Quick Tips For Adding Equity

If you want to quickly add equity to your property, but don’t want to spend a fortune, try the following ideas to either add equity for a sale, a flip or to boost your portfolio value.

Exterior of The Home

The outside of your home, makes the first impression on everyone- this is a “no brainer”, but what can you do, and how much will it cost to freshen up the outside?

1: The Landscaping.

Landscaping can be surprisingly expensive, and rightly so- it’s hard work.

For this reason, keep the landscaping of the home as simple as possible. Plants add up very quickly, so do decks, concreting and paving so the best thing to do is KISS. If the yard is overgrown, then strip everything back to the bare bones, a simple border garden with yuckas and some pebbles or crushed rock will make the place look neat and presentable, its also low maintenance which is a selling point these days.

If you have an old concrete footpath and driveway that is still in reasonable shape, a good pressure clean and reseal/paint will make a massive difference.

If your grass is dead, there isn’t much you can do about this other than returf, but its worth it.

2: The Fa?ade

Depending on the condition of the fa?ade you may opt to just leave it if it looks great already, or freshen it up.

Paint is where you will get the best value for money. Many people are tempted to render old red brick homes, but this is extremely expensive and if you are about to sell the home- not really needed. Greys are in at the moment, so a nice medium grey for the brick or cladding, and white for the window frames and trim and you are done. A bright colour such as canary yellow or blood red for the front door can really make a place come to life, so don’t be afraid to get a bit bold with the door.

3: The roof.

Avoid roof restoration companies like the plague. Have the roof cleaned and resealed, possibly painted, but multiple quotes and proof of past work really needs to be looked at- for some reason roof painting is cowboy central.

Inside the Home

1: The bathroom

Depending on the age and condition of the bathroom, you may have a few options available to you.

If the wall tiles are still in good condition you are in front. Replace the old shower screen or curtain with a nice new glass shower screen, this adds quite a bit of value compared to cost. If there is an old style bath, rather than repaint it, contact a company called inner bath, they make a new acrylic insert for the bath tub that makes it look brand new.

Replace the shower head, tap ware, vanity and paint the tiles with tile paint. A new coat of paint for the remaining walls and ceiling and new light switches will make it look brand new. For the floor, gerfloor vinyl planks work well, or if the tiles are pretty bad, is can be worth lifting the old tiles up and having new ones laid.

2: The Kitchen

Depending on the age and condition of the kitchen, you have a few options. If you are budget conscious and the kitchen needs replacing- go for a flatpack.

Stone benchtops are getting very reasonable these days, but if the house wont carry the coast, laminate will be fine- the new stuff looks great.

If the kitchen is still in good condition but a bit dated. Replacing the splashback, having the doors resprayed and changing all the door handles is your best option, this wont set you back too much and it will look great.

3: The floor

If you have the old vomit green carpet- rip it up. Some homes look great with polished timber floor boards, but I prefer to spend a bit more and go for a nice wide board 12mm laminate- it makes the house look and feel brand new, and is good on the budget.

4: The paint

Last but not least- PAINT THE PLACE. Nothing adds equity like paint! Choose neutral colours that will suit any type of furniture. Tie this in with the fa?ade of the home and have a theme going throughout. These days, think “hamptons”- it suits older style homes and doesn’t cost a fortune to pull off.

The Back Yard

1: A Deck

If its in the budget- add a deck, people love them and they add massive value for money, pretty simple.

2: The landscaping

This should follow the same simple plan as the front, clean it up, border gardens and low maintenance plants. Don’t think buying $20k worth of exotic orchids is going to increase value to the home- it really wont (unless you sell it to an orchid enthusiast).

3: The rear face of the home

Again, follow the same theme and plan from the front, simple clean paint job, do any minor repairs and THAT’S IT.

Thank you for reading. If you would like any more information on how you can implement these plans into your own project, feel free to contact me, I’m always up for chat about renovating!

By

James Hamilton

Director- Rudius Group