Budget-Savvy Renovation Tips for Clever Home Sellers

If you are currently in the process of selling your home, the question of renovation is likely to arise. Here are some key insider insights on what you should consider when doing so.

Easy & effective renovation tips to make your home appealing to motivated buyers.

Before selling your home, one of our Louw & Coetzee Agents visit for a valuation of your home. A part in this process is for our agents to provide you (the seller) with a few suggestions regarding upgrades and/or renovations to your home that will position it as an attractive investment for a wide and varied buyer pool. 

Our in-house Home Staging Expert, Pieter de Swardt, has shared his top tips on how to renovate a home. This insider info bears in mind that many sellers may be pressed for time, might not have the budget for a full reno, and may very well not be in the position to relocate temporarily to accommodate big changes, such as flooring, etc.

Below are a few hot tips to keep in mind if you want to renovate your house: 

1. Your most ROI-rich renovations will depend on the area and the house in question.
2. Renovate with the idea of making your home appealing to the largest group of buyers.
3. Remember that paint does wonders!
4. Don't forget about curb appeal and landscaping...

Renovations Are Not 'One Size Fits All' 

Pieter emphasises the importance of taking the area in which your home is located into consideration at all times.

For example, buyers looking for a home in Sonstraal Heights will normally be on the lookout for a beautiful kitchen and possibly room for entertainment. A buyer looking for a home in Paarl Central, close enough to their children's school, may want bedrooms with ample built-in cupboard space for the family.  

Best-practice renovations also differ from one house to the next.  

One seller's house may really need all the interior walls to be painted a lighter colour to brighten up and modernise the space. Another seller's home may be in need of tile replacement in the bathrooms to address cracks and missing grout. Yet another home may well need to have unsightly or mouldy carpets taken out in the bedrooms and replaced with vinyl flooring. 

It all comes down to the current condition of your home, as well as the type of buyer you wish to attract, and what they are looking for in a property.

Renovate to Appeal to the Masses 

"Your Louw & Coetzee agent will take care to advise you on making changes and upgrades that will catch the eye of the most potential buyers possible. These will include online browsers, as well as prospective owners who visit our real estate office in person to evaluate their options," Pieter explains.

To this end, our agents never advise you according to their personal preference and taste, because at the end of the day, that is not what will sell your home the fastest. 

Tips to appeal to the most buyers include:

1. Choosing a neutral colour palette.
2. Updating your lighting to be modern and energy efficient.
3. Upgrading your bathroom with new tiles and/or new hardware.
4. Updating your kitchen cupboards with a new coat of paint and new hardware.
5. Choosing waterwise, low-maintenance plants when landscaping your garden.
6. Replacing your old wooden window frames with aluminium frames.
7. Capitalising on your entertainment areas, such as your pool or braai area.

Magic Makeovers Include Painting

We have briefly touched on this, but a coat of paint can really do wonders to a space. You know that feature wall you painted salmon? It won't appeal to the most buyers. You know the orange and pink tiles in the bathroom? Not all buyers are going to fall in love with it. 

When choosing your paint colour, stick to a shade that will brighten up the space, compliment the flooring and appeal to the masses. 

A few of our favourite and safe shade options include: 

• Classic grey
• Charcoal
• Snow white
• Oatmeal brown
• Stone brown 

Curb Appeal & Landscaping is VERY Important

First impressions really do matter. When a buyer drives up to your house, you want them to already be intrigued.

Factors such as the exterior paint colour, cracks in the wall, red, green, or yellow garage doors and outdated or broken exterior lights are all great places to start when fixing up your home. We understand that budget matters, so you may want to get your agent's opinion on where to begin to get the most bang for your renovation buck. 

Moving over to landscaping, Pieter suggests waterwise and easy-to-maintain plants, that also brighten up the garden.

Try choosing some flowers to go in pots. Trim trees and bushes that are overgrown, mow the lawn, and for the month that you have viewings, water that patch that has not received much attention lately. You'll be surprised at what a difference it makes.

When renovating your home, you do not have to spend a fortune to appeal to the biggest buyer pool. We want to emphasise that asking your Louw & Coetzee agent for their professional opinion is very important. Knowing where to begin is another factor your agent will be able to help with. 

A renovation of R20 000 may be able to add R70 000 to your asking price. Consider the investment you put into your house when selling, because it could likely mean the difference between selling your home for less than what you expected, or more than what you imagined.