Author Archives: admin

Loft Conversions: One of the Best Ways to Increase the Value Of your Home

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Almost everybody’s got a loft, but for most of them the loft remains an unused, or used for storage, space. This is unfortunate, as having this space converted is probably the best method available for many to increase the value of a home. Halifax did a study in this area, and determined that a loft conversion into a bedroom and en suite can increase the value of a home by as much as 20 per cent. In order to convert your loft, you should first pay a specialist to give you advice on whether or not your loft is suitable; if the amount of space you have available is too limited then it may be best to find a different use for it. If however your loft is ideal for... Read More »

Improve Your House’s Value Through Some Simple Development Work

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For the average Joe, a house is the biggest and most important asset they’ve got, and having a way to increase its value is, of course, very valuable for them. Most of the factors which determine the value of a home aren’t really something that a normal individual has the capacity to influence, but a few of the important ones are. When you value a home, you look at the national market forces, the neighbourhood the house is situated in, and the quality of the home. The first two are basically outside of somebody’s ability to affect, except maybe a very limited impact on the quality of the neighbourhood. As for improving the quality of your home, you are in complete control. To improve a home’s quality, you need to... Read More »

Research the Property Market to get a Fair Deal

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Getting a raw deal on your house purchase can be done simply through a lack of knowledge and experience. In order to overcome this experience gap and get yourself a good deal on a house, your only real option is to research the property market. You can’t just do this with a broad brush either; you need to look at the property market surrounding the home you’re buying. What you need to look at when researching the property market is how much other homes in the same neighbourhood as the one you’re interested in went for. This may sound simple but it can actually be quite difficult. You need to find a number of homes of a similar style, with similar pros and cons, and use those to draw a... Read More »

Getting a Home Cheaply

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As what is likely to be the biggest financial deal of your life, finding a way of reducing the price of a home from its market price is one of the basic elements of house hunting. This requires that you negotiate on the price of the property and, perhaps most importantly, picking your battles carefully. Negotiating when purchasing a house starts as early as possible; before you’ve even met the estate agent. This is something which people rarely consider doing but it is absolutely necessary, because you’ll find that estate agents will often push your budget to the limits and beyond so “low-balling” them on your actual budget will ensure that you find a home which is a bit more in your price range. When actually house hunting, it is... Read More »

When Looking For a New Home: Always Pay for a Survey

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In the rush to get a house, it is something which often gets overlooked, but it is vitally important to pay for a building survey before you sign the contract. Even if there are no visible problems with the property, any number of things could be lying just under the surface, including: Termites eating away at the flooring and structure. Water damage from leaks in a roof and guttering, or ground water damaging the foundations of the building. Damage to weight bearing walls. Poor electricity circuiting which needs to be replaced. Damaged plumbing system. Whether your potential home’s structure is made of wood or brick, problems with that structure can be very costly. Having such a cost appear out of nowhere is something nobody wants when they’ve just signed up... Read More »

What is a Building Envelope?

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A building envelope is a term which is used a lot in the construction industry, but there is little use of it in the general public. The term is used to describe the entirety of the barrier/barriers generated by a building, i.e. the protection against water, air and heat and general climate control. Therefore when somebody tells you that your building envelope is damaged or isn’t performing as it should be, what it means is that the barrier between the external and the internal isn’t working properly, for whatever reason, and therefore the climate inside the building isn’t being controlled. A good example would be a leaking roof, which will raise the moisture content in the air of the building, but a draft which comes into the house through small... Read More »

Why it is important to get a fresh coat of paint

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Everybody knows that there are things that you need to keep an eye on when you own a home. Any number of things, that when left alone, can quickly develop into a problem, and an expensive one at that, and paint is certainly one of those things. The role of paint is actually to perform as a layer of protection for wood (at least for the exterior of a home). Over time, this layer can wear out, and when this happens you have exposed wood or brick which, over time, will suffer from erosion due to rain water and air moisture. In fact, if you have window frame made of wood then it is an absolute necessity for you to make sure that you have a layer of water proof... Read More »

Preparing For a House Evaluation

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Whether you’re looking to sell your home or are looking to remortgage it, it can be very important that it gets valued highly. While a large portion of this value is based upon the location of the property, and therefore basically out of your control, some things which are in your control can also have a positive impact on your home’s value. There are a few simple things which everybody would probably do before they get a real estate agent to evaluate their home, like making their home really clean, but other largely superficial things can also have a impact without costing too much to do. This would include things like de-cluttering the home so that it appears more spacious, and maintaining the garden to a high standard. Also, modernising... Read More »

Roofing Surveys

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Roofing surveys are used to discover information about the roof that is being surveyed, and they are usually done, specifically, to find water and heat leaks. These are actually pretty big issues for a building, with water leaks potentially causing unknown damage for years before it becomes apparent (unless you pay for a roof survey), and heat loss can also cost a lot of money if it persists for a while. There are a variety of methods and tools which are used in a roofing survey to detect if there are any problems, and depending upon which of these methods you choose / need, you’re going to pay for a different amount of money for the service. A few types of roof surveys are electronic leak detection, infra-red thermal imaging,... Read More »