My local real estate agent, Jim, referred me to my latest project management client. The vendor Jeff had just accepted a new job in Sydney and had to relocate in 2 weeks.

Jeff’s problem – he needed to sell his home and he needed to sell it fast! Jeff’s biggest problem – his 1970’s house was still in its original condition and he didn’t have time to get it ready for market.

So I met with Jeff and told him how Houses to Impress could take care of his whole house renovation for him, eliminate the stress and leave him free to concentrate on the big move.   I assessed the property while I was there and gave Jeff my expert opinion on what needed to be done to bring his 1970’s home into the 21st century so we could attract some serious buyers in this very tough market.

Jeff was willing to invest some money in some home improvements as he hadn’t done any upgrades since he moved into the house in 1983. He was well aware that it would be very difficult to sell the house in its present condition, in the current slow market.  Jim, the real estate agent, appraised the house “as is” at $280,000 – $300,000. I did a quick calculation on the upgrades that were required and estimated that to fully renovate and style the house for sale would cost about $20,000 – $25,000. Jeff was prepared to spend that amount to ensure he could sell his home fast and for a higher price. I discussed my planned renovation ideas with Jim, the agent, and after doing some comparisons for the area we both agreed that the market price “after reno” would sit in the range of $330,000 to $350,000.

Jeff was happy with these estimated figures and gave me the go ahead to project manage the cosmetic renovation. I immediately got to work with a plan that would enable me to get the whole job done in 30 days.

Step 1 – Renovation Plan

Kitchen

• Remove old narrow style kitchen
• Get electrician to install new power points
• Install new kitchen
• Remove old freestanding stove and replace with new oven, cooktop and range hood
• Install new sink and modern flick mixer tap
• Install tile splash back

Bathroom

• Remove and replace old shower screen
• Remove old style vanity and replace with a new corner unit
• Resurface existing wall tiles
• Resurface existing floor tiles
• Get electrician to install new 3 in 1 heat/lamp/light and replace power points

Toilet

• Resurface existing floor tiles
• Replace cistern and toilet seat

Laundry

• Resurface existing floor tiles

Paintwork – Interior

• Repair minor cracks and gaps in cornices in most rooms
• Paint all ceilings
• Paint all walls
• Prime and paint wall paneling in main lounge room (same colour as walls)
• Paint all door and window trims

Paintwork – Exterior

• Spray Paint old galvanised fences
• Spray Paint shed
• Paint some areas of timber gables at front and rear of property where needed

Main bedroom

• Remove old doors from built-in robe
• Install new doors, frame and return on built-in robe

Bedroom 3

• Remove built in desk and bookcase to open up the space

Flooring

• Remove 70’s shagpile carpet from bedrooms, lounge/dining and hallway
• Replace with new Godfrey Hirst textured loop stainmaster
• Lay new vinyl (over top of old vinyl) in kitchen

Gardening and exterior improvements

• Remove weeds from old garden beds
• Place bamboo screening on one section of fence to hide ugly fence
• Add low maintenance plants to rear garden beds
• Add eco mulch to all garden beds over top of existing scoria
• Trim back all shrubs in front garden
• Repair small sections of wood rot in front windows and paint
• Remove amber glass from front courtyard area and replace with timber slats to match existing features in courtyard
• Paint letterbox

One of the main keys to success in project management is great planning and organisation. Next step will be gathering my dream team of tradies and coordinating the work to fit in with my home makeover schedule.

See some teaser photos below!!

So it was great to read an article in the local Advertiser stating that home makeovers are starting to become the norm.

Local leading Real Estate Agent Anthony Toop of Toop and Toop says the humble home makeover has come a long way.

“It’s gone from being a rare occurrence to being a normal practice,” he says.

“For us over the past 10 years it’s probably gone from about 20 per cent of our clients using it to 80 to 90 per cent.

“Twenty years ago, it was zero per cent.”

Mr Toop says properties that hit the market without a makeover were at risk of not reaching their selling potential.

