KEY POINTS:
The days of dinner party conversations revolving around the vast sums being made from real estate might be over, but there are still people who want a new home and people who are selling. If you are thinking of putting your house on the market, here are our top 10 tips on how to spend your home improvement dollars wisely.
1. Landscape professionally
This is the one area where enthusiastic DIY is not enough. It's worth investing a few hundred dollars in professional help to give your home more street appeal, improve outdoor living and to create designated service areas, such as wheelie bin storage and clothes-drying spaces. The key is creating a series of outdoor rooms that complement your house.
2. Add outdoor living
A deck large enough to accommodate a table and chairs can transform your home. Create more outdoor rooms by paving another area of the garden, add a lounging spot by slinging a hammock under a shady tree and place a seat in a quiet corner to capture a view or the sunset. Roofing, louvres or shade sails are great ways to extend use when the sun is not out.
3. Paint strategically
Tired paintwork is a major turn-off. At the very least, give your home a thorough wash and repaint the front door (and garage) and windowsills. With any leftover paint give the letterbox a spruce-up. Indoors, freshen the entrance, lounge and master bedroom.
4. Bathroom basics
It's worth squeezing in a second bathroom because so many buyers expect an ensuite off the master bedroom. A space 1m by 3m will give you room for a toilet, shower and compact vanity. Try shaving space off the main bathroom or the next-door bedroom or rearrange the closets.
5. Heart of the home
If your cabinets and layout are fine you probably don't need a full kitchen makeover, just a refurbishment. Upgrade doors (or re-paint), refresh handles, light fittings and taps, and resurface or replace dated benchtops. On upper cabinets, remove the doors, paint the insides a contrasting colour and display your best plates.
6. Window dressing
Window treatments can add style and finish to a room. Banish dated vertical blinds, fussy pelmets and tired nets. Watch for good deals on ready-made roman, roller or venetian blinds. Ready-made sheers on a rod can add texture to a window. If you've got the budget, make full-length curtains. While you're at it, improve the architecture of small or low windows and glass doors by widening the rod and raising it to the ceiling.
7. Flooring
Before you rip up all your floor coverings, get quotes as polishing floorboards can be more expensive than carpeting. Hunt out bargain ends-of-lines in high-quality carpets or vinyls. While you don't want a patchwork, you could make a feature of toning carpets.
8. Green is gold
Buyers are becoming increasingly savvy about features that make a home cheap to run and comfortable year-round. Insulate ceiling, walls and underfloor, install a strategic heat-pump or an efficient wood or pellet burner and point out to buyers the eco-benefits of your home. Add a rainwater tank for the garden and car-cleaning.
9. Garage must-dos
A garage can add thousands to the value of a house, so don't waste this space by using it as a dumping ground. Remove clutter by installing shelving for tools and wall hangers for bikes and big stuff. Replace messy boxes with matching plastic bins or heavy cardboard archive boxes from the stationers.
10. Add storage
You can never have too much storage. Make the most of the space you have by purging ruthlessly. Then double the storage, without chewing up valuable floor space, with wardrobe organisers in bedroom, laundry and hall cupboards. Tidy the clutter from messy shelves and cupboards into neat, matching boxes or baskets.
* Leanne Moore is the editor of Your Home & Garden. For more inspiring renovation ideas, see the issue on sale now.
