When seeing clients for pre-sale design consultations in order to prepare their home for sale, one of the biggest questions I’m asked, is which rooms should we be focusing on. Well, I would say that there are three rooms that sell homes. Three spaces, if you want to be exact. One of those is the alfresco area, another is a kitchen, and the other is the bathroom.

The Alfresco

The reason an alfresco area adds value and is an important space, is because in Australia we love the great outdoors. We have some of the biggest homes in the world and we love to show them off and where do you sit when you have people over? Outside. Australia has one of the most comfortable temperatures to be outside all year round. We spend time outdoor in the middle of winter and summer in most major cities, because we can. So to have an alfresco area to entertain, and to be house proud when guests are over, is a key component to a great sale, and value add.

If you have an existing outdoor space that isn’t covered, a great way to add value is to put on an awning. We’ve got an example below, of a home that had a decked area, but nothing undercover, And being a small three bedroom home, with only one living, and one small dining area, we saw this as an opportunity to add another room to a home, without any council approval. This area was under 25 square meters, and therefore could be erected without any council approval. So it was completed within a week. That was the measure up, ordering of the product, and the install, at the cost of $5,000. This addition probably added $10-20,000 value to the sale of the home. And was a great return on investment, because it’s not something you can really do yourself, unless you’re a builder. So all you had to do was come up with the money, and put in 1 hours time to be there for the measure up. A great return on investment.

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The Kitchen

The other area that really sells a home is the kitchen. This is because it’s the hub of the home. If you are working, it is where you spend your mornings, and your evenings. If you’re not working, perhaps you’re a stay at home mum. This is where you spend a majority of your time caring for your family, and having that cup of coffee, or ten after those sleepless nights with the baby. So this is a real value add, because not only do women really value a kitchen for themselves, but they value it for their family, and the care of their family. It’s an emotional pull. And it’s one of the first places people go when entering a home.

Now kitchens however, are the most expensive room to renovate if you’re ripping them out, and replacing them. However if you can get a pre-sale consultant in to guide you, there are some great ways to update a kitchen without ripping it out. There are some fantastic products out there like laminate paint, you can change handles over, tile paint the splash back. And this will really give a kitchen a new look, on a very small budget.

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The third space that really adds value to a property are the bathrooms. And the main reason for this, is because bathrooms are expensive, and inconvenient to renovate. So if you have a bathroom that is already done, it can be a real value add from a buyer’s point of view. Because to have a bathroom shut down, especially if it’s a one bathroom house, is an absolute nightmare for a homeowner. So if you can reduce this, even by just freshening up a bathroom, it can be a real value add.

The Bathroom

And there are really simple ways to freshen up a bathroom, without having to rip it all out. If you do need to do a part renovation, you can redo walls, just the wall tile, the floor tiles. Things like replacing a vanity, right down to just changing tap ware, or painting out an ugly boarder tile. So there’s some great ways.

And I’ve added some photos below, so you can have a look at what a bathroom looked prior to our 3 Step Process
TWEAQ’S.

3 STEP PROCESS

1. Pre-Sale Consultation
2. Property Preparation
3. Property styling / home staging

From pre-sale consultation, property preparation and then finally to styling, and getting that professional photographer in to make sure that it’s captured for your online photo.

So these are my top three rooms, or three spaces I believe really add value to a home. And you should be focusing on them, when preparing your home for sale.

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