Renovating your home can be an excellent way to increase its value and make it more appealing to potential buyers. However, not all renovations provide a good return on investment. It’s important to carefully consider how different types of renovations and improvements may impact your Sydney home’s overall valuation.
Renovations That Increase Resale Value
Certain renovations have repeatedly been shown to increase resale value. Focusing your renovation budget on these types of projects can help maximise your home’s selling price.
Kitchen and Bathroom Remodels
Updating and renovating kitchens and bathrooms tend to provide the highest return on investment of any home renovation. The kitchen and bathrooms are among the most used spaces in a home. Outdated or poorly designed kitchens and bathrooms can be major turnoffs to potential buyers. Remodelling these rooms to have a fresh, contemporary style makes the home much more enticing.
Aim for renovations that update fixtures, finishes, and appliances without completely gutting the kitchen or bathroom. Total gut renovations are costly and may exceed the value they add. New countertops, cabinets, sinks, toilets, and lighting fixtures are likely to have the biggest payoff.
Adding Square Footage
Adding more usable living area to a home also consistently returns a high percentage of the investment to the owner. Extra square footage makes the home more valuable to buyers, especially growing families needing more bedrooms or overall space.
Adding a master suite, finishing an attic or basement into liveable space, and adding dormers to expand upper levels are excellent ways to gain square footage. The key is expanding space in ways that flow with the existing layout.
Improving Curb Appeal
A beautiful, welcoming exterior can make an outstanding first impression on buyers. Enhancing curb appeal can come from small upgrades like new exterior lighting fixtures, house numbers, hardware, and landscaping. Even a fresh coat of paint on the front door makes a noticeable impact.
Larger curb appeal projects like paver walkways, stone accents, and new garage doors also add instant aesthetic appeal. The goal is making the home exterior look well-maintained, stylish, and inviting.
Lower-Value Renovations
Certain renovations add less value compared to their upfront cost. These should be carefully considered or avoided if aiming to increase resale value.
Swimming Pools
In-ground pools can cost $30,000 or much more to install. They require considerable maintenance too. Yet pools generally return just 20-30% of their cost at resale. Above-ground pools have an even lower value return.
Pools are also undesirable to families with younger children due to safety concerns. Unless a pool significantly improves your own enjoyment of the home, it may not be a smart investment.
Luxury Upgrades
Ultra high-end finishes like Viking appliances, premium granite countertops, and designer fixtures add little resale value. The new owners may not care for the lavish brand names. The high price paid rarely translates to higher offers from buyers.
Consider more moderately priced upgrades that still offer quality and visual appeal without the luxury price tag. Or opt to keep high-end features but don’t expect to recoup their full cost.
Over-Customization
Personalised renovations that suit your unique tastes can actually deter buyers. Very customised layouts, bold paint colours, and ornate accents don’t allow buyers to imagine the home matching their style.
Keep renovations neutral and timeless. Save the personalization for accent pieces of furniture and art that you can take with you to your next home.
Balancing Updates With Existing Features
It’s important to have renovations complement the existing architecture and layout of your Sydney home. Drastic changes in size or style work against the original home rather than enhancing it.
Focus on a seamless blending of old and new. For example, an extension should match the roofline and siding of the original structure. New windows being added should match other windows in shape and style. Kitchen updates should note elements like existing cabinetry footprints and incorporate them.
Renovating a home is exciting. With strategic planning and design, it can also be a rewarding investment that pays off when you go to sell. Focus on renovations with proven value return, and avoid over-personalising or drastically altering original features. The result will be a welcoming, updated home that maximises market value.