Five factors that can make your home more valuable at resale

Often, owners get overwhelmed when it comes to evaluating their own assets. The reason for this lies in the view of both parties in the valuation of the property itself. The seller is usually emotionally attached to the property, and the buyer trades based on profitability and also considers his own needs as the most important criterion.

That´s why we want to raise some points that an owner should consider in the sale.

A professional NBA basketball player or a Premier League professional footballer, or a successful actor, buys luxury properties with plenty of space and amenities that a normal person can´t afford, and here price and income are not the deciding factor. Here, convenience, privacy and emotion are the driving force, so money typically plays a minor role in these real estate transactions. This also happens sometimes in holiday homes and second housing in the south and by the sea, when the dream seems to come true and the economic side is set aside and emotions are the deciding factor. However, this does not always have to be the case, and there is also a marked change in pandemic times.

In most cases, however there is a big difference for owners with average incomes. Because whenever they want to resell their home again they notice what they consider to be an asset to their own property, such as a swimming pool or an elaborate garden, it may be the opposite for the buyer derived from the running costs that for him are more important than amenities.

As difficult as it may seem to many homeowners, the market doesn´t care how much you´ve invested in the property before. In addition to your preferences, there are actually factors that increase the long-term value of a property and others that simply aren´t taken into account because they also don´t seem important to the buyer.

That is why we should start describing them, because it is important that both parties know these criteria.

If you are the owner, you have the advantage that you can design the house as you want. Individuality can sometimes be a shot in the foot, especially when the house should be resold.

As an owner, you also have to put yourself in the buyer´s shoes. The buyer always begins to calculate what the house will cost in the end after all the work and work that is part of their lifestyle and their needs. That is, if I have a Roman-style bathroom with 40 m2 in marble and pink, this is a construction and cost-intensive space for a buyer who needs a bathroom with minimalist furniture and a shower. Because the art is to find a customer who has exactly the same sense of taste as the seller, and this is very unlikely in most cases. Therefore, the principle of selling patterns is usually more than luxury!

That same sample can be applied to the division of the apartment or house. The more individual, the more difficult and lower can be the final value, the property can be dropped down in value by the buyer. Because every wall that is built down or added to it means a cost factor for the buyer, which he then deducts from the purchase price later when buying the property. Again, the more standard, the less chance for the buyer to make price reductions

A home is rent-free but not free of charge. And that leads us to another point “The maintenance”. Anything that causes excessive costs, such as outdoor lighting at all corners, oversized pool, can reduce the value of a property. Nevertheless, for the luxury segment this can be a plus because such equipment is usually standard.

In the case of land, the usual rule to apply is that a large plot of land increases the value of a property. But sometimes in the eye of the beholder, it can lead to discounts because of the incidental costs.

These rules should only be considered as an orientation, because if the buyer likes the house and he does not care about the costs incurred, because he wants to buy exactly this property,  the rule confirms only the exception of the rule. Nevertheless, we believe that this can help to evaluate a house objectively.

Author: Paulo Lopes