Five things that add the LEAST value to your home
November 13th, 2023
Kitchens and bathrooms are the top items that add the most value to your home but you may be surprised to learn what adds the least.
Garden
Gardens can be very high maintenance, depending on the size of them, but you don’t often realise that until you have a garden that needs maintaining. And that’s often why buyers don’t see the value in a hugely improved garden. If they see a shoddy garden that is unkept and needs a load of work, they sort of think “Oh well, we’ll get round to that in the Summer”, whereas if the kitchen is a tad old and tired, buyers are instantly “Well, we’ll have to replace the kitchen and we couldn’t possibly offer anywhere near the asking price because the kitchen needs replacing”
Ironically, if you need to re-patio your garden, put new fencing in and turf it, it can cost more than a kitchen in some instances! But whereas a kitchen will usually add good value on to your home, having a pristine garden will not add as much.
The value of a garden generally comes with its size, rather than the condition of it. So if you’re about to sell, make it tidy, cut the lawn, but don’t go spending thousands on patios, sheds and fencing.
Rewiring
Another huge expense from the king of all trades (that’s a joke in case you are a tradesperson from another sector – my electrician said that to me when he rewired my house and it made me laugh!)
Rewiring a house is no small job. It often requires the property to be vacant, can take a couple of weeks (depending on the size of the house) and then still needs patching up after they’ve been and created havoc in the property. The problem with wiring is that it’s behind the walls and no one can see it, so there is little value there. Sure, if you have a house that has the oldest wiring in the world, you need to get it rewired, but as a job to do if you’re about to sell, forget it.
New Double Glazing
Double glazing. We hate double glazing. We hate double glazing sales people. And now we hate the fact that it doesn’t add any value!
But it just doesn’t. It keeps you warmer. It’s quieter. And it lowers your energy bills. Allegedly. But it doesn’t add value to your home. Not enough to justify the expense. So if you’re going to do double glazing, then do it for yourself, rather than the value it adds to the property.
New Boiler
Like rewiring, but not quite as messy and around the same price. A new boiler probably adds more value than rewiring or new double glazing, but if it is just ‘old’, but works, don’t bother replacing it to add value. Only do it if it conks out, you’re feeling cold or you have some spare cash!
Extending without providing extra rooms
A classic mistake made by more people than you’d imagine. Adding an extension, without adding rooms, although adds value, won’t add as much value as adding rooms.
Houses that have their kitchen extended to create just a bigger kitchen, rather than a kitchen/diner or kitchen/breakfast room are usually making a mistake.
Similarly, extending upstairs to create, say, 3 double bedrooms, instead of two doubles and two singles, are usually making a mistake. They should be creating an extra bedroom. Yes, even if that means 2 doubles and 2 singles – it’s usually worth more than the same sized house with 3 double bedrooms.
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