Making improvements to our homes has great appeal for many of us. As well as improving our own living situations we may hope to increase the value of our property, but does it really work?
The world of home improvements seems to be everywhere these days. Turn on the television and you're likely to be presented with a show about decorating, building a house from scratch, moving home or some other issue related to the property market.
Property is big business and there's definitely money to be made for those of us who know what we're doing. The problem is that many of us don't really know where to start. We need a pointer - which home improvements will add the greatest value to our homes?
Let's start with one luxury home improvement that may have surprising results: a swimming pool. Plenty of us may dream of coming home from work and relaxing in a pool. Indeed, it sounds idyllic. So it must increase the value of a property, right? Well no, not necessarily.
The actual impact that building a swimming pool will have on the value of your property will vary depending upon the location of your property and its circumstances. The key here is to think about potential buyers and what they might like.
If you're attempting to sell your property as a great new home for a family then building a pool could turn out to be a bad move. Many parents would worry about the dangers of having a swimming pool in the same house as their small children.
They may even offer you a lower price for your home, reflecting the fact that they will have to bear the cost of having to pay to get your pool filled in. An excellent example of where a home improvement might not have the desired effect.
The important issue here is deciding who your target market is and what they are likely to want. We'll have a look at a more positive example.
If you have a nice 3-bedroom home in a suburb, with a garden, then that may well be the type of property that could be very desirable to a couple with children. It might be a great location for the couple in commuting terms, while the garden could provide a great play area for the kids.
So how should you go about improving the property to increase its value? One obvious area that you could improve would be the garden. Kids generally like lots of space to play in - they're not likely to be bothered by flower beds and the like.
You should get the garden into child-friendly shape. Make it look and feel like a great play area for the family's children.
You'll be amazed by how such relatively small improvements can add greatly to the value of your home.
Keith Barrett has written about property and Winchester estate agents, as well as on investments in general. This article may be used by any website publisher, though this resource box must always be included in full.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Keith_Barrett
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Pre-seasoning your home
When you think of home improvement things like new windows or finishing your basement comes to mind first. This is the time of the year when pre-seasoning air conditioning sales start and that is home improvement as well.
How about the outside of your home? What kind of shape is it in? Let's take a look at how you can improve your home by improving how it looks on the outside. You might call it spring cleaning the outside of your home.
- You should get started by taking a look at the general appearance. You've heard the Jeff Foxworthy joke; "you might be a redneck if your green refrigerator in the front yard has an extension cord running across the yard up to the house."
How about moving it to the backyard, or better yet putting it on the porch or something. This goes for anything that makes the outside of your home look trashy.
- Pick up the trash; rake up the leaves that have built up in the corners of the yard and around the house. Make it look clean.
- What kind of shape is your yard in? You can power rake the grass. Then aureate it. Lastly put down some quality fertilizer to green it up and kill crab grass and other weeds. You may have to spend a little time pulling a few weeds. If you keep on them you can eventually have a yard full of nice grass and no weeds.
- Touch up paint in areas of the house that look worn. How long has it been since you painted your home? Maybe it is time to do that or hire someone to do it for you.
You can paint a fence and really spruce up the outside. On natural wood power wash it and stain it a natural color to save the wear and tear on the fence and make it look new.
- If your car has been leaking oil on the driveway get some good concrete cleaner and clean it up. You should put a board or cardboard down under where you park your car.
- Plant some flowers around the driveway or in your yard to give it some color. You can buy a few planters and put multi colors and different types of flowers in them and put them by the front door on the porch as well.
Spring-cleaning can be moved from the inside of your home to the outside. Doing a few easy home improvements does not have to cost an arm and a leg and can really make your home look sharp.
Matt Bush is a consultant with http://www.easterncaisson.com who is an experienced drilling company
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_Bush
How about the outside of your home? What kind of shape is it in? Let's take a look at how you can improve your home by improving how it looks on the outside. You might call it spring cleaning the outside of your home.
- You should get started by taking a look at the general appearance. You've heard the Jeff Foxworthy joke; "you might be a redneck if your green refrigerator in the front yard has an extension cord running across the yard up to the house."
How about moving it to the backyard, or better yet putting it on the porch or something. This goes for anything that makes the outside of your home look trashy.
- Pick up the trash; rake up the leaves that have built up in the corners of the yard and around the house. Make it look clean.
- What kind of shape is your yard in? You can power rake the grass. Then aureate it. Lastly put down some quality fertilizer to green it up and kill crab grass and other weeds. You may have to spend a little time pulling a few weeds. If you keep on them you can eventually have a yard full of nice grass and no weeds.
- Touch up paint in areas of the house that look worn. How long has it been since you painted your home? Maybe it is time to do that or hire someone to do it for you.
You can paint a fence and really spruce up the outside. On natural wood power wash it and stain it a natural color to save the wear and tear on the fence and make it look new.
- If your car has been leaking oil on the driveway get some good concrete cleaner and clean it up. You should put a board or cardboard down under where you park your car.
- Plant some flowers around the driveway or in your yard to give it some color. You can buy a few planters and put multi colors and different types of flowers in them and put them by the front door on the porch as well.
Spring-cleaning can be moved from the inside of your home to the outside. Doing a few easy home improvements does not have to cost an arm and a leg and can really make your home look sharp.
Matt Bush is a consultant with http://www.easterncaisson.com who is an experienced drilling company
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_Bush
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