Loan Can be Used to Sell Your House

You’ve heard of thirty-second second elevator pitches, but did you know that 30 seconds is all you have to persuade buyers viewing your home that your property is their perfect nest? Think of it as a 30-second hallway pitch!

Ironically, you don’t need to spend thousands of pounds to turn the hallway pitch into a success.

With just £500 – easily obtainable as a manageable personal loan if you don’t have the cash spare - you can make significant changes that will not only help shift your home in the stagnant housing market, but could add a few thousands pounds more to the asking price.

Remember, you’re in danger of devaluing your property if you don’t present it to its fullest potential.

So armed with your £500 home improvement loan, here is my plan to add value to your home that far exceeds the five hundred quid spent and get it off the market and into the hands of its new owners faster than you can say “where’s the Sixty Minute Makeover team?”

Let's take a walk...

Start by walking through every room of the house.

Note down where improvements can be made then prioritise the work and your budget.

While you won’t be able to afford all of the suggestions below on a £500 budget, many of them are easily affordable.

1. Declutter

Buyers look for space; they need to see that your property has plenty of room to store their own ‘stuff’.

Clear away any clutter – you’re moving anyway so it makes sense to start packing things away now.

Decluttering is free and won’t eat into your valuable £500.

2. Redecorate

With only £500 you need to be prepared to spend a couple of weekends redecorating rooms that look tired.

Hallways receive the most wear and tear so do consider redecorating here.

Light, neutral colours always work best.

3. Bathrooms

Decisions to buy a property are heavily influenced by kitchens and bathrooms.

If the taps in your bathroom look dated then a good investment is to change them to more contemporary designs, many of which can be picked up cheaply on eBay, or even somewhere like B&Q.

Buy a grout pen and freshen up the grout between every tile and repaint the walls if necessary.

New towels and accessories bought from places like ASDA, Matalan or Ikea will instantly give the bathroom a lift.

4. Kitchens

Changing cabinet doors will have the most impact and B&Q are selling cabinet doors at half price this summer so do some investigation to see if this is an option for you.

Otherwise repainting the doors and changing the handles could be an idea.

Replacing the worktop will complete the look but this is likely to take £90+ out of your precious £500.

If the floor is bad, re-tiling with vinyl tiles will upgrade the look. Shop around and you’re bound to find good bargains.


Painting the walls and adding colour coordinated canisters, tea towels and pictures – all available cheaply on the high street from places like Argos, Woolworths or ASDA’s super cheap home section - will go a long way to improving this room.

5. Bedrooms and Storage

Everyone needs good storage in the bedroom so make sure this room is especially neat and tidy with everything stored away.

Put out of season clothes in the loft or store them with friends or family but realise that you may have to use some of your £500 to rent storage space for some months if you have a lot of ‘stuff’.

It’s worth investing in new bedding. Dunelm Mills, Ikea, Matalan and the supermarkets offer attractive bed linen at good prices and you’ll have a fresh new look to take to your new home.

6. Mirrors

Mirrors are great at visually adding space to a room.  Hang one opposite a window to reflect the light and bring the outside in. Hallways are usually the darkest areas of the home so place one here too.

Mirrors can be picked up cheaply from Argos, B&Q, Cargo or why not try your local glass merchant.

7. Curtains and Cushions – bring in colour

Cushions, curtains, artwork and accessories bring colour into a space and repeated use of the same colour always pulls a room together.  Use the same accent colour throughout your home to give it a co-ordinated look.

8. Artwork

Create your own artwork to complement your colour scheme. Buy cheap black frames and plain card to use as the backing mount. Look in your local stationers for greetings cards in your chosen accent colour, photographs of flowers and country scenes always a safe bet.  The frames and the cards don’t have to be the same size, so long as the frames look similar and you’ve carried through a theme with your images and colour you’ll have a smart collection of pictures.