Thinking of renovating your Brisbane home?
Here are some things to consider to ensure you add maximum value on whatever you spend getting your place into tip top shape
Create a budget and stick to it
Before you begin, make sure that you work out how much you want to spend. Try to stick to this so that you keep yourself from overspending.
A general guideline used in the real estate industry is to spend no more than 5% of the property’s purchase price when renovating. This should help prevent you from overcapitalising.
A well designed and constructed renovation can add value to your property but it’s not a guarantee.
Be realistic about the value that you can potentially add to your property before committing to a renovation project. It may be worth getting an objective third party to review your plans to see if they see any value in your ideas.
Some of the common reasons people want to renovate –
- to improve their standard of living
- to add value to their property
- to improve the resale price of their property
- to add extra space
- to update the look of their property
- they don’t want to move but their current property isn’t right
- improve the safety of their property
Where will you live while renovating?
One thing to seriously consider before committing to a renovation project is what your living conditions will be like while your renovations take place. Will you be able to live in your property or will you have to move out and pay rent somewhere else? This could be a massive financial burden so be weary of this.
Are there any problem areas that renovating could improve?
What are some good spots to target for renovation? Generally speaking the kitchen and bathroom show their age more than bedrooms or other living areas. The fittings and fixtures in these rooms are on display and they tend to be high trafficked areas of the house. These areas are usually high on property owners lists to renovate.
For a kitchen think about adding modern conveniences like a dishwasher or rangehood. Have a look at other properties in the area and see what sort of designs and features are selling well. For example, are a lot of kitchens open plan in the houses that are selling well?
For a bathroom try to minimize changes to plumbing (as this is expensive!). Again, look at recently sold properties in the area to help determine what designs are popular. Current trends include frameless glass showers, floor-to-ceiling tiles and a double vanity (if there’s room).
Put it all together
At the end of the day it’s important to take your time and really think your renovation plans through. It’s always better to be well researched, planned and budgeted than to charge straight into a project. Here’s a list of apps that can help you with your renovation and maybe make renovating that little bit easier.
The Brisbane Times website has some great renovation advice as well as lots of articles for inspiration during your next reno, read more here.
