How to add substantial value to your home. Simple tricks that can bring tens of thousands of extra pounds

You will be surprised to find out how much money little things like a garden or a specific paint color could add to the value of your home.

Londoners are probably the most conscious Europeans of the value of real estate. And at the same time they are open to new trends and very attentive to every detail that could bring even more value to their incredibly expensive houses, because transactions do not go away, and many specialists believe Brexit will not be a hindrance to this.

At this time, two of the world’s liveliest maneuvers in the capital of Great Britain are related to the ecological trend and the tricks coming from interior designers.

Who would have thought that a certain color of paint or a piece of land with some planted salad could add tens of thousands of extra pounds to the value of a home?

London is turning into a city of urban farmers?

More and more Londoners are attracted to the idea of urban gardening, encouraged by celebrities such as Jamie Oliver, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Moss or David Cameron, who have their own vegetable plots.

New real estate developments are following this trend: from Battersea flats in the south to homes estates in the East End – many new projects come with rooftop plots or allotments.

According to house agents, outdoor space can add up to £90.000 and even more to the value of a home in London, so no one should miss this chance.

And there isn’t only the agents’ speaking. According to a recent study, almost one in four Londoners with a garden dedicates a part of the outside space to growing their own food, without countening other growers in the capital, who are turning their balconies and windowsills into vegetable gardens.

Chefs who became TV stars, a warmer London  climate, the  growing popularity of biological food and an increasing need of relax and de-stress in this overcrowded city are emboldening this vegetavle growing phenomenon.

Moreover, sales of lettuce seeds increased 270 per cent year on year. So the whole context is favorable to this new “green” trend.

When it comes to adding value of a property, 72 per cent of clients surveyed by Foxtons real estate agency cited bu Homes and Property say they would pay more for a home with a garden. The demand is of course highest in summer.

“With flats the premium is around £30,000 to £50,000 for a one- or two-bedroom garden flat. With houses the market is considerably different. A garden is the be-all and end-all of buying a house.” said Chris Manderson, sales manager of Foxtons in Hackney.

“We recently marketed a two-bedroom house on Sylvester Road, Hackney Central, for £895,000. If it’d had a garden it would have been more like £1.1 million. It is best to wait and put flats and houses without gardens on the market in the winter.”  he advises home owners.

The average London garden measures 52ft by 36ft, and the flowers most popular grown in them are roses, lavender, bluebells, tulips and hydrangeas. 80 per cent of gardens include a lawn, while more than half have a deck or paving.

The right colors and the disastrous ones

The impact of house colors also reflects directly in its price, recent study found, and therefore home sellers, who are generally advised to slap on a fresh coat of paint before listing their properties, should focus on specific paint colors in order to boost the selling price. And, most important, they should avoid some colors that make buyers turning up their noses and diminish the value of a house.

After analyzing more than 32,000 photos from sold residential properties, the real estate data firm Zillow found that specific colors can either boost or crimp a home’s selling price.

Zillow chief economist Svenja Gudell says that color makes a big impact on buyers and can serve as a “powerful tool” for attracting prospective bidders. Still, given that trends change over time, it’s important to consider what tints are most favorable for would-be buyers. Thus, while last year, yellow was a popular choice for kitchens, in Zillow’s 2017 survey another shade has taken its place.

For the exterior it’s better to pick a mix of gray and beige — “greige” — as homes with these shades on their outside sold for $1,526 more than white properties.

For kitchens, the study found that, in 2017, the preference has shifted to light blue to soft gray-blue, these colors generating a plus of $1,809.

In the dining room, blue paint can deliver an average premium of $1,926, this year’s favorite shades being slate blue to pale grey blue. Navy blue is also popular in dining rooms that incorporate a rustic wood wall covering. Blue is preferred also for bedrooms, especially shades like light cerulean or cadet blue. For these colors home sellers receive a premium of $1,856.

Prospective buyers can also be attracted by light beige, pale taupe or oatmeal living rooms, the medium extra amount of money they pay being $1,809 for central living areas with these shades.

Regarding the bathroom, all sellers must know that picking blue or purple hues will pay off. More exactly, powder blue to periwinkle will increase home’s sale price with an average amount of $5,440.

But what are the colors that have the biggest negative impact on selling price?

According to Zillow, homes with off-white or eggshell kitchens sold for almost $100 less than estimated. Instead, people appreciate kitchens’ walls painted in wheat yellow. That would boost a home’s selling price by $1,360.

Also, bedrooms painted dark brown sold for $236 less than expected. The same color used in a bathroom lowered its selling price by $469.

Terracotta is another “forbidden” color if you want to sell your house at a good price. It’s not quite as harsh as dark brown, but it could also be a “kiss of death” when selling your home. Homes with living rooms painted in terracotta shade sold on average for $793 less than estimated. Light gray is instead the preferred color in this room.

While dove or light gray is a hit in living rooms, helping to boost a home’s selling price by $1,104, dark gray is totally a flop. When it comes to dining rooms, you could lose $1,112 because of the slate gray. What about the right alternative for the dining room? Shades of mauve, eggplant, and lavender will definitely attract buyers.