“There is an expectation from buyers that they will be looking through a property that has been presented well,” he says.

“It does make a difference. The consumer generally struggles to visualise how a property could look.”

Mr Toop says the average investment on a home makeover is $1000 to $5000 and that it can result in up to a 10 to 15 per cent increase in selling price. “It can also speed up the sale process a little bit and change the category of buyers looking at the home,” he says.

If only more Real Estate agents would make it a standard practice to incorporate the services of a professional home stager as part of their marketing strategy then more home sellers would be exposed to the great benefits of increased home presentation and sell their homes faster for more!

Find out how our Sold for Top Dollar Transformation Package™ can help you with a home makeover that will knock your buyers socks off.

All home sellers are concerned with justifying spending money on home improvements when they are just about to move. Some of my clients need a lot of convincing that you need to invest money to make money when it comes to maximising the return on your largest investment. So it is always a bonus when you can quantify the return on your home improvement investment.

I certainly measure all the results I get with my clients using “as is” appraisals before any renovation and home staging improvement begin. Then after the house is sold I compare the gain that has been made – usually in the tens of thousands!

I recently came across a survey that had been done by HomeGain.com that measures the average cost of a range of home improvements done pre-sale, the average increase in sales and finally the average return on investment for that particular home improvement. The survey demonstrates that you don’t need to spend a large sum of money on improvements to get some really great returns.

HomeGain 2009 Top 11 DIY Home Improvements For Sellers (National)

Do you want your property to appeal to a wider range of buyers?

Do you want your home to stand out from the crowd?

Do you want cost effective solutions to your home presentation problems?

Home Staging and Cosmetic Renovation techniques by Houses to Impress will help give you a unique selling point to present your property so it’s ready to sell! Irrespective of the extent of the project, our attention to detail delivers results to our clients that are absolutely outstanding.

Our professional online home staging consult will help you plan a cost effective home makeover that will reap you thousands of dollars PROFIT when you sell. Imagine what you can spend that extra $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 or more on …….

• Your new dream home
• A brand new car
• A family holiday
• An investment property

Don’t just take our word. Read a testimonial from a Real Estate Specialist who regularly recommends our services to her vendors.

“As real estate salespeople, our number one job is to achieve the highest possible price for our vendors. Unfortunately our best efforts can sometimes be hindered by a seller who is unable to view their home objectively. What may seem “attractive” to the owner may look vastly unappealing from a buyer’s perspective. A seller who lives in the home twenty-four-seven, can often find it difficult of see the woods for the trees. Houses to Impress know how to present your home in such a way that buyers have to have it! I would estimate that I have never yet met a client that would not have experienced great benefit from Charyn and Kate’s expert home staging transformations.”

Rebecca Foster – Real Estate Specialist – Ray White Northgate

I was recently browsing the Australian Property Investor Magazine website and was heartened to find an article listing the Top 12 tips to Getting a Great Property Valuation.  Especially when I read that the Number 1 tip was Home Presentation.  It comfirms what I consistently preach to my clients (both home owners and property investors) that a combination of Home Staging and cosmetic Renovation are not only great tools to add value to a home before selling but  you can also squeeze extra equity out of your current home or investment property prior to refinancing.

Please find below the part of the API article written by  Michaela Ryan

It’s quite frustrating to have your home loan application knocked back or the loan amount reduced because the valuation came in too low. Here’s 12 ways to get a good one.

Investors periodically have their properties revalued in order to finance additional investments. For example, just say your property’s value has gone up by $50,000. Most lenders will let you borrow around 80 per cent of that value ($40,000) which you can use as a deposit for another property purchase. In order to work out exactly how much they’ll lend you, lenders will often send a property valuer around. So we’ve asked a couple of industry experts for the insider’s word on property valuations. How can investors get the highest figure possible?

