What is it that we like to do every spring? Many people till up some ground, remove the weeds, add a little fertilizer, plant the seeds and wait for them to sprout and grow. Here’s how it works. Real estate investing is like planting a garden. We find a good location and eliminate the properties that do not fit our plan. We locate properties that are promising and begin the process of assessment and negotiation.

I have found that creating what I call my “Real Estate Garden Book” helps me keep track of the properties I am watching or considering as I cultivate the deals just like cultivating sprouting seeds in a garden. Determine the outcome for the property. Will it be a wholesale property, a buy, rehab and sell property, or a property that would be a rental? Create a Garden Book for each category of properties you are considering. Snap a quick photo with a digital or camera phone . I download it to your computer and add the photo to a data page. MLS listings already have a photo and basic information on the listing sheet. So simply copy this sheet and include it in your book

For MLS listings ,keep track of the list price, changes, if it goes off the market and why, number of days on the market, etc. Your agent should be able to assist you with information on the listing history of the property. Include information on comps in the area. What are rental rates in the area? Ask your agent to assist you with these. Look up the county records , copy the information and add it to the materials. This should give me the current owners address and basic information on the property.

Check with Code Enforcement for any outstanding violations. Include a page to notes on the property from the initial observation and then from any conversations with the owner or agent and later from visits you may make to the property. Give each property a rating. High, medium, low. Color code each rating with different color highlighters to designate each property.

Some of the properties will be purchased by other buyers or removed from the market by the owner. You will eventually weed out more of the properties in your book…and what will be remaining will be the cream of the crop. What we are trying to accomplish is to find the best property with the most potential for creating a profit or long term return on our investment.

The chances are if you own your own home that you will have done some kind of home improvement or have thought about doing some. You may either do it yourself or get in a professional, either way it would have considered the reasons for improving your home carefully. Maybe you have just moved in and you want to put your mark on the house or you just simply want a refreshed style. You may have had a child move out and you are redecorating or you just want to add value to your properties value. The latter being an increasingly important consideration these days

In any case you probably have limited time and / or resources and so choosing the projects that re going to make the most impact are very important decisions. We have explored the top three rooms to improve in a home in the UK to give you an idea of how it can affect your home in terms of its value.

1) Build a conservatory (7%)

Granted this is a big job to get done. However, it can tick a lot of the home improvement boxes. It adds around 7% of the value of your home and adds vital living space. This is a great option if you cant afford a full blown extension but have a requirement for more space like having a family and out growing the existing space.

2) Update the kitchen (5%)

Most home owners spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Updating it can add around 5% to the homes value and will lead to a much nicer experience at home. You can even use the same units and renew the doors and worktops and appliances to give your kitchen a completely new look. You may also want to consider adding new kitchen wall tiles and floor tiles as this can add real impact to a kitchen. Don’t forget lighting too!

3) Update the bathrooms (3%)

Another room which gets a lot of use and can add great value to your home is updating a bathroom. For a relatively small investment you can add a significant amount to the value of the property. Also it will just be so much nicer to have a lovely bath or shower you can spend lots of time in. Again, tiling in a bathroom in paramount to it finish. Using quality bathroom tiles is a must here and get some good fixtures such as taps as it can really dress up a bathroom.