Custom Home Builders UK Magazine

Industry News for Builders, Removals & Carpet Cleaning!

Do Clean Carpets Add Property Value?

The great debate…

Does spending the money on professionally cleaning your carpets before you put your property up for sale impact the bottom line number that you will sell for. It doesn’t matter if you are up-sizing or downsizing your home. It’s important to maximise the sale price of your property.

So does a professional clean help your property get sold?

Clean Carpets Add to the Bottom Line

Think about it for a moment. If you were to personally go into a property you were thinking of purchasing. You are hit with the fresh smell just like when you bought that first new car. Psychologically you get a good felling. But what happens if you see dirty carpets that need to be cleaned? Well without you even knowing it your brain is going to automatically but up a defense barrier and you will start to think about the costs involved with cleaning the property before you move in. And what else will you start to question that the property owner is hiding that needs to be repaired.

So you see it’s very simple. It better to get your carpets cleaner before you plan on selling your property.

How Much Value Do Clean Carpets Add?

Well that depends on various factors but to get a proper answer we actually had a chat to Paul the owner of Clean Victoria. Paul’s focus on carpet cleaning in Newcastle. He has been in the trade for a long time. In the last year he decided to start up Clean Victoria and go out on his own.

When we asked Paul about how much value clean carpets adds his response was more than positive. The paraphrase Paul basically said “I’ve seen a handful of properties that have been sold after I did the carpet cleaning. I’ve also spoken to local estate agents in the area as they get me to come in to do the carpets a day or two before the first property viewing takes place so that fresh smell is lingering when the viewing starts. From what I understand clean carpets can add a good £5,000 to the property price”.

Before and after carpet cleaning example.

So there you have it. Paul says it’s worth it. Take a look at the photo above also. You can clearly see how much of a dramatic difference a clean carpet has. It fells like the carpet is once again ‘alive’ compared to the dull dark and gloomy carpet that has not been cleaned.

The Verdict

Is it worth it to get your carpers cleaned by a professional before selling your property. It sure is! If you add even £2,000 to your selling price and you spend only £200 on a professional clean then you are look at a 10x ROI. If you do manage to pull in £5,000 extra on the sale price with freshly cleaned carpets than that’s an 25x ROI.

So the bottom line is get your carpets cleaned. This is very similar to situation we knew that took place with a property sale in USA. The property sale was in a not so ‘affluent’ area. The owner decided to spend about $2,000 on renting higher end cars worth $70,000 to $100,000 and this resulted in his property being sold for about $25,000 more than teh average market price. A worth while investment!

 

Business Spotlight: Interview with We Move and Clean

Custom Home Builders UK Magazine were fortunate enough to get an interview with Lucas the owner of We Move and Clean based out of Swindon.

Lucas is based in Swindon and focuses on removals in Swindon. But his company does anything and everything to do with removals and cleaning. As when you hire them they can show up at a property. Pack everything up. Clean the entire property out and then move everything into the new property.

This interview lines up perfectly with our magazines agenda as Lucas has seen and done it all. He has watched people damage their properties when moving out and this has ended up resulting the the amount the property was sold for adjusted as contractors has to come in to fix the damages.

The interview that we managed to secured with him had to be cut short so it’s not as long as we hoped but that being said he gives some great insight into how deal with moving the contents of a property with damaging anything.

CHBUK Magazine: Lucas, thanks for being with us today. And we understand you only have about five minutes today so we will remember to be very to the point!

Lucas: My pleasure! I’m more than happy to be here.

CHBUK Magazine Magazine: So Lucas today we would like to speak to you about how to move from one property to another. Many of our readers will find your insight helpful regarding this topic if they were to do the move themselves.

Lucas: That sounds excellent. What the first question?

CHBUK Magazine: If you were able to give piece of advice for moving a property what would it be?

Lucas: Good job at putting me right on the spot for the first question!

I would have to say that you want to protect everything. Look at the end of the day you are going to be moving furniture, electronics and all other types of things though door ways and into a truck. You have the potential to damage the property doing this and when you transport everything to the new property things can get damaged in the move also.

So get everything protected. That means using moving blankets where possible. Covering big furniture and boxing up anything that is small.

CHBUK Magazine: That makes perfect sense. When we moved into our offices we saw the movers using special branded protection material. Do you do the same when you move clients homes and businesses?

Lucas: Yes, we do the same thing. In fact we have maybe 500 different shapes and sizes to cover any possible situation. When it comes to moving clients homes that we pack don’t just use typical moving boxes. We actually use plastic crates.

CHBUK Magazine: Why is that? What is wrong with boxes?

