Discussion Title: Making the most of your spare room

When it comes to selling your home, it’s important to make use of your whole property. That includes the frequently overlooked spare room. Most households have one and they are most often used as home offices or as makeshift storage space. It is, though, all too commonly seen as a room with little actual use, an anonymous space that lacks identity or character. Yes, the spare room will often be the smallest room in your house and you might be struggling to see how it could have any real appeal compared to, say, the kitchen, bathroom or master bedroom. But it shouldn’t feel like a room that is shut off from the world – out of bounds and unloved. With a little bit of thought and innovation, it can be transformed into anything you want it to be. We set out some possible uses below. A home office This is a popular choice for many spare rooms. If you are looking to sell to people who are likely to work from home, this will be an even more important consideration. It could also be used as somewhere for the kids to do their homework or a place for students to complete essays and dissertations. It doesn’t take much to turn a spare room into a comfortable and relaxed working environment – purchase a small desk, put up a shelf where books and files can be kept, add in an office chair and ensure there is plenty of space for a laptop or desktop computer. If you shop around, you can buy office desks and chairs for a reasonable price and the shelf won’t take much time or money to put up either. A playroom A definite consideration if your target demographic is families with young children. They are likely to have plenty of toys that take up a lot of space. Creating a kid-friendly, toy-friendly playroom will give the spare room a purpose and will give buyers a firm idea of how the room could look if they moved in. If you as a seller have young children, use their toys to highlight how the room would work. This will make it much easier for buyers to visualise the potential of a playroom. Home Gym This, too, is becoming an increasingly popular use for the spare room. Young professionals, keen to keep in good shape, will probably find this most appealing. This doesn’t mean you have to kit the room out with state-of-the-art, hugely expensive equipment, though. You can be inventive and keep the costs down at the same time. An exercise mat and a few dumbbells will give the room identity, while second hand exercise bikes and other smaller pieces of gym equipment can be sourced online for reasonable prices. An extra bedroom Perhaps the most obvious choice, but it has become even more attractive with the recent announcement in the Budget that the tax-free Rent-A-Room limit has been increased from £4,250 to £7,500. George Osborne’s latest proposal means that homeowners letting a room to lodgers will benefit from even greater tax reliefs. Turning your spare room into a bedroom – a quick lick of paint, a bed, a chest of drawers/wardrobe and, depending on the size of it, a desk and office chair – will add further weight to your sales pitch. Make sure that they know that letting out the extra bedroom could bring them in a very handy second income. Again, shopping around, upcycling and asking around for stuff from friends and family will help you convert the room in a cost-effective way. For more advice on buying and selling property in Brighton, Hove and the surrounding areas, please get in touch with Mishon Mackay on 01273 416732. As part of our service we offer an instant online valuation to give you an accurate estimation of your property’s value in our current local marketplace. https://www.mishonmackay.com/news/2015/08/making-the-most-of-your-spare-room/