10 Most Effective Ways To Add Equity To Your Home

Owning a home, whether a free-standing house, townhouse or apartment, places us in the perfect position to close the gap on the current value and opportunistic future value before even considering whether selling now is a focus; that is of course if adding equity to your home so you have greater options matters to you….

The bottomline is that we need not all be interior designers nor have deep pockets, all that matters is identifying What, How, When and Why. What matters most is whether we are interested in learning and then what we do with that information.

This doesn’t mean you need to sell. It does mean you now have options and however required, may apply these to your changing circumstances. As the saying goes:

“Circumstances do not make a person, they reveal them”

There is afterall a huge difference between cost and price, otherwise termed the ‘Cost of Inaction’, that being the amount of money we missed out on because we didn’t take the steps required to add value when we had the chance.

Following are 10 Simple Steps to Add Equity to Your Home:

1. Expert Advice
2. Focus Feature
3. Garden Design
4. Kitchen Upgrade
5. Bathroom Comfort
6. Light and Flow
7. Granny Flat potential
8. Fresh Paint
9. Storage
10. Entertainment Space

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1. Expert Advice

Before doing anything, I highly recommend having your appraised for it’s current value. Why ? A point of reference. The whole purpose of adding value is knowing/ measuring what you are adding value from.

As a qualified interior designer, business mentor and sales agent; measurement is everything and must align to values, budget, accountability and guidance. It is more common that when we assume to know everything that we over-capitalise or under-estimate a markets needs.

Call or message anytime and I will happily assist.?

2. Focus Feature

Please forget the feature wall….no more single wall faces in green, blue, yellow or charcoal. If you are looking to accentuate, consistency matters; timbers, texture, colour or shade for an entire area with contrasting design which help direct the eyes up, forward or around corners depending on the purpose.

Always bear in mind ‘Why’ (for what purpose) is the priority question. If it cannot be answered in detail and provide a financial, emotional and comfortable outcome, then it is not worth doing.

Every room inside and out has this opportunity; whether a well placed plant for the serious budget conscious, to vertical gardens, framing, raised curtain rails, revised lighting placement, opening spaces by removing walls, doors or window sizes. Bringing the outside/ in and having a focal point will dramatically increase the appeal and value of your home.

3. Garden Design

A mature, manicured garden with established shade trees, layered presence and scented blossoms (large or small) is not only attractive, it also draws the visitor into a comfortable space where they feel relaxed, cooler (including on hot days – plants reduce temperatures) and cleans the air (plants are natural air-cleaners/ purifiers).

It also need not cost a fortune nor require a large space. Whatever you have available can always be made to work to your advantage.?

4. Kitchen Upgrade

Kitchens and bathrooms are two rooms where money is made or lost. Think of them in the business sense as “Money is made or lost through People, Promotion or Profit”, in real estate this means the agent, the marketing, the asking price. Therefore knowing your market is essential, and whilst you may not choose to sell right now, having a view toward who else your home would suit will save you future costs, time and focus. For the budget minded, the smallest amendments need to include:

• Modern appliances
• Fresh paint
• Updated doors & door handles (consider removing the door to open the space and paint the inside of the framing in a matt charcoal depending on the flow)
• Add soft downlights, remove fluorescents and for benchtops, consider a pendant droplight for visual appeal
• Replace old benchtops (consider either a Caesarstone waterfall or solid timber frame to create a sense of quality and style)
• Retile, regrout or repair floorboards (consider large tiles or herringbone design)
• Maximise your storage and bench space
• Wherever possible, design or redesign your kitchen to create flow from the preparation space to conversation space, whether indoor or outdoor dining/ living (home size dependent)

5. Bathroom Comfort

Beautiful bathrooms bring Buyers. What captures your attention when you walk into an incredible bathroom : What does that look like. How does it feel. What do you tell yourself. What would you tell others ?

All of these questions and exactly how we plan, design and budget depending on the outcome we are after. This is why ‘Why’ is so important – when we can see and feel and speak of a purpose then the rest flows and decisions come easier.

