Col McIntyre says a cost effective project to get ready for the sale of your home is to make sure the garden is looking good. Photo: McIntyre Property.
If you’re looking to sell your house, it’s helpful to know where to invest your time and money when it comes to improvements you can make to best present the property to buyers. Col McIntyre from McIntyre Property and Ben Byatt of Monaro Screens share their advice on the most cost-effective ways to add value to your property when selling.
Base your improvements around the time of year when selling
“How much value you can add to your home depends on how much lead up time you have before putting it on the market,” Col says. “If you’re intending to sell in spring, for example, make sure your garden is looking good and you’re pruning at the right time earlier in the year to have plants flowering and looking their best when buyers are viewing.”
Similarly, the season will define what attributes of your house you try to showcase – whether that’s the natural daylight coming in during winter months, or the cooling system for summer.
Focus on easy and cost-effective upgrades
“A very simple and cost-effective upgrade you can make is a fresh coat of paint inside. It’s relatively cheap to repaint your whole home, and even easier to touch up areas that need some extra help,” Col advises.
Similarly, mowing and weeding the lawn, placing new garden bedding and planting a few extra plants to brighten up the garden are easy ways to give buyers a solid first impression.
“Also check out whether your roof needs respraying, clean your gutters, and generally make sure the outside of your house is looking fresh.”
Another simple change that Col suggests is changing all of your light bulbs to brighter ones.
“We often choose energy efficient bulbs for our use when we’re living in a home, but having brighter bulbs for buyers to see your rooms with can help show of your spaces to the best effect.”
Ben Byatt from Monaro Screens says the shower screen is an easy replacement than can make the entire bathroom look newer. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Focus on your wet areas
“You’ve really got to check on the condition of your wet areas – a lot of the homes in our area are now of the age where the wet seal in the wet areas is letting go,” Col says. “So it’s a good idea to get a pre-inspection done in regards to whether there is any water sneaking in behind the tiles and get a reseal done, which is a lot cheaper than redoing your whole bathroom.”
If you do need to make bigger changes, Ben from Monaro Screens says the shower screen is an easy replacement than can make the entire bathroom look newer.
“I think the easiest and most cost-effective upgrades are shower screens and robes,” he says.
He says a new shower screen can be installed from as little as $1000, two or three wardrobe doors replaced for about $800, and a couple of hundred dollars will get some nice new taps. These enhancements can refresh your bathroom without you having to shell out for a full renovation.
If making bigger improvements, don’t go too crazy
When buyers are viewing a property, they need to be able to see themselves in it – so Col advises it’s important that any major renovations focus on neutral, modern styles that are likely to have a broader appeal.
“Your goal is to give the buyer less things to pick on the property for – you don’t want them coming up with a list of reasons not to buy. So if you’re investing in renovating your bathroom or kitchen, remember not to focus on your personal tastes but instead on a design that is appealing to a majority audience.”
Ultimately, it may be worth getting a real estate agent to assess the property prior to listing it, and give you some advice on key areas for improvements.
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