Top 9 things that boost a property's value

Whether it's to live near the family or a beach, there are plenty of property features we're willing to stump up thousands extra for.

When the time comes to buy a new property, there are all sorts of factors that come into play. Does it have enough bedrooms for your needs (or future needs if you are starting a family)? Does it have somewhere for you to park? Does it need much work to get it to a liveable standard, perhaps a new kitchen or bathroom?

But just as important as the property itself are the external factors about a home, the selling points that transform a lovely home into being the perfect property for you and your family. In other words, it’s all about location, location, location.

I do like to be beside the seaside

The Post Office has put together a Homebuyers Report, looking at which external factors about a property are most likely to convince us to fork out a bit extra.

Turns out the biggest premium that homebuyers will hand over is for the chance to be beside the seaside (beside the sea), with buyers on average paying an extra £20,448 in order to benefit from that sea air and a plentiful supply of fish and chip shops.

Don’t get me wrong, I could easily go for a bit of seaside life. I spend a couple of days every year in Brighton with family, and can see the attraction. But would I pay an extra £20,000 for the privilege?

I’m not so sure.

Living near the family

While leaving near a beach is the attraction we are likely to shell out the largest premium for, the property feature that is most important to a quarter of us is living near family.

One in four of us said that this is the top factor when it comes to the perfect property, and as a result homebuyers are prepared to shell out a premium of £13,005 for the privilege.

From my own experience, this certainly rings true. Both my parents and my wife’s parents lived a single road away from their parents, while a big factor in buying our own home was ensuring that both sets of parents were within a short drive. Whether it would have convinced us to hand over an extra £13,000, I’m not convinced, but we certainly would have paid extra for the benefit.

Decent transport links

Yet another surprising result, in my opinion at least, from the report is that buyers are likely to pay a premium of just £11,184 for a property due to its good transport links, the second lowest figure of the top nine attractions.

This may just be because I live in London, but that strikes me as an awfully low figure. What’s more, a study by Nationwide a couple of months ago suggested that properties in the capital located close to Underground or National Rail stations (within 500 metres) would see their value boosted by 7.2% compared to an identical property 1500 metres from the station, the equivalent of more than £20,000 - more than double the figure from the Post Office study.

Top 9 things that boost a property's value

So, let’s take a look at the top nine property factors we are most likely to pay a premium for, according to the Post Office.

While a bit of green nearby is nice, personally it would be nowhere near second spot on my list of priorities. However, low crime and a decent community feel certainly would be high up the list.

The war of the sexes

Besides looking at what people were most likely to pay a little extra for, the report also did a bit of digging into the behaviour of the buyers themselves.

Supposedly, the mantra of location, location, location is more important for men than women, with men prepared to fork out an extra £15,860 for their perfect home, compared to £13,605 for women. There is also an age factor to consider. Buyers aged between 35 and 54 years old are the most likely to pay more for their dream home – indeed, they are happy to pay almost double (£17,505) what buyers aged 18 to 34 year olds will fork out for the perfect property (£9,874).

Funding your purchase

You may be willing to pay a bit extra in order to live near your family or workplace, but actually having the money to do so is another matter. When the time came to buy my home, I knew I wanted to make use of a mortgage broker, not only because they have access to some mortgages that I couldn’t get direct, but also to make use of their advice on which products I met the criteria for, and which lender would be best for our situation.

And if I thought I might need a little extra cash from a lender in order to help fund my dream home, I know I’d waste no time in calling my broker, just to see which lenders are most likely to meet my needs.

I paid for the guidance of my broker, but at lovemoney.com you can take advantage of absolutely free advice from our team of experts. You can pick their brains online by email at mortgages@lovemoney.com or via Instant Messenger on our mortgage centre. Alternatively you can go the old-fashioned route and give them a call on 0800 804 4045.  

However, if you’d prefer to do it yourself you should consider these fantastic mortgages.

More: Fix your mortgage at 2.95%! | Five reasons to be cheerful about the property market

At lovemoney.com, you can research all the best deals yourself using our online mortgage service, or speak directly to a whole-of-market, fee-free  broker. Call 0800 804 4045 or email mortgages@lovemoney.com for more help.