If you have a new baby in the house you can quickly realise that your once spacious home can start to feel a bit cramped. As your little ones get older – and once your new baby starts traversing the house on two legs – you may find that it will start to feel even smaller!
You may want to consider making some home improvements that will increase your living space and ideally add value to your investment, so that when and if the day comes that you decide to move into a larger house you can fetch a higher price on the real estate market. You have a few big decisions to make – should you go for a loft conversion or simply add a conservatory into your back garden?
Both will add value and space, but the conservatory is a great idea for young families – it will allow you to play with your kids in a lovely indoor/outdoor space – and this study from Zopa states that conservatories are often the best investment, offering an ROI of 108%. On the other hand, a loft conversion (though really pricey) can add a lot of interesting and usable indoor space, perfect for your kids when they get a bit older, or maybe as a guest suite for any visiting family members. You might even consider adding both – although this would be a hefty investment, it might be the best thing that you can do for your house. Decisions, decisions!
You may also want to think about how you will pay for all of this – there are a few options that anybody has when it comes to home renovations.
· Savings – In an ideal world we would all save like madmen and accrue all of the money needed for all purchases in advance! But this isn’t an ideal world – and many people struggle to save all of the money necessary in advance.
· Credit – Whether they decide to use credit cards, a line of credit or other loans, most people choose to finance their home renovations with credit. If you choose this option you should be try to use a new card that has a zero interest rate on new purchases or offers a free balance transfer. Even better? Choose a credit card that offers rewards or point on a purchase – on this large expenditure you will certainly earn some goodies. Remember to check your credit report at https://www.experian.co.uk/ in advance – you don’t want to go through all the trouble of planning for your renovations only to find out you have a problem with your credit score.
· Mortgage – A slightly riskier option is to go with a re-mortgaging. If you are planning to add value to your home, your bank may be excited to restructure or add value to your existing mortgage, allowing you to borrow the amount of money you need for your plans.
Any suggestions or questions? Leave them in the comments below.
Some good bits of advice and my one issue with our flat is storage space, we need to do something about it x
As a interior designer I personally suffer from no space as my flat is tiny and financial problems. I think saving are best option but sometimes impossible 🙁 Great post!