One of the greatest dangers when renovating your home is overcapitalisation.
This is when the total expenditure on your home – including the purchase price and the cost of alterations – exceeds the amount you could sell the house for in the foreseeable future.
A number of Just Property agents from across the country give advice on whether or not certain improvements will increase the value of a home.
“Do not spend more than one-quarter of what your property is worth on improvements,” says Mona Broadhurst.
“Find out the average price for properties in your area and make sure your renovations won’t push you over that.”
Maritza van Rooyen advises homeowners to get a qualified estate agent in their area to do a valuation on their property.
“Before you do renovations for the purpose of getting a quick sale, get their input on which improvements will achieve a better selling price.”
Adding value
Focus on the basics. Curb appeal is one of the main factors that attract interest.
“Make sure the buyer’s first impression of your property is positive,” says Van Rooyen.
“Simply changing your garage door can make a huge difference.”
Maintaining a neat garden and repainting the exterior of a property is essential, while keeping clutter to a minimum on the inside can be beneficial. According to Tracey Hutton, small repairs and a fresh coat of paint will do wonders.
“Choose neutral colours for the walls, and stick to cold colours for decor and accents so that buyers can imagine their own furniture in your spaces.”
Lindy Breytenbach says improvements to the kitchen and bathrooms are good investments.
“Older cabinets can either be painted and handles replaced with new hardware, or they can be completely replaced.
Keep to light, neutral-coloured floors and walls, as this will make your rooms look bigger and brighter. A new gas stove will immediately give a boring old kitchen a face lift – just ensure that the gas installation is compliant and comes with a certificate.”
When thinking about how you can add value to your home, Hutton suggests taking the demands of current times into account, such as a gutter-fed water tank, inverter system or solar panels.
Lezaan Mentz agrees.
“Consider a pressure pump for municipal outages and climate-control devices. Security upgrades, like well-placed lighting outdoors and beams, are worth the investment.”
Diminishing value
You might think that adding a lettable granny flat would increase value, but it should be properly planned. Converting a garage or outbuilding into a flat can mean you lose a garage, as well as security and privacy.
Debi Detleefs warns against adding onto old houses without considering a practical floor plan.
“Poor flow makes a house difficult to sell,” she warns.
Proper planning and approval for any additions is very important.
Avoid spending money on bold colours and finishes, as well as investing in new carpets. These days, most buyers prefer neutral colours and laminated flooring.
Improving with flair
Find ways to upgrade a kitchen or bathroom that do not cost a fortune. Paint old-fashioned tiles white, paint a feature wall or add some artwork.
Paint shelving the same colour as a wall. This solves storage problems while creating a sleek appearance.
Paint a vibracrete wall dark grey and add hanging plants for a focus wall outside. – My pressportal, Kaylin van der Vent
