This will mostly benefit those who are considering selling at some point in their lives however while I am here, whether you are thinking of selling or not, the longer days of Spring and Summer always find a way to guilt trip us into thinking we need to do more around the house, finish those renovations or just mix things up for a change and give us a breath of fresh air.
I want to give you the VALUE adders, the ones I recommend my clients do when they’re getting ready to present their most valuable possession to the market and the biggest critics…buyers.
Note: At the end of this I share my makeover nightmares that you should avoid.
Real tips for real people
Ladies and gentlemen, I am not going to bore you with the generic 'Paint those walls....you said you'd do it 14 years ago..'
Today is the day that you get the tips that work! 🙌
Here's why I know what works.
I have been selling real estate for over 11 years, born and bred in Howick, I moved over to London and got my first start in real estate at 22 years old, 5 years there and learning from the best in the industry.
I took what I knew and moved to Australia where I stayed in real estate…London was competitive, Australia was a whole new beast. Australians are not as ‘relaxed and laid back’ as we were told. Their expectations of presentation and marketing are next level. I should know, I sold the Australia’s MOST viewed property.
This was a few years back before I moved back home to tackle the East Auckland market, a place I love calling home with homes that I love selling.
Just to clarify…this was NOT a ‘secret Auction’…I am pretty good at what I do BUT I do limit myself to secret auctions…No, I had catering, a bartender, 4 news groups, 230 public attendees, 20 live bidders and 8 on various phones from overseas. The ‘secret was out’
Anyway - My top tips for maximising the value of your home are
Think modernisation
The simplest way to add value around the house is a trip down to Bunnings, load up on new power point sockets, door handles, light fixtures and fittings. Go neutral, go bold, your choice, but go consistent.
Think low maintenance
Your garden is an area that one, both or all of the decision makers are going to have an opinion on. Get rid of or trim back overgrown trees and plants, refresh garden beds with new soil, bark or stones. De-weed, plant new and young bushes or plants that give buyers something to look forward to. Decked or paved areas can be re-oiled, painted or high pressure washed. Get rid of their excuse in saying 'there's a bit of work to be done out here', not everyone is a green thumb.
Think fresh and light
Painting touch ups are sometimes necessary, sometimes not but an easy go to is colour matching internally, light, bright and fresh. A feature wall is going to make a comeback, you heard it here first so IF you want splash out and create an atmosphere, bedrooms are actually a great place to experiment HOWEVER it's 2025, things like timber battens or half height designs work a treat.
Think magazine style
Having your property professionally staged is a great way to increase a buyers retention online when they are scrolling through HUNDREDS of property's throughout their buying journey. My one pre-requisite, a stylist very rarely stages a home in the way that we usually live...they don't create TV rooms, they create 'social spaces' where families can enjoy spending time together after frolicking through daisy fields. It isn't real life, but it works. The typical cost is around $3500 for a big family home and honestly, it is the easiest tip on this list to maximise your eventual sale price.
Think about your future buyer
This is easy, who were you WHEN you bought your home? If you have lived in your home for more than 10 years, the chances are that your circumstances have changed and hence the reason you are selling. So what was it that made you BUY your home in the first place? Was it great for bringing up kids for example? Make it so again, your buyer is in your shoes when you bought it, so if you need to make a few adjustments to make things more 'kid friendly', do. Put more attention in areas that will sell the parents the dream.
Some inspiration below
Focus on colour...
Deep colours, like this green are in at the moment but you can keep things neutral too, grey on white works just fine.
Let me represent you
Go natural...
Something more natural and surprisingly easy to manage over a long weekend is just the natural timber battens. If time is an issue, I have just the handyman to call.
Let's chat
Most overrated pre-market tips
If you've made it this far, you deserve to know what I consider the most overrated pre-market tips are:
Basically anything structural with some exceptions.
You don’t need to re-develop your home, re-do kitchens, bathrooms or anything of that nature. Why? depending on your price point, you need to leave some room for imagination. I spend most of my time at open homes talking about future potential, reason why? I need to makesure your buyer understands that there is VALUE TO BE ADDED. If they don’t think so, WHY would they pay above average? A buyer wants to know that if they pay $X today and spend $X on doing up the kitchen and bathrooms that they could sell it for $X more once done.
My focus on your property is making it brand new AGAIN, not brand new. It’s dressing your house in its Sunday best, its your house on its wedding day.
What is the exception?
I have in some cases, rarely and only based on your price point and buyer demographic recommended some kitchen or bathroom renovations, for example, if you have 2 bathrooms and one has been renovated recently, it can be worth doing the second.
This is simply because the buyer will automatically think they need to do the works HOWEVER a buyers price prediction is often way off the real cost, they do love a good ‘negotiating foot hold’.
As always, I focus on value & return on investment.
I do this all the time for homeowners whether they are looking to sell or not, I organise trades, quotes, negotiate terms.