FIRST-TIME buyers could make over £30,000 by ignoring five red flags when they’re viewing potential homes.
Buying a property that needs a bit of TLC can save you a lot of money in the long run, as fairly easy fixes can give you room to haggle down prices when you buy and add to your house value later.
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House prices reached record highs after the pandemic, but soaring mortgage rates and the cost of living crisis have put sales on hold and sent prices falling.
The average house price was £287,782 in October, according to government data, down from £291,193 in October 2022.
But with mortgage rates starting to come down, now may be a good time to bag yourself a bargain if you’re looking to get on the property ladder.
We all want to buy a stunning home, but there may be some ways you can save money upfront if you’re willing to do a bit of easy DIY down the line.
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A dirty house: £8,000 saving
Buying a house that needs a good clean or a lick of paint could save you thousands of pounds in the buying process, but it won’t take you long to get it looking great.
According to property expert Colby Short, chief executive of Get Agent, buying a house that is obviously dirty is a good place to haggle on price, saving you around £8,000.
He said: “It’s estimated that a good deep clean can add as much as £8,000 to the value of a home.
“It will cost you around £1,000 on average for a professional deep clean, but it can be achieved for even less by purchasing the cleaning materials yourself and rolling up your sleeves.”
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Peeling paint and dirty carpets: £9,000 saving
And a house that needs a good clean might also be in need of modernisation or a few upgrades.
But these don’t have to cost you an arm and a leg – it could be as simple as painting the walls or cleaning the carpets.
“A freshly redecorated home is estimated to command almost £9,000 more when it reaches the market, so you could save yourself this by opting for one in need of a revamp,” Mr Short said.
“If your desired home is in need of a lick of paint, you could opt for a professional at an average cost of around £3,000 – but you can get stuck in yourself for even less.”
You can grab a 10L tub of white wall paint from B&Q for £22, which should cover two coats on four walls and a ceiling – or a whole room.
Poor EPC rating: £3,000 saving
An energy-efficient home can save you a lot of money in the long run.
But while buying somewhere with a poor EPC rating may come up as a red flag, you can always upgrade it yourself later while saving on your house price.
Mr Short said upgrading a home from an EPC rating of D to C costs around £6,000 for a typical home, but adds £9,000 or more to a property’s value.
Research by property site Habito found a mid-terrace house could cost around £6,400 to upgrade, while a one-bed flat costs around £3,600.
If you buy somewhere that could use a few EPC upgrades, you could make around £3,000 on your home’s value.
“Of course, you will also benefit from lower energy consumption while living in the property, so it’s an investment worth making if you can,” Mr Short added.
Some cheap upgrades you can make to improve a home’s energy-efficiency include insulating your roof and walls and replacing your light bulbs to LED fixtures.
No outdoor storage – £5,000 saving
A property without a garden shed or any outdoor storage can put off some buyers, but it also leaves room for haggling, according to Mr Short.
“Simply adding outdoor storage such as a quality garden shed is thought to boost the value of a home by around £7,200,” he explained.
“With the cost coming in at around £2,500 for a high-quality shed, that’s a saving of almost £5,000.”
To save even more, consider buying a secondhand shed, or you can bag a good deal at a home store like B&M Bargains for less than £400.
A messy garden – up to £5,000 saving
Mr Short added that an appealing outdoor space is a very important feature for many buyers, particularly since the pandemic.
A messy garden or one that hasn’t been landscaped can look unattractive when you’re viewing, but focus on the potential rather than what it looks like right now.
Landscaping your garden down the line could add £5,000 to your home’s value later.
Getting a garden professionally landscaped will eat into those savings, but doing it yourself doesn’t have to cost much at all.
“For the more ambitious, green fingered first-time buyer, a well landscaped garden can add over £5,000 in value later,” Mr Short said.
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You can pick up bags of stones or paving slabs at the garden centre for around £10 each which can be used to landscape areas of your garden.
Adding a raised bed costs around £200-£300 to DIY yourself, according to website Checkatrade.
