How to add value to your home without dropping your asking price

If your home is on the market already, and you’re not getting serious interest from buyers, one option is to drop your asking price. However, it’s not the only option: there are some improvements that can help you sell more effectively without spending a fortune: 

• New flooring in ‘wet’ rooms.  By wet rooms, I mean kitchens, utility rooms, cloakrooms and bathrooms; the general rule of thumb with the flooring in these rooms is that it needs to be ‘moppable’ – in other words, a hard floor.  It doesn’t need to be expensive, in fact there are some fabulous vinyl’s out there that will only cost a couple of hundred pounds per room.  Again, the difference in how a buyer will see your home is high: a bathroom that is carpeted will look dated to a modern buyer, regardless of whether it is or not.

• Updating your soft furnishings – cushions, bedding, even curtains, can radically improve and update your home for a relatively moderate

• New parquet flooring –  A parquet flooring can make a house look dated more than any other area, and they can also give a buyer a reason to make a low offer.  A good quality, neutral parquet throughout the house can add several times its cost in the perception that the house has been kept up to date.  Re-flooring an average-sized house will cost around €5,000 but it will almost certainly be a very worthwhile investment.

Giving the buyer what they need is not always about price; increasing its value may just get your home sold for more!

Author: Christos Nikolaou

BEng Mechanical Engineering, MSc Real Estate, ETEK Property Valuer, Register and Licensed Real Estate Agent.

Christos Nikolaou is the founder and Managing Director of Property Canvas, he holds a license as an Estate Agent from the Association of Real Estate Agents of Cyprus and he is a registered Property Valuer in the Technical and Scientific Chamber of Cyprus (ETEK). He is the author of our “How to add value to your home without dropping your asking price” and is a certified advance negotiator.