Property is often a person’s greatest asset and naturally they want to capitalise on that huge personal investment. Whether you’re planning a massive home improvement overhaul or looking to spruce the place up on a budget, there are a few tricks of the ‘trade’ or ‘handyman’ that you can follow to get the best return.

So aside from the most obvious option of increasing your property’s worth by expanding the size of it, we speak to experts Property Secrets and Landlord Today to discover the top five renovation projects that homeowners and proprietors should be considering to add value.

First impressions

It goes without saying that the first thing that prospective tenants and buyers viewing the property will see is the front of the house. Attention needs to be paid to the exterior, remember this is like the cover of a book and you want the ‘customer’ to judge your property positively.

If you’re looking to let, Landlord Today suggests that “Ensuring that the driveway is pleasing on the eye will help to make tenants house-proud and happy.

“This might simply mean a quick trim of the hedge or the sweeping away of leaves, or it might mean refreshing the front of the house with a paint-job or whitewashing the walls.”

You may find that these tasks are easily manageable yourself, but say you need to replace rotted window frames or spruce up the roof tiles, calling in the experts is the way to go. Professionals will make sure that you work to regulation and it doesn’t come back to haunt you later once the tenants have moved in.

Whether you’re a city dweller or located off the beaten track in the countryside, you’ll find good quality handyman services in London and beyond to help make your property renovations pay for themselves.

How does your garden grow? Immaculately with any luck! How the shrubbery comes off under inspection is equally important, you want to persuade people looking around that this property is a place where their first child will play outdoors or where they’ll have friends over to enjoy a BBQ in the back garden.

Finessing the front garden may not even require that much work but it’s guaranteed to boost the impact of your property. As Property Secrets says: “Another cheap way of renovating to attract buyers or tenants is to ensure the garden looks good and easily maintainable, although in experience house buyers will look after gardens a lot more than tenants will do.”

Decluttering

You know that old adage ‘less is more’, well when it comes to presenting your property at its best there just might be some truth in it.

Managing the mess may not be the biggest factor in selling or renting your place but it’s a simple and cheap way to, again, make the right first impression and enhance your chances of success.

Storage is your friend and you could look at solutions for incorporating this into your house. Having shelving installed, for example, is a cost-effective way of getting the space you need to tidy things away but you needn’t even go that far as Property Secrets explains:

“A simple tidy and de-clutter ahead of potential viewings can be an affordable way of improving your home’s look whilst heavily ornamented rooms filled with large furnishings and accessories can look & feel imposing and unattractive at first glance…Minimalizing furniture and fixtures to almost a blank canvas would allow the potential tenant or buyer to imagine themselves living in the property without the worry on whether they have enough space for their own furnishings.”

Fixtures & fittings

Again adding value isn’t always about the big projects, getting all the small DIY jobs done is equally important. The only issue is finding the time to fit in multiple little tasks. From fixing lights to painting the skirting boards, and even checking that all the door handles are firm and ugly dated lampshades are replaced with modern neutral ones, it may be less stressful to get some hired help – especially if you’re working to a strict time frame before people turn up to view the property.

Landlord Today sees sorting all the finer details as a necessary step that will be easier to complete between tenancies and can improve the overall look of your property.

“Ensuring that all fixtures and fittings are in fine working order and sprucing up the garden are things that won’t cost that much, but could make all the difference.”

Walls & floors

The quickest route to freshening up the overall appearance of your property is of course to paint the walls. It’s amazing what a quick lick of paint can do to turn a tired room into one that is welcoming and vibrant. Picking neutral tones will please almost everyone, brightening the place up and allowing potential viewers to start imagining this blank canvas as their own.

Likewise, nothing beats newly laid wooden floors or carpets but when you’re looking to optimise value in your property, pick the rooms that need new flooring the most or, failing that, simply invest in a good quality carpet cleaner and vac away the stains and marks that form over the years.

Maintenance

Preventative maintenance is an ongoing essential throughout the life of a property, whether you’re looking to rent, sell or create a home for many years to come. Keeping up with issues like damp, clogged gutters and frozen pipes are high priority, but seldom managed until a problem arises and they can no longer be ignored. These things are unavoidable to a certain extent, for instance simply keeping the thermostat above freezing point if you’re going away for a few days, or clearing fallen leaves from gutters, will save a lot of household trauma and money in the long-term.

Maintenance is crucial if you’re planning to let your property, as Landlord Today explains: “In the time between tenancies maintenance is even more important – with no-one living in the property, the chances of it falling into disrepair go much higher. As such, landlords should keep an even closer eye on their properties when they’re empty.”

Property Secrets adds: “If selling, it’s important to get any basic issues resolved without bursting the bank but if renting, you must ensure that any ‘future’ problems don’t arise if you’re thinking of doing a quick ‘fix it’ style job in order to get a quick turnaround on tenants.”

So what’s the most important tip to take from this? Well, all of them actually.

Depending on the condition of your property, you should take care of the important criteria first and make sure that all household essentials are working correctly. It’s also wise to keep the property clean, looking fresh and presentable. The main aim is to maximise potential capital without running up a huge renovation bill, and by dedicating time and a little budget for improvement work when need be, you can increase the profitability of your property with minimal financial output.