The outlook for foreseeable future is a bit gloomy if you’re a property owner – dwindling house prices are making numerous people fret. Some home owners will actually experience negative equity shortly, if not already. Even so, there are methods to avert this problem. The Solution : to add value to your home. How to go about that? By giving your household a makeover. Do It Yourself / home improvements can bestow far greater value to your property than the actual cost of those improvements.

So where to begin? A good place to begin is to think about the least used rooms in your property. Maybe it’s a spare bedroom or adjoining garage. Knocking down a wall can transform such a rarely used area into extra space for a living room or kitchen. Consider also your lighting and plumbing. A dimmer switch can change a bright, garish room into a warm, inviting living space – simply light transforming the room! Perhaps your house doesn’t have a downstairs lavatory? Then get one put in where your utility room is – once more this can add a great deal of value to your home.

Possibly your 4 bedroomed house could be converted to 3 bedroom by taking a wall down, and making a much larger room. This may sound a little strange, but in reality bigger rooms will make you a better sale value, and rather often people use a 4th bedroom strictly as a spare room (meaning it’s not really used or important) .

Next up is the garden. Have you got a garden shed? If not, consider installing one in the garden. Why? Well, here is one place where you can store all your stuff that’s congesting up your garage / utility room / spare bedroom. Having a shed helps also with the gardening, and keen gardeners (read: your prospective home buyer) like a garden with a shed. And get into gardening yourself! If your garden’s been untended, then cut the grass, plant some flowers, trim the garden edges. Install some decking if you have some room. Just providing a drink to a future buyer out in your stunning garden can really help sell the place – viewers feel comfortable in such surroundings – so it turns out that your garden can help sell your home, and add value to your property!

So where to look for some help? Take a look online. A DIY home improvement directory like homeandgardenlistings.co.uk has all kinds of home and garden websites listed there : including a directory of bathroom fitters, directory of builders, directory of plumbers, electricians, directory of general furniture suppliers, directory of bedroom furniture and beds suppliers etc.

These are just a few basic tips on raising the value of your property in these difficult times, but and we hope you find these useful.