Renovating to sell: You’re doing it wrong

When planning an upgrade to your property before selling, there’s often that dilemma about what to do and how far to go for the best return on your money. From the results I’ve seen, making the right changes to refresh your property and make it “pop” in the eyes of your buyers, is the difference between a quick, top dollar sale and a slow and unprofitable one.

Most “experts” would say that kitchens and bathrooms are the areas you should pour your money in to. I disagree: my view is that when you sell, the priority areas in order of importance are generally:

1. Exterior front

2. Kitchen

3. Interior living spaces

4. Exterior living spaces (depending on location)

5. Bathrooms and the rest of the house

This is not to say bathrooms (and bedrooms, laundry etc) don’t get a look in. They would definitely get some love, but the extent of work done would be less than other experts might typically advise.

I have proven the success of this theory over and over. Think about when you first saw the home you live in now. The first parts of the property you see are the exterior, then the living and kitchen spaces. I believe that these are the areas that provide the first impression and biggest impact.

Following are some ideas on what you might do to create a home that draws the attention of buyers and ultimately sells for well over what you had anticipated.

Think about who your target buyers are. Try to define who these people are and what they want in a house. It could be a secure backyard for young children to play. It might be lots of storage or space for bikes and outside toys for families with teenagers. Does your house tick most of your target markets’ boxes? How many more boxes can you help them tick with some simple changes?

Cosmetic improvements are important, but the practicality of how people live is more important to buyers – believe it or not (this, coming from a very passionate interior/exterior designer).

There are the obvious things you can do like applying a lick of paint – whether that means changing the colours entirely or simply refreshing an already acceptable colour.

What I love to do is to create a significant change in the appearance of a house with only minor actual modifications. If you look on my website there are dozens of examples of what you can do. You often don’t even need to paint an entire house exterior: I’ve transformed houses by changing only the trim colours (windows, window sills, guttering, fascias) and a bit of clever landscaping. Homes don’t always need a total overhaul to look great, it’s just knowing the right “tweaks” that will make the world of difference.

Landscaping is another excellent way to improve your property (and often cheap or free if you know what you’re doing). This could be paring back the yard to make it more streamlined and low maintenance, or it could be to add some new plants and even turf to give the house a more finished and established look from the street.

My suggestion is to carefully assess what parts of your property would benefit most from an upgrade – before you start on anything. Ask real estate agents or research what the qualities are of the properties that sell quickest and for the most money in your suburb.

And be sure to have a look at my website for plenty more examples of home overhauls from people who have successfully renovated and sold their homes more quickly and for more money than if they’d “run with the herd”.

Jane Eyles-Bennett is renovation mad and has been a professional designer for 23 years. She was a renovation designer on the TV series Property Climbers, winner of several interior design awards and design consultant to over 600 property owners in the past nine years.

Have a renovation or design question? Contact Jane at jane@hotspaceconsultants.com or via her website.