Phillip Grahame from Herron Todd White says, “The main things in a valuation are the size and functionality of the dwelling and the size and location of the land.” So obviously the chances of a favourable valuation mainly come down to your choice of property in the first place. And of course, it also depends on what the property market in general is doing at the time. However, according to our experts, there are a number of things you can do to make sure you pull off the best valuation possible on the day.

1. Presentation

Grahame says presentation is the most important thing to take care of when you have an upcoming valuation.

“(Make sure) the gardens are looking nice and the clutter throughout the house is cleaned up and all that sort of thing. Because first impressions, even with property valuers, do count,” he says. “If it’s freshly painted and really neat and tidy and presents well, as it would to a buyer, then we’re going to be more positive on that particular property.”

Mark Ruttner from First Valuation Group agrees, “The owner should provide a property in a state of repair similar to an open for inspection. “There’s nothing worse than rolling up to value a house and all the clothes for the last two weeks are on the bedroom floor; the toilet seat is up; dishes for the last week are still sitting in the sink.” Ruttner suggests mowing the lawn and trimming the edges. He also says any external painting should be fully completed, as first impressions can be significantly dampened by incomplete paintwork.

to read the other 11 Tips    Click Here

The first step to successful Home Staging is to cultivate the right mindset. As a Home Seller, you are about to cash in on one your most valuable assets – your home, and it is imperative that you start thinking of your house as an investment your are selling, rather than your family home.

If someone asked you for $5000 and gave you back $50,000 in two months time, would you do it?? Your return on investment would be a whopping 1000%. Unbelievable you may say. Well we can guarantee you that is typical of the returns we achieve for our clients.

Case Study:

We recently worked with a client whose house was tenanted prior to going on the market. It was a very large 5 bedroom home located 7 km from the city in one of the best streets in the suburb.  Once the tenants moved out, it was obvious that there were a few minor repairs that needed to be addressed which required the services of a general handyman for about 3 days. He repaired some small cracks in a few walls and repainted those areas as well as doing a general yard tidy up.  Of course we never recommend showing an empty house so the whole property was staged with furniture and soft furnishings and hired pot plants to jazz up the outdoors.

Our client’s investment was $5000. The house was appraised by the agent prior to the makeover at $615,000.  During the 3 week marketing campaign prior to auction there were large amounts of people that viewed the property and one keen buyer put in an offer for $640,000.  By auction day there was definitely a buyer frenzy with over 30 people cramming the family room where the auction took place.

The house sold for $690,000!! – An increase from the appraised value of $75,000. That is a 1500% Return on Investment. What was also extraordinary was the auction clearance rate in May 2010 in Adelaide was very low at 40% and a lot of properties were failing to sell on Auction Day.  Naturally our client was absolutely delighted with the results.

So if you are thinking of selling your home I recommend you change your mindset and go for Gold! You deserve to make Top Dollar for your biggest investment.

See some of the photos of the property below

Landlords often fail to recognise that owning a property is like a business and to get the best results they need to treat it like a business. Most investors know that the performance of real estate as a financial asset is outstanding over the long term, however a lot of property investors, like homeowners, have unrealised equity and potential extra income hidden in their rental properties.  The majority of landlords buy their property, install the tenants as quickly as possible and  leave the property to sit there for years untouched, just sitting back waiting for capital growth to eventually kick in.  They only carry out minor maintenance jobs when the tenant or property manager alerts them about a problem and give no thought at all to regular maintenance.  In fact it is very rare for a landlord to have a planned upgrade and maintenance program set up for their investment. Naturally over time the investment property’s general condition will deteriorate.

I have also heard this story numerous times from landlords – “I have a great tenant who always pays their rent on time and never causes me any problems so I reward them by not raising the rent”.  It is not unusual for a landlord of a long held property, to be willingly receiving 30-40% below market rental!  And yet owning a property investment is supposed to be a wealth creation strategy.

