gloom”,  there are many more things you can do to your house to improve it, often not as expensive as you may think? According to Post office mortgages, here are the main tips to spruce your home and make it fit for sale, the top TWO being by far the most important and the 2 improvements that would offer the best value for money.

Have a new kitchen fitted, in a traditional colour (NOT BRIGHT RED PLEASE!)
Invest in a new new bathroom, being the best, and “En-suite” even better!
Make sure the home is clean and tidy but still “lived-in”
Install new fixtures and fittings like door handles, lamp shades etc.
Use Plain and modern interior decorations and neutral wall colours.
Highlight Original features in old houses such as mouldings.
A warm house (in the UK) is best, or a “cool” house when selling a Spanish home.
Good quality wooden floors
Smart, operational and functional modern appliances
..and lastly have a clutter free house as clutter makes the rooms look smaller.

So armed with this information, hopefully now you should be able to take stock of what you have, identify the plus and the minus points, make a budget (and stick to it), and hopefully after taking this advice, your home will be ready for the housing market and all those potential buyers!

Good Luck!

Originally appeared on the NEVER PAINT AGAIN Exterior Wall coating website

Source: ArticlesBase.com