Donna Werbner looks at what makes a property saleable, desirable and, most importantly, valuable.
If you're thinking of selling your property, it's important to know what buyers want. Then you can make changes to try and make your property as saleable as possible.
This is also useful information if you're thinking about buying. Your top priority could be finding a house with apple trees in the garden. But if the property only has a small bathroom with no shower, other buyers may not be so keen. So if you want to buy a property that will be highly saleable in the future, you need to know what the majority of house hunters are looking for.
Here is a quick guide to `What Buyers Want':
Location, location, location
When it comes to choosing a property, location is the most important factor for 58% of buyers, according to Alliance & Leicester (A&L).
And, when it comes to location, a room with a view is top of the list. A recent survey by Halifax found that a third (34%) of buyers want to live in the countryside and nearly a fifth (19%) have aspirations of living by the sea. The third most popular choice is a quaint village (16%), particularly for younger homeowners (surprisingly, 21% of 25- to 34-year-olds said they would ideally like to live in a village, compared to just 12% of over 65-year-olds).
Good public transport links were also rated extremely highly by first-time buyers. One in two said they wanted to be within easy reach of a city or major town.
Favourite features
Forget open fires and en-suite bathrooms -- what homebuyers really want is an eat-in kitchen, according to research by Legal & General.
The home insurer found that a big kitchen, that has room for a kitchen table, tops the 2007 wish list for property hunters.
What tops the wish list for the dream home:
Rank | Feature | % that mention as most |
|---|---|---|
1 | Big kitchen with room for a kitchen table | 15% |
2 | Large garden | 13% |
= 3 | En suite for the main bedroom | 9% |
= 3 | Room for an extension / development | 9% |
5 | Own drive | 8% |
6 | Downstairs toilet | 6% |
7 | Kitchen with a breakfast bar | 4% |
=8 | A cellar I can convert | 3% |
=8 | Living room with an open fire | 3% |
=10 | Dining room | 1% |
=10 | Attic | 1% |
Source: Legal & General
A garden is also an extremely desirable feature, according to Halifax:
Feature | % of respondents stating they would live |
|---|---|
Utility Room | 61% |
Second Bathroom | 56% |
Garage | 55% |
Extra Bedroom | 54% |
Separate Dining Room | 50% |
Something Else | 18% |
And remember, nowadays, buyers aren't just green-fingered. With Energy Performance Certificates now included in Home Information Packs (HIPs), environmental issues are also becoming more important to property hunters. Just under a fifth of Brits would pay more for an `eco-friendly' home, according to More Th>n, while Nationwide found that 82% of homeowners would choose a property with energy-saving features over a similarly-priced home with period features or an attic room. Ethical and financially-savvy -- how many more excuses do you need to switch and save?
Favourite types of properties
When I fancy a bit of `dream home' property fantasising, my favourite website to look at is The Property Organisation. Barn conversions, old schoolhouses and even castles... they're all there, just waiting for me to win the lottery and snap one up for £1.5m (what a bargain!).
But anyway, it seems I am in the minority. One in two homebuyers say their dream home would be a detached house and nearly one in five want a bungalow, according to research by Halifax.
Having said that, research from HBOS shows terraced properties and flats have risen the most in value since 1996:
Property type | Average Price | Average Price | 10 year |
|---|---|---|---|
Terraced | £54,945 | £186,316 | 239% |
Semi-Detached | £63,646 | £197,992 | 211% |
Detached | £110,240 | £326,396 | 196% |
Bungalows | £72,990 | £215,839 | 196% |
Flats & Maisonettes | £58,046 | £194,444 | 235% |
Source: HBOS
Whatever your property type, ensure it looks its best by tidying up before your buyers arrive. According to Nationwide, 55% of potential buyers say they would find an untidy house a major turn-off.
The price of property
So what's your property worth? Researching where it is on the `dream home' spectrum may help you to figure out how desirable your property is to that elusive `average buyer', and consequently, what the price tag might be.
But it won't answer the most important question of all: what's it worth to you? At the end of the day, no matter what the research says, no matter even what the market says, you have to make up your own mind.
If you're thinking of moving, our mortgage service could help you find a great home loan deal.