Do not Try This at Your Maidstone Home

Three Quick Ways to Reduce Your Maidstone Home’s Value

In the UK, our homes are our castles.

They are often an extension of ourselves. The way we decorate them, design them and the things we filled them with.

We are often asked what someone can do to quickly increase the value of their home. We have written about that previously and would be happy to share that article with you – simply get in touch with us.

But we were talking in the office the other day and the subject came up about the things that people have done to (inadvertently no doubt) reduce the value of their homes.

Here are three things we came up with.

1. Over improving. This sounded strange when first brought into the conversation, but it is true. For example, if you have taken a double bedroom and turned it into two smaller rooms this can have a negative effect on value and attractiveness to potential buyers. Other over improvements can include astro-turfing your lawn (this splits people, some like it, some hate it) and getting rid of any quiet area by creating a totally open plan kitchen, lounge, and dining area.
2. Neglecting the outside of your house. A lick of paint can do wonderful things for a property but choose wisely. The only thing worse than a tired looking exterior is a lurid purple paint job which looks like a group of pre-schoolers found the paint tins in the garage and have created their little ‘masterpiece’. Neutral colours work best if painting the exterior. And pebble dashing the outside is a big no no nowadays.
3. Cowboy builders or Dodgy DIY. Building an extension or loft conversion usually adds money to a property’s value. But in some cases, if done badly it can see thousands wiped off the value of your home if a surveyor comes along to see it. If there are faults and essential works that need carrying out to rectify things caused by bad workmanship this can rapidly decrease the property’s value. Not to mention most people walk away from botched building projects and seek different options. So, choose your builders wisely.

Remember we also have an article giving you the five quickest ways to raise the value of your home – it is certainly worth checking out.

So, there you have it folks, and just like when you watch a knife throwing act on Britain’s Got Talent all that’s led for us to add is: “Don’t try this at home.”

Thanks for reading.

Alex Knight

Whether you are selling, buying, letting, or renting, we are here to help. Call Knight Edmonds and our team on 01622 291491 or email: maidstone@knightedmonds.co.uk for expert advice which is honest, accurate and informative.