Lucas: Nothing is wrong with boxes and for the average person that is fine. But as a business we would spend thousands upon thousands of pounds each year on new boxes that the clients would then keep. We used to do this. Until we moved into plastic packing crates. They are inexpensive and last for years. We also rent these out.

CHBUK Magazine: You’re the expect so we can’t disagree! Can you provide some advice on how to deal with moving wardrobes? As packing every item individually into boxes would be very tedious.

Lucas: Sure thing. This is actually a question that I get asked by clients all the time also. We recommend you don’t deal with items individually. The best solution is actually a wardrobe box. So this box is like a normal box but there is a metal rod at the top. You can literally take your clothes from the cupboard, put them into the wardrobe box and then once you have moved to the new property you can put them strait back into the cupboard. Simple right?

CHBUK Magazine: That actually makes perfect sense. Now the next questions is…

Lucas: I’ll have to cut you off there. As we discussed I might have to cut the interview short as an important call is coming in.

CHBUK Magazine: Not a problem Lucas. We appreciate your time and we can get part two of the interview scheduled in the future.

Lucas: Sounds great, bye for now.

So there you have it. Short and sweet. An interview with Lucas of We Move and Clean in Swindon. We hope these tips will help you prevent any damages during moving properties.

How To Find A Good Plumber

Good plumbing is a vital part of property renovation.

Do you hear the pipes shaking when you turn off the water. This is called ‘water hammer’. Is the pressure not strong enough when you turn on the tap or take a shower. A plumber needs to get this fixed. How about the water being either to hot or to hold when you take a shower. This is also something that a plumber needs to fix if you didn’t solve the problem by adjusting your thermostat.

Today we are going to explore how to find a good plumber and more importantly how to avoid a bad one!

Tip #1: Make Sure the Plumber is Licensed

Simple right? But you’d be surprised how many people don’t check this! An easy way to check is to go to ciphe.org.uk and search for the plumbing company that you are hiring. Or just ask to see the plumbers certification card. In the UK every plumber is required to have one. They may not keep it with them at all times so just ask them plumber who will be coming to your property to being it along when they come for the site visit.

Tip #2: Read Reviews

Get online and Google the plumber that you are planning to hire. There are many sites that cover the entire globe such as Google listing businesses in their online maps. You can read reviews there. More specific to the UK is Yell and even more specific to the trades industry is Checkatrade.com. A UK based company that does the leg work for you by actually contacting people who leave reviews for companies on their site to verify the reviews is truthful.

If you find a plumber that has positive reviews and a good number of them on Google, Yell and Checkatrade. Then you should be in good hands that you’ve found a reputable plumber who will do a good job.

Tip #3: Ask Questions

One of the best way to vet a plumber is to ask basic questions. Now we won’t give you specifics here as the amount of questions are endless. But Google your problem and find out the basic idea behind fixing the issue. Then when you speak to a plumber and ask specific question they will see you as educated and you will more then likely get a great service. Plus they will not be able to overcharge.

You will also know very fast if the plumber is experienced in the work that you need completed as you will know the answers they should be giving your form the research.

Tip #4: Get at least Three Quotes

Some plumbers do any kind of work. Other plumbers only do (or like) certain type of work. If you get the later with the plumber you found and you don’t have work for them that is what they generally look for they may charge you double or more. This is a common tactic in business overall all to set a barrier of entry for work a company doesn’t want. And if the person says yes to an absurd price then the plumber is happy to take on the work as they will make double or tipple.

So if you get a handful of quotes you will  know what the correct market rate is for the work that you need completed.

Tip #5: Use A ‘Flat Fee’ Plumber

There are two types of tradesmen and plumbers in general. Those who charge by the hour and provide an estimated rate. And those who quote a flat fee for the work.

It is always best to find a plumber who will provide a flat rate for the work they are looking to have completed. This way you will know what your cost is at the end of the day of the day and there will be no surprises costing you more.

Tip #6: Get a Referral

This should really be tip #1. Get referrals. If you have a friend who has been using the same plumber in your area for a few years and they are happy to keep going back then you can bypass everything that you need to investigate that we are mentioning here today.

Of course you will want to do some basic research before pulling the trigger and paying the plumber. But getting a referral from a friend holds a lot of weight!

To expand on this point. If you have had work done by another tradesman then why not ask them for a referral? The trades industry is very word of mouth focused. Tradesman often help each other out with passing on business this way and think about the logic for a moment. Do you think someone would risk referring you to a bad plumber? No way! As then you won’t come back to them for the work you need them to complete in the future.

That is is for our finding a plumber article for today! We hope you found this helpful and end up finding the right plumber for your job.