What reduces property value?

Your home is likely to be your biggest investment. In this respect, protecting your investment is of paramount importance. In this article, we shall be discussing some of the elements that dilute the value of property.

Bad neighbours
Loud and noisy neighbours reduce the value of an area. Living next to noisy neighbours, people with history or worse with past criminal associations will not help your bargaining power if you are seeking to sell your property.

Poor exterior painting
The exterior part of your house is what delivers a first impression. A house may be beautifully designed when considering the interior, however you will lose out on the overall impression if the exterior part is not up to scratch. An example that may hamper a first impression includes paint that is faded, cracked or peeled.
Poor maintenance
Having a house which is poorly maintained will quickly drain your potential selling price. Serious shortcomings may include water leaks, damaged drains and faulty electricity amongst others. Allowing your property to degenerate to certain levels might make it unsellable.
Proximity to undesirable areas
You may have heard one of the golden rules of real estate, which is location, location, location. Having a property located near certain businesses or facilities might make re-sale value problematic. Such may include businesses that attract a lot of traffic, congestion and noise, thus impacting lifestyle quality.

An unkept home
Whilst a home may have great potential, first impressions count. If you are trying to sell a home which contains a lot of clutter and is not well-organised, potential buyers are less likely to feel inclined to make you an offer.
Unusual customisations
Those seeking to buy a home would likely imagine implementing their own personal touch to the property. On top of people’s lists would be to remove unusual customisations which may include less frequent colours of paint, quirky wallpaper and other fixtures. If you are opting for something unique or less conservative, try to create it in a way that it can be easily removed without much expenses.
Garage conversion
Some owners may opt to convert their garages, to a gym or home office amongst other examples. Many people value having a garage together with the property to park their cars and place their general items. If you want to use your garage for another purpose, it would be ideal to ensure that it can easily be converted back.