It may be that you’re looking for a new property or trying to sell an existing one, but if you lack a survey on whether it is structurally sound, or whether the roof leaks or not, it may undermine the price to a degree as questions about these issues will persist.
For home owners, it can be a risk to pay for a survey, as, on one hand, you want to create confidence in the value of the property, while on the other getting a bad report back can mean expensive repairs or a significant cut in the value of the property. It is important to remember that any information on defects that building has need to be divulged to the party buying the property, so it can’t just be swept under the rug.
If you’re looking for a property to purchase, then having surveys of the building is always a good thing. A number of surveys and studies are required by law for any (such as an energy performance certificate), but any additional ones may need you to pay for it yourself before you make the purchase, which will also require the approval of the property owner.
When you’re selling a house what it really comes down to is finding the right buyer for you, but of course there are thing that you can do to improve your chances. One of the best ways for you to do this is to remove a lot of your little personalisations from your home and choose a more standard design style for it.
When choosing a standard type of design for a home, you do need to choose one which is still in keeping with the homes surroundings. This means that if you live out in the country you shouldn’t go for a modern style. If you live in an urban environment where your home is likely to get a lot of interest, your best options are to go for either a minimalist or modern look. They both have a lot of overlap, but by choosing these options you’ll attract the largest groups of people; those who follow the latest trends and those who like to see a blank canvas that they can develop upon.
Storing all of the things needed to keep a home can mean using a large amount of free space. Free space which many homes don’t have, or even if it is available perhaps you don’t just want to allocate it to storage.
In this post we’ve outlined some great ideas on where to keep those household items.
Shelving is a great way to use wall space to hold your items. Individual shelves and shelf units can be put anywhere in the home. For wall mounted shelves be sure to use the correct fittings and brackets and aim to install it on a solid wall instead of a partition.
Perhaps some standard boxes would serve your needs. Available from Homebase.co.uk are a range of cardboard box solutions. Available in sizes 36L, 54L and 96L, these sturdy and stackable boxes can hold any household goods.
Looking after a property can be strenuous. The list of tasks which need to be carried out yearly and monthly can stack up uncontrollably if left to their own devices.
Here is a brief overview of what needs to be done when looking after a property. For new home owners especially, this list could have some points you may of overlooked.
Monthly:
Clean kitchen sink waste disposal. Inspect and possibly change filters in air conditioning units. Change range hood filters. Inspect any fire extinguishers you have.
Quarterly:
Test smoke alarms. Make sure the garage door auto-reverse is functioning correctly. Run water and flush toilets if they are not regularly used. Check water softener and add salt if required.
Biannually:
Test the boilers pressure valve. Give the house a general deep clean. Replace batteries in smoke detectors. Vacuum refrigerator coils.
A general list, but may cover some areas you may not of thought of.
Painting the outside of your house can be a big job, but just adding a splash of paint on your front entrance door, garage door and guttering can make your property look a lot nicer. Whether you want to make your property ‘pop out’ a little bit, or you’re just looking to repaint those external elements, choose a colour and run with it.
You can create a nice theme if you match your front door with your garage and guttering, while wooden window frames can look really nice if they’ve been painted carefully. It can seem off, but a few tins of paint can increase you home’s value, and it’s certainly a job worth doing if you’re looking to place it back onto the property market in several month’s time.