We all know that we have to do a bit extra work on our investment to get it up to scratch and make it appealing to Mr and Mrs Buyer. Remember, rather than spending less, they will be looking to spend the same, but get a bit more quality with their purchasing dollar. This pushes up the price on mid-quality homes - so we go for the low quality homes and fix them up, right?

We make them more attractive to the market and in fact we make them into those mid-quality homes that are now commanding a fair price. So how exactly do we do this? We have to renovate more seriously.

One good way to do this is to look at the layout. Many times the layout can be modified to enhance the visual appeal of a room or even the whole house. You may be able to add an en suite to the master bedroom. That will jump your value up tremendously compared to what you spend. Some master bedrooms do have enough room in them to fit a new en suite, but in many cases you may only need to close one door off and put another one into a different wall to make the general bathroom into the en suite. Look for another area that can be used for a family bathroom, or there may be two bathrooms in the house already.

Try replacing a blank wall with picture windows. This could open up the home to a view that people may not have realized was there. Look for original cladding. Restored to pristine condition, it may give the home value that was previously never thought of. Another great move is to use garage space for an extra room - a family room or an extra bedroom perhaps. Install a carport to replace it, or if it's a two-or-more car garage, use half for the extra room and keep the rest for the car.

You may be able to add a deck out the back, with sliding glass doors onto it from the house. Or maybe the house would have better curb appeal if you pulled down that filled-in front porch. If the bedrooms are small, you may be able to make them look bigger with the addition of mirrored doors on the built-ins, or by enlarging the windows.

The yard is another area where major improvements can increase the value. You don't have to be a gardening expert. There are plenty of D.I.Y. gardening magazines around. Simply find a garden of a similar size and climate to yours in one of them and copy it.

These are the kinds of things to look at when you want to add lots of value to bump up your price.