When you spend money on your home, you want to ensure that you invest wisely. But knowing where to spend and pull back can be challenging for many people. Here are four tips to help you spend wisely and add value to your home.
How to budget for a new kitchen
Today’s family favours a relaxed approach to cooking, dining and living. The kitchen is where most of us spend the majority of our time. The old saying – ‘the kitchen is the heart of the home’, has never been more true.
When choosing a kitchen, make sure your kitchen’s price bracket matches your house’s price bracket.
It’s a good idea to calculate your kitchen budget based on 5% of your home’s overall value. Spend more and you risk not getting the money back. Spend less and you may not add value.
Bigger isn’t always better.
The obsession with square footage is hopefully a thing of the past. When it comes to a home, bigger is not necessarily better. Look at the proportions of your home and garden. Building an extension might mean you lose valuable garden space, or you might find that the original front room becomes redundant.
Before you start, spend some time re-evaluating the layout of your home. The most crucial element of any redesign is getting the space working right. Assess the layout of the room or house. Identify unused areas or rooms and re-work the plan to pull everything together. You might find that simply reconfiguring the existing layout would be a better solution to extending.
Add value with usable space
Don’t be afraid to knock a few walls and sacrifice some rooms. Future buyers will be more interested in the amount of usable space rather than the number of rooms in a house.
Know your home’s price limits
Be wary of spending too much on your home. If houses on your road cost €450,000, building a large extension which means your asking price will be €750,000 isn’t a good idea. People looking for a €750,000 house won’t be looking in your area.
Consider getting planning permission.
And finally, even if you don’t have the money to build an extension, consider applying for planning permission. The planning drawings will illustrate the potential in your home without you having to go to the expense of building anything. You’ll also be giving prospective buyers peace of mind that the county council has approved the work.
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