Tenants are your greatest asset

“Properties are just bricks and mortar without bank accounts. tenant’s who are living breathing humans, are the ones with the cheque books”

Have you ever considered that tenant’s are a landlord’s greatest asset because they are paying off your investment for you.  Tenants are just like any other homeowner in that they also want to live in an appealing, well cared for property that gives them a certain standard of lifestyle.  If you can improve the amenity of your rental property, you will attract a higher quality tenant who will appreciate the “extras” and be willing to pay a premium rent to live in your beautiful property.

Making a commitment to adding value to an investment property by investing in a cosmetic makeover, will not only give you instant equity, it will increase your ability to charge a higher rent. If you want to run your property investing like a business instead of a hobby then here is a recap of the benefits

1. Gives you instant equity – don’t wait for the 7 – 10 year property cycle to give you capital growth
2. Increase rental yield
3. Attract a better quality tenant
4. Maximise tax deductions

If Property investors want to ensure their asset is performing at its peak and bringing in the biggest amount of income but don’t want the hassle of organising a makeover themselves, they should consider using the services of a home makeover specialist.

Houses to Impress provides project management and interior and exterior design advice to property investors wanting to transform the appearance of their investment property, add instant equity and increase rental yield. Using both our property renovation and professional home staging expertise, we  show landlords  how to transform their investment property for the most contemporary look and the largest return.

Kate and I were  interviewed by Angelo Meno of Adelaide Property Finders, an Adelaide based Buyer’s Agency about the benefits of adding value to an investment property.

Click here to go view the 30 minute video on Renovation and Home Staging.

For further information about how we can help you to improve your investment property please call us for a FREE 15 minute consult.

Charyn and Kate Youngson

Authors | Professional Home Stagers | Speakers

Waiting for your house or any piece of investment property to sell can cause a fair amount of stress and headache on your part. And not getting decent offers despite your property being listed in the marketplace for months can be a terrible ordeal, right? Well, I believe so, too.

Good thing you don’t have to go through all these – if you plan on having your house or investment property staged, that is.

Why go for home staging when you can sell your house as it is? Well, the answer is really quite simple. Staging homes can make your home sell fast and for a far better value.

As with a lot of things, in selling real estate properties, first impressions count – a lot! Research proves that most buyers usually make up their mind whether or not they are going to buy your house within 15 seconds of walking up your front door. So, it’s up to you on how you can make the most of it, or lose it. It’s your choice.

Now, if you’re ready to take the first step to working that magic called home staging, here are some tips that can help you snag that sale even before your buyers walk through your front door. Start by creating an irresistible curb appeal that your buyers will love! Here’s how you can do it in 4 easy steps.

1. Clean up and de-clutter. Don’t hide your property’s full potentials. Trim overgrown bushes and mow the lawn. Scrub mildew and molds off the sidewalks and that nasty oil spill in the driveway. Get rid of all clutter and unnecessary items, too.
2. Paint it. If you can afford it, why not apply a fresh coat of paint? It can make your house look more appealing to buyers. However, you may want to stay on the conservative side and avoid using very strong colors. Remember, you want your house to appeal to the most number of buyers and strong colors may only turn some people off.
3. Consider landscaping it. Now, if your budget can still accommodate it, you can consider adding fresh sod or some live plants and other interesting focal points to your home’s exterior. Or alternatively, you can remove some elements to improve the looks of your property. Are there any trees or shrubs that are overshadowing some attractive features of your house? Take them off and see how it improves your property.
4. Prettify your front door. Ultimately, all attention leads to your front door. So, why not further improve your chances of closing a great deal for all your efforts? Prettify your front door! You can consider installing a new custom-made door, if your budget allows it. Otherwise, you can consider using what you have and improving on it. You can repaint your existing front door, or flank it with an interesting molding. Or you can simply polish your door fixtures or install coordinated light fixtures and accents to do the trick. Try to be creative and explore all the possibilities!

Staging homes effectively can help you sell your house fast and for far better value than leaving it as it is. Home staging does not need to be expensive or extremely time consuming, as these tips on improving your property’s curb appeal show. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Now, are you ready to get your house staged?

Here’s a video that talks about creating great curb appeal and how it can help sell your house.

