Don’t Cater For Your Own Taste When Developing Property

Written by The Landlord on 10 Jan 2007

The single biggest mistake most amateur property developers make is catering for their own personal extravagant taste when developing a property. For those that are also a avid fan of Sarah Beeny’s Property Ladder, will know this problem all too well. As a lot of the developers get lost in their own taste, and consequently sabotage their profits. I know I’m not the only one shouting at the TV with my hands covering my eyes.

As a rule of thumb, developers need to remember that will NOT be them living in this property. Property development is a business project, and nothing else.

Most homebuyers don’t want to purchase property that will need a full makeover, so it’s important to offer a property that is easy to work with.

As soon as developers start catering for their own taste, they run the risk of essentially limiting the market.

The whole point of property investment is to walk away with maximized profits, so every developer needs to be sensible when it comes to layout and decoration.

Basic tips for property development:

1] Set a realistic budget, and stick to it. It’s important that you start off with realistic figures, and remain strict. It’s ridiculously easy to let your spending habits take over, especially when you start catering for your own taste.

2] Keep the colour scheme neutral throughout the house; keep your personal obsession with the colour pink out of the project. This way you’ll appeal to the majority of the market, and not just someone with a similar taste to yours.

3] Give the impression of space with light colours, and allow for plenty of natural light to enter the house.

4] Remain consistent throughout the house, in regards to colours and style. Buyers can easily be put off by inconsistent, chop and match jobs.

4] Spend money on quality kitchen/bathroom fittings, and not on useless props like state of the art radiators. Kitchens and bathrooms sell houses, radiators rarely do.

5] If you plan on doing work in the garden, keep it simple and healthy looking. Don’t make the maintenance of the garden look like hard work. Usually keeping the grass looking fresh, the patio uncluttered, and healthy growing plants/trees does the trick.

6] Remember, this is a business project- unnecessary spending will reflect on your overall profit margin.

0 Comments, Be The First