When the time comes to put any given property on the market as an investor or an occupier looking to move, the importance of getting the best price suddenly hits home…and hard. According to the experts at Albright Dene, comparatively few properties ever go for the kind of price they could have potentially sold for – some of which may have been golden opportunities unfortunately missed.

Now, there will of course always be those rather serious, involved and expensive improvement jobs that can vastly increase the value of a home, though in most cases pose the risk of doing no such thing. As such, the very best approach for the conservative seller is to tap into the various ways and means of increasing the value of the property without taking any such risks or putting any big money on the line.

Too good to be true? Not at all – here’s a quick look at just a few ways it can be done:

1 – Don’t Rebuild, Redecorate

Speak to an agent in your area and ask exactly what the local buyer’s market tends to gun for. If, for example, you find out that multiple bedrooms mean more than anything else, you might want to think about redecorating that study or storeroom as a box room. If your property represents a prime choice for new parents in the area, decorate a smaller room like a nursery. It’s all about finding out what’s important to those looking to buy your home, then making sure you give it to them…or at least give the illusion of what they’re looking for.

2 – Add Outdoor Seating

If you have space outside to designate an area in which to place a quality table, chairs and at least some kind of shelter from the elements, you immediately have yourself what’s technically an al-fresco dining room. You’ll have to do a little better than a few plastic chairs on the lawn, but if you create this additional seating area and functional living space outside, its impact on the property’s overall value could be significant.

3 – Colour Up

Once again in line with the local buyer’s market and current design trends, any home that hasn’t seen the lick of a paintbrush for some time could probably do with a splash of colour. Take for example the kitchen – investing in the highest-quality paint to transform your cabinets could make an incredible difference to the room’s overall aesthetic while at the same time costing exponentially less than new cabinets. Find out what hits home with your desired demographic, then go for it.

4 – Speak to Property Planning Service

There are certain service providers in the UK right now whichspecialise in the field of increasing the value of properties prior to them being sold on. From the smallest of domestic dwellings to large-scale housing blocks, it’s impossible to know the potential your own place has unless you’ve seen it through the eyes of the professionals. Whether it’s adding a minor extension, changing the overall interior floor plan of the place or having the whole building levelled in order to build a brand new structure that could be worth a small fortune, these are the kinds of professionally mapped-out alterations that tend to bring in the big money.

5 – De-Clutter

Find yourself a safe (and ideally free) place you can store pretty much anything and everything that doesn’t play a vital role in your home. The reason being that unless you’re going for that overtly-cosy mountain cabin theme, the more space there is, the better in the eyes of those viewing the place. What you don’t want is to give them the impression that it will be a nightmare to clean the place, or that they won’t be able to move around without banging into a thousand and one things. What’s more, you’re actually trying to make them look at it like it’s their new home they’re visiting, not a home that’s a living breathing extension of you.

6 – Fixtures and Fittings

Last but not least, the kitchen and bathroom will be pivotal when it comes to hitting the highest possible value for your home, but it’s hardly a small-scale venture to refit either. However, you can give both rooms the look and feel of freshly-fitted suites simply by adding a new set of fixtures and fittings. From shiny chrome taps to new door handles to quality towel rails and so on, these are minor investments that have the potential to make it look like you spent the Earth on remodelling your kitchen and/or bathroom.