Make My Home Worth More?

DON’T MAKE REALITY BITE

It’s your best friend’s birthday. You buy him/her a cupcake. You put it in a great big box. You fill the empty space with stars, glitter and tissue. You wrap it all in very expensive paper. Tie it up with gilded bows, flowers and curling ribbon. Then you seal it with a Godiva sticker. Your best friend may have thought a cupcake was a delightful present. But you’ve given him or her such an overinflated expectation, disappointment is inevitable. Keep your property’s advertising real.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT

Will adding a heated pool add significant value? No. Neither will adding a home gym. Nor even a sauna. When design and building industry experts, Hanley Wood USA, analysed the top 10 home value boosters in the last 10 years, upgrading the front door came out way on top, followed by upgrading the garage door and sprucing up how your home looks from the street.

NOT SLOWING DOWN

Downsizers. It’s a miserable word that totally misrepresents its group. Baby boomer home aloners don’t want peace and serenity. They’d rather have lock-up-and go, thanks. 70% are all about being out and active, 61% have travelled domestically & 32% internationally in the last 12 months. Don’t offer a sitting room. They want a home office. 59.4% work full or part-time. And don’t imagine that they’re watching their pennies. They hold 40% of Australia’s wealth in total, and 41% of them feel no angst about tucking into the kids’ inheritance so they can live their dreams.

KEEP IT CLEAN

The lure of the warm cinnamon stick scent is a bit of an urban myth. The four most loved home smells are the scent of a freshly cleaned house, fresh paint, new carpets and the fragrance of a newly-built. Freshly-baked bread is the world’s most loved smell overall. The world’s most hated smell is eviscerated, decomposing body parts. That’s probably not going to be a problem. But beware of bins, drains and body odours. They’re hugely hated too.

IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU

Last month, a vacant lot in Ascot Brisbane sold for $3.03 million and $300,000 over its reserve. One Courier Mail reader offered these reasons: “Best place to live: Safe, clean and best schools. Great coffee shops (Vanilla Pod), best architecture (beautiful old homes) and fantastic people. Beautiful gardens (people really take pride). Better value than Bulimba Hawthorne, Bardon, Highgate Hill and Chelmer which are all in the same price bracket except Ascot has large blocks of land. Close to airport and Sunshine Coast just up the freeway love it, love it. Best playgrounds for the kids.”