Video. Home Decorating and Staging Tips - Curb Appeal

Clutter is the Number 1 problem my home staging clients battle. It’s not a problem exclusive to people getting prepared to sell their homes. Even I struggle to keep my house uncluttered! My dining table inevitably doubles as an office desk with the never-ending onslaught of daily mail and brochures continually piling up waiting for me to pay my bills and file the rest either in the appropriate place or, more likely, in the bin! It is usually when I am expecting company that I frantically race around cleaning up the paper trail and returning my dining table to its deserved “home beautiful” state! In the real world not many of us manage to keep our house free of clutter and looking like a page out of a glossy magazine 24/7.

Many of my clients are faced with the same dilemma but on a larger scale. They have committed to sell their home and I come in and tell them they have to clean up their clutter pronto before they even think about any other improvements! I explain to them that de-cluttering is an essential part of preparing your house for sale, and is virtually cost free. For some people de-cluttering is a very daunting task because there is a lot of emotion attached to our personal belongings and it can be very hard to part with stuff we have held onto for a long period of time. I recently had a client who booked me for a consult and when I got there she only wanted advice about the front yard. Now in the preliminary phone call with her husband I knew the house was built in the early ‘60s and they were not selling for about 18 months. I presumed the house was original in some rooms and would most likely need updating. Even though I wasn’t shown the whole house, it was obvious that getting the house to a sale ready stage would be a formidable task judging by the large amount of clutter in just the room we were in. After discussing the front yard makeover, my conversation gently turned to the inside of the house and it soon became clear that although my client knew there needed to be some upgrades and changes made before the house went to market, she couldn’t even think about that until she had dealt with the clutter. Her mother had passed away about 12 months previously and she admitted to me that she actually had about 4 rooms overflowing with her Mum’s most valued possessions. Her adult daughters who lived interstate didn’t want anything and she had come to the realization that neither did she. However some of her Mother’s things were of great value such as bone china dinner sets and other precious items and I guess she felt obligated to hang on to them. She had to deal with the emotional attachment to her Mum and since Mum was no longer there, the attachment had transferred to Mum’s things.

I suggested maybe she needed some outside help with a professional declutterer to get her started. Sometimes when we are overwhelmed by a job that seems too hard to start, getting help from a professional is a great solution. I know when certain jobs are too big, even for me and I am quite happy to outsource when necessary to get the job done! Here’s an example of the amazing results you can achieve by removing clutter from your home…

“Break each room up into manageable tasks”

“Keep the best and get rid of the rest”

Whether you do it yourself or hire a professional it is vital you DE-CLUTTER before putting your home on the market. Not only will your eventual move be easier but you will create an open, spacious and simplified look that buyers will love.

7 Top De-clutter Tips

1. Make it a manageable project by doing one room at a time 2. Get organized with boxes, bags, masking tape and a permanent marker 3. Break each room into small tasks with a time line i.e. clean out bookcase – 1/2 hour 4. Divide your clutter into 4 categories

• Garbage bags for rubbish
• Carry bags for clothing going to charity, or to be given away
• Boxes for garage sale/auction items
• Boxes for the stuff you are keeping and that will go straight into storage ready for your move

5. Keep the best and get rid of the rest. If it makes you smile or feel good, keep it. If you have no particular emotion to it, or if you have a bad reaction to it, ditch it       6. Have a garage sale, or sell some things through EBay or in your local paper. You may even make a profit from shedding your excess. 7. Pay it forward – your excess clutter can be someone else’s treasure. The beautiful jacket you’ve held onto because one day you might be a size 10 again – give it to a friend and make her day! Toys, books, magazines & collections – the local kindergarten or school may appreciate a donation of some of these items. Old photos – put together a photo collage or photo gallery and give to your children or grandchildren.

De-cluttering your house is the absolute first thing you need to do to prepare your house for sale. And if you are not selling, it is still the best thing you can do to create more space and feel like you have moved to a new place!