Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa Real Estate Investor Magazine - September 2017 | Page 30

IMPROVING
TA
Selling the Kitchen
BY MONIQUE DU TOIT
Easy improvements to
increase your property’s value
C
S
outh Africans love cooking and eating. With a compet-
itive property market, it’s important to set your house
apart from the rest. It’s a well-known fact that kitchens
and bathrooms are the rooms in the house that unlock the
most value to a property. By getting this right, you’re able to
drastically increase your home’s value. Whether you're looking
to rent your property out, or sell your home, the kitchen is a
good place to start if you want to entice tenants or buyers.
As Sandy Geffen from Sotheby's International Realty
South Africa states, “simple measures like a fresh coat of paint
and replacing dated taps and cupboard handles could make a
significant difference to the final sale price as well as how long
a property remains on the market.”
Cabinets and counters
Kitchen cabinetry can get expensive. While it may seem
tempting to rip all existing cabinets out and replace them with
shiny new versions, this may not be the best way to go about
it. A lick of paint and new door handles immediately increase
the overall feel of a kitchen. One area in which it may be wise
to invest a bit more, is in counter tops. Hygienic and solid
counter tops go a long way in improving the style of a kitchen,
with several more cost-effective options available. While gran-
ite used to be king, we’ve seen a few interesting new materials
being utilised in this high-use area. Examples include wood
(butcher blocks); quartz; tiles; and cement. Be sure to weigh
up the investment in material to the value of your property.
Fixtures and fittings
One of the fastest ways to increase the appearance of a kitch-
en, is by improving the lighting. Warm, ambient lighting
will do wonders for this room that is too-often plagued with
fluorescent tubes. Similarly, new taps and door handles can
vastly improve the feel of quality in the kitchen. Don't get
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SEPTEMBER 2017 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine
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too fancy, though: stick to classic styles that will appeal to
more tenants or buyers.
Clean
This is probably the most obvious aspect of improving your
property’s value. Kitchens are notorious spill-are