Category: Renovation

A “Spring Clean” can put more dollars in your pocket!

So, you are thinking that it is time for a change, and you are ready to sell your home or buy a new one and keep your existing home as an investment property? Here are a few handy hints that won’t necessarily cost a fortune, but will certainly have an impact on your sale price or rental return!

Hint 1: Street appeal – If you stood on your front footpath and looked at your property, would you feel inspired to go inside? First impressions count, and once you have the property advertised on the internet, a lot of buyers or tenants will do a drive by first to check the location and fine tune their list of properties they actually want to book appointments to inspect. Sometimes it is as simple as mowing, watering and fertilising the grass, lightly trimming the trees or plants, mulching the gardens and replacing a few plants or planting some flowers to freshen and brighten the place up.

Hint 2: De-clutter – Remove any excess furniture, toys or decorative items that may make the rooms feel small. It is amazing what clean surfaces and minimal furniture and items can do to the feel of the room! Personal photos where possible should also be removed – the people inspecting need to be able to start picturing themselves in the home, not feel like they are intruding in your life. If you have teenagers, this will be the hard one… clothes need to be put away in the wardrobe, not left strewn all over the floor and furniture! Perfect time to clean out the wardrobe and give your clothes away to a charity.

Hint 3: Painting – It may only be a room or two, or it could be the whole house, but if the paint is scratched and dingy, or multi coloured, a fresh coat of a neutral colour will do wonders.

Hint 4: Flooring – Sometimes a steam clean of the carpets is all that is needed if they are still in good enough condition. But if the carpet or vinyl is really old, worn and torn, tiles are cracked or floorboards are scratched and dull, replacement or re-polishing may be the only option. If you have to go the whole hog, stick once again to neutral tones; but not too light (marks easily) or too dark (rooms will shrink!) for flooring choices.

Hint 5: Keep it clean – Once you have gone to all this effort, maintenance is now the key to keep it looking fresh and clean. Keep kitchen benches clear and clean, and wash up before you leave the house each day. Make the beds, straighten the lounge and dining room, tidy up the bathroom, and dirty clothes belong in the laundry! You will be surprised at how much a difference it makes. Before Open Homes or booked inspections, open the blinds and curtains, turn on the lights, and make sure the property smells fresh, clean and inviting.

If you think this all sounds good, but are still a bit stuck on where to start and what needs to be done, just give me a call and I can come out and walk you through what you can do to optimise your sale price or rental return!

Call Rebecca Herbst on 0417 644 840 or email rebecca.herbst@century21.com.au

Renovate or Detonate? Or Leave it as it is??

When you are considering putting your home on the market for sale, renovating can be a good way to increase the value of the home – but it is not a golden ticket – and it can come with pitfalls along the way!

The first step, is to have an appraisal of the property done to see what price range it currently sits in, as it is, and also check your land value. If you use a good, local, knowledgeable real estate agent, they should also be able to give you suggestions of what improvements will increase the end sales price, or whether there is a stronger sales market for properties that need renovation rather than already renovated homes in the area. There is no point spending money on making improvements, if the changes do not add tangible value or increase the likelihood of a faster sale. It is also beneficial to ask the agent to have provide examples of recent sales of similar properties that have already been renovated to get good researched comparisons. You may be surprised to know that we have a stronger demand in most cases for un-renovated property!

The second step after this research, is to consider what is necessary, and work out an estimate for the cost of the improvements. Of course the more work you can do yourself, the less it will cost, and jobs like cleaning, basic gardening, minor maintenance and painting touch ups done to a good standard are simple and easy. Just remember to leave any electrical or plumbing jobs etc to the experts!

In dealing with all types of properties every day, we have found that the type of renovations that are the most cost effective and have the greatest impact, are repainting internally and new floor coverings. These items instantly affect the appeal of the property and give the feeling that the new purchaser can move straight on in or rent it straight out. Remember to keep the colours neutral though. While bathrooms and kitchens are the next most renovated features, they are also the more big ticket items that will cost you more money and time, plus being very personal changes. What you think is beautiful, appealing and a suitable layout may not be consider so by the potential buyer. So think long and hard as to whether the renovation is worth doing and generically appealing, or whether you are better pricing the property a little lower taking into account that you know these bigger renovations will need to be done by the new owner.

So now you know what your home is worth as it is, what work you can do, and what it will cost to improve it. Once you add these figures together, is the total amount less than what similar renovated homes sell for in the area? Would you be on track to make a profit when you sold, or would the improvements end up with you over capitalising on your investment?

Don’t forget to take into account the time the renovations will also take to be completed, and the occasional headache of poor quality work or unreliable tradespeople. Time can also cost you money, with additional mortgage repayments or time off work.

So the best advice is always to do your research first and talk to the experts!

Let me know if I can help! Call Rebecca Herbst on 0417 644 840 or email rebecca.herbst@century21.com.au

What is a Hotspot??

A common “buzzword” in real estate, hotspots are areas where property values are predicted to next experience significant capital growth. While it is impossible to pinpoint exactly where and by how much the increase will be, there are some key indicators that investors or real estate savvy home buyers should look out for. Keep in mind that if it is already being called a “Hotspot” in the media you might be a little late for the best capital growth as prices would have already started increasing!

So what are some key indicators? Are neighbouring areas currently experiencing good capital growth? What is known as the “ripple effect”, buyers tend to move a suburb further out than where they would like to live when they are struggling to find or afford a property in their chosen suburb. This causes a ripple like effect to pricing in a circumference out from that neighbourhood. Are prices lower in the suburb compared to other surrounding suburbs? Make sure you check that there is no obvious reason for the more affordable prices eg. New industrial development under construction. Is demand starting to exceed the supply and are “days on market” becoming shorter? Are you starting to see properties just listed for sale selling straight away or find out all offers on the properties for sale are becoming multiple offer situations. Are there positive developments happening in the area? Proposed transport developments often increase prices. Will it be quicker to get to the CBD? Are there road transport links under construction? Other positive developments can be new shopping precincts or schools undergoing improvements to their facilities. Are there a lot of older run down properties undergoing renovations, increasing the caliber of the housing in the area? We are not talking just one or two homes in a whole suburb.

I’m sure everyone has heard the adage “buy the worst home in the best street” When you can start to see a trend of general improvement in the area and you are not scared to do some basic renovations, this can be the best way to achieve fantastic capital growth from your initial outlay. Finding the next “Hotspot” location is only one thing to keep in mind if you are looking to use real estate investment for good capital growth or some quick cash “flipping” property. Don’t forget to do research around what style of home or configuration is in demand in the general location, and don’t get carried away on your speculating and pay too much. If you can see there will be significant renovations required, make sure you have a Building & Pest inspection, and it may be a good idea to get a quote of the work required to make sure you will not be overcapitalising once the work is complete.

Want to chat about the Ipswich real estate market? Please call me, Rebecca Herbst on 0417 644 840 or email rebecca.herbst@century21.com.au