JUST THE RIGHT FIXINGS

By Polly Nichols

At the moment it seems like homeowners need to do very little to increase the value of their home.

Still, for those wanting to get the most they can when selling their home, there are some alterations and renovations that can make or break the bank.

It’s a hot house market right now. If you owned a stick in the mud last year, without doing anything, that same stick in the mud could be worth about 23 percent more than it did in March 2020. Still, with winter at our doorstep, there’s usually a dip in house sales and many are anticipating the market to simmer down. If you know that your current home isn’t your forever home, the renovations you make now can affect what you can afford later.

Simple jobs are fine and well like repainting a home’s interior with white or neutral paint. Also, swapping out personalised fixtures and the like before listing your home for sale can increase general appeal and prevent potential

Some DIY projects can save you money while others should be left to the professionals.

confusion about what is or isn’t included in the sale when drawing up contracts.

Then there are bigger projects that are sure to increase your property’s value like adding a granny flat or updating your bathroom and kitchen; of course, that’s only if they’re done properly.

The danger with DIYs is that homeowners can easily overlook

• Single storey detached dwellings • Carports up to 40 square metres • Permanent outdoor fireplaces or ovens • Ground-floor verandas and porches up to 30 square metres. Although the projects don’t require consent, they often require the involvement of a chartered professional engineer or a licensed building practitioner. More information can be found on www.building.govt.nz.

the details like when to obtain consent and when to call in a professional. Building without consent can violate the terms of your home insurance and incur a fine from your local council which can total up to $200,000. If you can’t afford to do a project right, you probably can’t afford to do it wrong either. According to MBIE, some projects are exempt from building consents such as single-storey detached buildings. Such buildings include structures like sheds, greenhouses and sleepouts, but do not include kitchen and bathroom facilities.

Do keep in mind that just because building work qualifies for consent exemption doesn’t mean that it’s exempt from professional involvement.

Even if you have all the right paperwork for the renovations done on your property, the other danger homeowners encounter is that the renovation is ‘too you’. Then, you click your way over to an online valuation website and discover that the house you’re looking at is selling for more than what it was valued at.

Real estate agents usually advise their clients to sell homes for the highest price a house can possibly get while valuation websites typically base values on previous sales of the home and surrounding properties. Residential valuers can give a better idea on how a bank might value a home.

In other words, the renovations and design choices you’ve made accommodate your specific lifestyle but don’t allow others to imagine living in the home during an open house. If you’re looking to online value providers or valuation websites to determine the value of your home, they won’t take your hard work into consideration because they don’t conduct physical evaluation of houses.

This is where a real estate agent can come in to give guidance on what they think is keeping you from getting the highest selling price for your home. Real estate agents are usually in tune with market demands and can highlight the renovations you’ve made that would have been overlooked otherwise.

Residential valuers differ from real estate agents because real estate agents typically value the home for how much it can sell for, not necessarily how much the home is worth. Along with market valuations, residential valuers provide services including pre-sale, purchase and lending valuations, all of which banks rely on. With the housing market still hot to the touch, be sure to get a hold of a trusted real estate agent or residential valuer as soon as you can so you can get the most out of your renovations.

Real estate agents can give insight into market demands and get you the highest selling price possible.

For a free quote on all your

please contact our highly experienced staff 021 344 650 rendec@xtra.co.nz