5 things I did to add value to my house before selling

My husband and I recently accepted an offer on the house we bought almost six years ago. And while the housing market is in turmoil right now, we still received a couple of offers and ultimately got the exact price we were hoping for. But I don’t think this was luck; I think this is because we spent a lot of time (and money) adding value to our house in the run-up to selling.

Of course, it’s no secret that selling a house relies heavily on a property listing that showcases its best features and the in-person viewings going well. And knowing how to boost the value of your home before these things happen is one of the best ways to make them as positive as possible. So, sometimes it pays to spend money to make money.

All in all, we spent around £10,000 tackling bigger tasks and ticking off smaller jobs before putting it on the market. And our estate agents took all this into account before valuing the house at one of the highest prices our street (a row of almost-identical terraces) has ever seen. But I don’t think all of these upgrades were necessary.

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1. WORTH IT: Replacing the flooring

My husband and I started prepping to sell our house last year. And after learning all about the flooring choices that will make it harder to sell your home, I realised that our old flooring could potentially work against us, and the price we were hoping to get for our home. So, we spent about £1,500 replacing almost all of the hard flooring downstairs. In doing so, we swapped out our old, yellowing and broken laminate for a wood-effect LVT.

Paul Hambidge, Managing Director at Factory Direct Flooring, agrees that this was a good move on our part, stating that laminate and LVT ‘make a good backup option and come in real-wood effect finishes.’ But if we had the budget, real wood would have been preferable as it’s ‘still one of the most sought-after among prospective buyers.’

Ultimately, we opted for the cheaper option as it suited our budget and requirements best, but it’s made such a big difference to the look, flow and feel of our house. It also feels sturdier and isn’t bubbling or lifting in any areas, which is something we kept an eye (and foot) out for when viewing prospective properties ourselves.

But while this was a surefire way to boost the value of my house and was something that viewers constantly commented on positively, replacing the flooring isn’t the best option for everyone. In some cases, doing so could be one of the pointless home improvements that won’t add value – especially if you opt for something very specific to your tastes that some people won’t like, or if your flooring is in a suitable condition.

2. NOT WORTH IT: Painting the walls

We haven’t paid too much attention to our walls over the years. We painted most of them a warm (but admittedly fairly boring) white when we first moved in, and, apart from adding feature walls in the dining room and our bedroom, we’ve focused more on accessorising our walls than on painting.

However, in the run-up to selling our house, we felt the pressure to make it look as perfect as possible and work with the paint colours that will sell your home. So we decided to start repainting the walls and touching up any scuffs or marks that had accumulated over the years. My opinion? It wasn’t worth it – both in terms of the money we spent on paint and the time it took us to do it.

In some cases, painting the walls can be a great way to add value to your house, though. Emma Royal, Managing Director at Real Property Staging, says, ‘Consistency is key. Cohesive colour palettes help a home feel calm, considered and easier to understand, which is exactly what you want during viewings.’

But we realised halfway through that cleaning our walls would be a better (and cheaper) use of our time. So, we took Emma’s advice to ‘focus on high-impact areas such as hallways, kitchens, living spaces and the main bedroom’ while painting, and then focused on cleaning the walls in the rest of our home.

3. WORTH IT: Painting the fences

The house we’re currently selling is a narrow Victorian mid-terrace – which means that the garden is also narrow, and the fences couldn’t be any more in-your-face if you tried. So, one of the things I definitely don’t regret doing to add value to our house is painting it before the estate agent’s photographer worked his magic.

As I was aware of the fence colours that add value to your house, I decided that we should paint ours a lovely sage green, as this can also make a smaller garden look bigger. We opted for the Cuprinol Garden Shades Paint – Fresh Rosemary (£26 at Amazon), and the difference it made was seriously impressive – especially when we painted our shed to match.

Experts say doing this is a great way to boost your property value and add visual intrigue to your home, too. Jack Malnick from Sell House Fast, says, ‘Freshening up your fences and gates with a coat of paint or wood stain can quickly enhance the appearance of your home. Just be sure to check with neighbours first if they own the fence.’

My only tip after doing this myself? Don’t bother painting by hand. We bought a paint sprayer, and we finished the job in record time (and we’ll be able to take it to our next house, so it’s an investment for the future too!)

4. NOT WORTH IT: Replacing bathroom fittings

If I’m being totally honest with you, we haven’t touched our bathroom since we moved into our house in 2020. It has never really been our taste, and it’s always needed a little ‘zhuzhing’ to make it modern and fresh. And by that, I mean it needs to be ripped out and replaced.

We didn’t want to do this before moving house, so we decided against any major bathroom work. But after reading up on where to spend and save with bathrooms, we decided to compromise and replace the old bathroom fittings – including the sink taps and shower fittings – for something a bit fancier. We even replaced the bath itself, as it had been broken since the day we moved in.

Soma Pillay, Bathroom Specialist at the UK’s online bathroom specialist Bathroom City, says this can work wonders when selling your house. He explains, ‘Replacing hardware is an affordable update that brings an instant uplift. New taps, handles or even a quick refresh with paint or adhesive vinyl on vanity units can make existing furniture look far more contemporary.’

For some people, this can certainly be worth it. For us? It wasn’t. Anyone buying the house already knew that the bathroom would need some TLC, so us spending about £300 on these new fittings and a new bath seems like a complete waste of money in hindsight.

5. WORTH IT: Landscaping the garden

I’d like to caveat this next point by saying that we landscaped our garden about two years ago. And while we knew we were spending money on it to make our house more desirable, we also wanted to have a couple of years to enjoy it ourselves. For that alone, spending around £7,000 on it wasn’t a waste of time for us (even if it has put us off ever buying a house with a south-facing garden ever again).

Experts say that landscaping can work wonders when you put your house on the market, too. Talking to Ronseal, David Cooper, Director at Redbrik Estate Agents, says, ‘Overgrown or poorly maintained gardens are a common deterrent. When a garden appears neglected, buyers often assume there will be significant time, effort or cost involved in bringing it up to standard, which can affect how they view the property as a whole.’

Because of this, we focused on the garden features that help sell your home, such as a healthy, level lawn and a patio with the most gorgeous sandstone slabs. This gave us the chance to jazz up the space with pots and planters, without adding too much planted growth for potential buyers to worry about when they came to view it.

However, it’s worth noting that we bought the house when the garden was in a complete state, knowing that we’d eventually need to landscape it. So, it won’t put the right people off completely if you don’t spend any money on it. But for us, it made sense.

Now all I need to do is start packing…