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Debate House Prices
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added value to property
Comments
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*Warning - rant coming up*
As far as I can tell the popularity of decking stems entirely from popular garden makeover shows. They like it because it can be put down by a couple of workmen in a couple of hours, requires no preparation of the ground and it looks good straightaway, so when the lucky recipient of the makeover gets back from their weekend away that horrible patch of scruffy uneven weedy garden is covered with nice pristine decking.
Once the Ground Farce crew have !!!!!!ed off to the next project, it starts raining. The decking gets slimy and slippery. It never dries out properly. Rats move in. Rubbish accumulates under the decking. More rats move in. The decking loses its nice fresh new wood look and starts to look scruffy and old. In dry weather it looks unappealing, in wet weather it becomes treacherous.
I strongly advise that if you have a ropy looking bit of your garden, deal with it properly. Dig it over, plant it with some nice stuff. Or level it properly and lay a patio.
If you don't I will automatically knock 10 grand off the asking price when I look at it, because it ANNOYS ME SO MUCH.0 -
Interesting views on decking. Our decking project keeps being put on the back burner as other jobs take priority. I've been keen on having it as our garden is on the canal and I always thought it would look the bees knees in that setting. We did have a rat problem some years back though (that was a proper Stoppard play - the pesky critter spent a summer laughing at me and Mr. P didn't clock him ONCE ergo coming to the conclusion that I was going mad) so in light of your comments, I'm having the first stirrings of second thoughts...0
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im not trying to add value to the house as its losing value now
So the point I suppose I was making in my OP was that although prices are falling - to date we havent made a loss if we were to get it valued now!!
If I was you, I'd use any spare cash paying off your mortgage, this could help you a lot more than some block paving.Keep the right company because life's a limited business.0 -
I wouldn't have thought adding some more off-road parking would add any value anyway, especially as you say there's already 2 off-road spaces on the drive. Just for information though, if it's an unclassified road then you won't ned planning permission to create a new access/widen the existing access - provided you do it in conjunction with the laying of some hardstanding.0
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My advice is simple.
If the changes make the home better for you and are affordable, do them as soon as possible. That way, you get the maximum benefit from the changes.
When I bought my current home I spent about £25K in the first year making the home more attractive. I doubt that it added £25K to value but I love living in the changed home. What price is happiness?
GGThere are 10 types of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those that don't.0 -
I just want a house that reflects how hard i work for a living.
Between us me and my wife earn around 60k, yet live in a poxy two bed apartment worth origionally 3 years ago 116k. We would love to move if we could in to a nice 4 bed detached, but to be honest it aint gonna happen for a long time, infact probably not till we pay the mortgage off.
If the prices go down then fine i couldnt care less because although we were ftbs we didnt over stretch ourselves and we are on a offset mortgage that will be paid in 6 years and then finally we can get the house we deserve.
Sick to death of hearing about people doing there houses up to make a fortune, you missed the boat and you make me sick.
Hardly any wonder the young grow up like they do, they have no future to look forward too unless they wanna work like a donkey too live in a box.
The sooner the prices go down the better, even if i do loose out.0 -
The best way you can add value (or slow down the depreciation) is to stash all your spare cash in a savings account, earning approx 6%.
Leave unnecessary expenditure on your house until the market hits the bottom, as any money spent will also be subject to the monthly depreciation, so a £10K extension will only result in a £7500 "increase" if prices fall by 25%.0
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