Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa Real Estate Investor Magazine - August 2017 | Page 23

RENOVATION
Fast Property Makeover
and Fixer Upper tips
How to increase the value
for selling and renting
BY NEALE PETERSEN
D
oing any improvements on your house or
investment properties is a sound financial
investment, provided you don’t over capitalize.
The best way to do this is to use a good contractor.
When times are tough, though, there are other ways to
improve the perceived value of your property.
One way to immediately add value without spending
money when either selling or renting a property is to:
• Change light bulbs to brighter lighting
• Declutter and remove furniture items – the less the
better
• Paint touch ups on walls and ceilings
• Move beds around
• Rearrange shelves to look neater and show storage
space
• Remove carpets
• Add photographs
• Mow the lawn and clean the front of the house
www.reimag.co.za
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Consider home‒staging if selling
Do any basic repairs
Add a carport for an extra car
Bring in plants
With a very tight economy, property owners are
spending more on looking after the smaller things on
their properties especially if they want to sell or rent it
out. In general, it’s been found that we prefer holding
off on major projects for better times.
When it comes to larger projects, such as solar panels,
the retiling of bathrooms and kitchens, painting rooms,
replacing plumbing, and adding new electrical fittings,
first draw up a list of “must haves”. Be sure to include
your budget in this list ‒ and stick to it.
While these big-ticket items can do wonders for the
value of your home, small updates and changes must
not be underestimated.
AUGUST 2017 SA Real Estate Investor
21