The most obvious considerations include:

• Replace cracked basins, toilets or tubs. Old and shabby is never appealing…
• Deepen or add an additional vanity, extend the mirror (wall – wall, bench – ceiling; and optimise lighting positions and fixtures to accentuate space and light.
• For small bathrooms, consider wall-mounted sinks and toilets, heated towel rails and enlarged, framed or frameless mirrors to maximise space.
• Replace or re-paint stained or chipped bathtubs and basins.
• Repaint the walls for freshness, consider the colour/ shade/ texture and whether this connects or disconnects from the rest of the home

6. Light and Flow

Freedom of movement is imperative if a home is to feel comfortable, inviting, relaxed and welcoming. Creating the feeling of flow allows energy to remain in one room dependent on its purpose (bedroom or home-office), or extend through to the next (indoor/ outdoor dining). Likewise, light or creating light is paramount to remove any feeling of confinement or negative direction eg. dark south facing properties.

In these instances, consider:

• Kitchen to dining connection and Kitchen to outdoor entertainment connection as well as natural light flow into the kitchen space (for small kitchens use plants or focal prints to break state and distract attention from the small space)
• Undercover outdoor space is a perfect opportunity to dine outside and re-purpose or extend indoor space for other means
• Where light, space and flow is important, so is ventilation: windows and doors allow air to flow freely to warm or cool a property (with the added bonus – more light !), everything from French-shutters, oversized windows, French, barn or sliding doors to open spaces, add charm and style.

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7. Granny Flat potential

See my recent article Adding Value to Your Home : the Granny Flat - If you have the space, granny flat are a perfect source of a residual income, secure residence for the independent child or additional space for the extended family/ inHouse in-laws or home office/ workout or client remedial space.

The attached article speaks at length one ach of these subjects including legal requirements, council permissions, costs and more.

8. Fresh Paint

Probably the most obvious and most affordable of expenses; as a designer it is incredible how much value fresh paint can add to a home with little effort and a focus on quality, colour or accent. Think the inside of door frames (not the outside…), entrance doors, timber flooring wash or laquer and of course exterior repainting. In many cases, where attention is applied to straight lines and cutting in, it is a very enjoyable experience (not sure about ceiling…they can be tiresome !!)

9. Storage

Storage; there can never be enough…. consider all the potential locations for additional storage; walls, underfloor - attic (where possible), garage shelving and ceilings or above car spaces, bedroom - bathroom – laundry built in’s etc. Storage is always a welcomed surprise given all we accumulate over time.

Where you have run out of storage yourself, consider the 3x categories : Keep – Sell – Throw. You’ll be amazed how much extra money you can earn from those things you no longer need better served by someone else.

10. Entertainment Space

Outdoor entertaining as the purpose denotes, adds or extends a room to the home. This is one of the most cost-effective investments with a superb ROI. If you think of the home as an inviting entrance which opens to a free-flowing orientation and connection to each room ending in a large, open space connecting the indoors to the backyard, then you have precisely what is most attractive to any home owner and potential buyer. Imagine the last room leading to the outdoors as an open, wall – wall, floor -ceiling, oversized portrait or framed print; voila ! the indoors just extended floorspace and the outdoors on hot days, just became inviting spaces not to stay away from, rather to invite the occupant to choose whether they wanted to be in or out without being in a confined indoor space or exposed heat.

Now that you have your visual, depending on the amount of space, add either café table & chairs for that French feel, or a large entertainers dining table for a family affair with either pergola/ vergola or shade-cloth shading for those hot days. As in all cases, your outdoor space needs to be treated in the same way as your indoor; colour (plants/ floorboards/ tiles), light, flow and appeal.

Summary:

Given the above, what one thing could you do with your home right now. How would this add value and change to the feeling of the home ?

The purpose of a home is multi-fold; it is both a sanctuary for the family and a financial opportunity where you are completely in control. Yes, even in poor selling market conditions. What you decide to do with the information aka value of your home and your own goals and changing circumstances, is entirely your choice.

Beginning by valuing your home as a form of measurement is essential, from there you may speak to your financial advisor, then decide what alterations are feasible to optimise your capital and financial return on investment. The timeline or urgency is a separate conversation and decision which need not delay actually renovating, rather support the ability to make greater decisions and a later point in time.

The majority of homeowners are reactive, wanting to sell their home ‘as is’ anticipating strong market demand and the best possible selling price. Others are pro-active, preparing their home in advance and then having control during a positive market to sell at a premium or during a poor market, to sell, also at a premium comparative to other properties for sale. Either way, the best buyer is attracted to the most appealing, comfortable, free-flowing and design oriented property.

Don’t wait. Start now. Book an Appraisal then decide how to proceed