Here’s a fun fact: “there are hundreds of ways – you as a homeowner – unknowingly decreasing your property values in Pakistan.” Here are seven things at your home that lessen your property’s worth and make it less authentic to the buyer’s eyes. 

Your Property Location

Honestly, you can’t do much about that in Pakistan. Location is a factor that can swing in two ways. Most of the time, the overall location factor works in favor of the sellers as the land’s value commonly appreciates and hardly goes down in worth. Due to this, a land factor, if it appreciates, provides more buyers and a significant capital on sale.  

On the other hand, due to instability of different factors, such as poor roads, bad sewage systems, unavailability of electricity or gas, and whatnot (mainly in Karachi), contributes to the depreciation of land rates. Moreover, no one wants a lifestyle stinking with ten days old rainwater and affected by open manholes.  

Therefore, people with capital do not prefer to live in such areas for obvious reasons. A study published by the Research Institute for Housing America, which can be used in the context of Pakistan, suggested that: 

1% decrease in population reduced housing prices up to 4% over a period of 3 years. 

Neighborhood Conditions

Guess what a potential buyer will notice first when you call him to book a visit to your house? It is your neighborhood. A good and friendly community can relish buyers’ moods and make them feel secure and coolheaded. 

But suppose things went other ways, and the first thing they notice is foreclosures, considerable crime rates, nosy people, noise pollution, or landfills. In that case, they might change their mind, even before evaluating the property values of your house. 

The crux is a friendly and secured ‘neighborhood’ plays a vital role in improving your property’s worth. And in other cases, it devalues your home substantially.

Proximity to Certain Infrastructures

Facilities such as graveyards, bad-reputed schools, jails, cemeteries, funeral homes, power plant factories, shooting ranges, strip clubs, whiskey corners, bars, and old-age shelters, prove to be a poor indicator during the home auction in Pakistan. 

Some of the aforementioned facilities are debatable, but according to various public opinions and poll results, such things negatively influence buyers’ perceptions about a property. According to research: 

Having a bad school in a neighborhood increases 22.2% of unacceptability rate about property among citizens.

House Interior And Exteriors

A lousy house’s aesthetics and irregular curb designs can really turn off buyers and push them to reconsider their choices during property decisions. When someone makes a purchase, especially while property investments, they want to have a fully furnished house updated with ultra-modern facilities and designs rather than an old-fashioned piece that requires day-to-day remodeling. 

That’s why houses with clean, exquisite looks tend to sell at a higher price than their counterparts. Yes, location and facilities also matter, but there’s an old saying: visibility is the key to success (جو دکھتا ہے وہ بکتا ہے).

Moreover, if the house’s interior is less-cluttered and made with future integrations, then it definitely locks the eyes of the beholder. Similarly, spacious bathrooms, an American-styled kitchen (sounds cliche? I know, but it still works!), tiled flooring, well-maintained walls, proofing from seepages, ventilated rooms, and hallways can drastically improve the property values in Pakistan. 

A Lot of Repair Works

A significant number of repair works often devalue property big time. These small changes, such as degraded door locks, impaired light switches, freed gas knobs, damaged washrooms flushes, and others, when combined, cause a hectic budget to grow and pop up in front of new owners. 

These small and petty issues need to be figured out quickly as they emerge. Proper planning of taking care of homes bars sellers from embarrassing or derogatory remarks from visitors and relatives. And most importantly, when putting yourself in place of someone who has just taken over a house with lists of fixation, you can realize the pain and agony of doing all the repair works in your new home. 

The behavior of not maintaining a home cause a significant amount on the pocket and saves the owner from a lot of headaches. 

Obsessive Possessions/ Personlization

Your collectibles, favorite artifacts, toys, or other nostalgic or sentimental belongings are personal to you but not your buyers. Thinking that making your home cluttered with things will make it more likable in buyers’ eyes is totally wrong and devalues property. 

Everyone has their way of perceiving things. The best bet would be to clean and move your possessions away from the buyer’s eyes as much as possible and provide them with a clean viewpoint of your home. This way, they get a holistic, more professional, and personal version of their future house. 

Paint Quality

Paint quality is a major contributing factor to a property’s value and is directly associated with the house’s aesthetics. Walls with favorable paints, wood with realistic textures, and an exterior with weather-resistant pigments can significantly enhance the buyer’s perspective of the house. 

Moreover, paints freshen the house’s outlook and make it more pleasing to the eyes. It’s good to use colors likable by the majority of people because it uplifts the house value for a larger audience. Research shows people’s favorite colors are:

• Gray
• White 
• Cream
• Beige
• Blue

Property Values – What’s The Next Step?

Property values suffer from a plethora of factors, including location, neighborhood conditions, house aesthetics, and more. To increase the worth of the property, it’s better to correct the problems (mentioned earlier) in your property. Once you’re done with the changes, you will need a reliable real estate agency to make your listing visible to hundreds of people.