Author: If you’re about to put your home on the market, you might want to consider what improvements would help your home stand out from the rest.
Well planned expenditure on improvements can help boost the sale price of your home, but it’s important to make sure that the value of your home isn’t tied up in the land. If it is, any significant money spent could be wasteful.
If you’re looking to enhance the appeal of your home, expenditure will generally fall into two categories:
1.general maintenance
2.structural changes
General maintenance
General maintenance includes things like:
◦repainting
◦landscaping
◦replacing worn fittings on things like water heaters
◦garden improvements
◦fresh paintwork
◦replacing tiles, shower screens, mirrors and tap fittings in bathrooms
Expenditures like these are relatively easy and cost effective and can lift the value of a home, particularly if the results are obvious
Other attractions for potential buyers that require only modest expenditure include:
◦air-conditioning in some or all rooms
◦nice looking paving
◦a lock-up garage
◦reticulation throughout the garden
◦a rainwater tank
◦or well placed data points around the house.
Some more expensive general maintenance that you might consider if your budget allows, would be things like:
◦new bench tops
◦tap fittings
◦splash backs in the kitchen.
Structural change
The other category of expenditure is structural change to the home or major earthworks in the yard.
The key to achieving a higher resale price with structural change is to spend money on work that will increase the number of potential purchasers.
This might include:
◦extensions to the home like additional bedrooms and bathrooms
◦a quality alfresco area
◦the installation of a swimming pool
If you’re consider making structural changes to your home prior to selling, be aware that your selling price may not necessarily cover the cost of major expenditure.
Before commencing major structural change, speak to your local Rodi agent for advice on what improvements are likely to increase the market value of your property.