Renovations are a great way to add significant value to your property if you are looking to put it on the market in the near future. Whether you want to go for a full-scale re-do or a little touch up of some small features, the options are only limited by your budget.

Below we talk about a few renovation ideas that could potentially help you generate a nice little return on your investment when you do decide to sell.

Touching up the kitchen
For most families, the kitchen is the heart of the house. It is often the place where families come together, we entertain friends and memories are made. As a result, for many prospective buyers, a clean and modern kitchen is often top of the wish list.

Because of this, kitchen renovations large or small can really pay off. However, before you commit to splashing out and completely overhauling your kitchen, ask yourself, is this really necessary?

Consider the fact, that most Kiwis aren’t master chefs (even though we may think we are), thus they won’t require a large industrial kitchen. Instead, they will simply desire a nice clean, and modern space, that gives them ample room and storage.

So if you are looking at renovating the kitchen, consider updating the small feature before decking it out with every tool imaginable. Update the lighting, swap the taps or install energy-wise appliances. This little touches will drastically increase the attractiveness of the space whilst not costing you a small fortune.  

Adding a bathroom
This is where you could really add substantial value to your house. If your house only has one bathroom, this potentially is the first place you should look to renovate.

For most prospective buyers, multiple bathrooms is not so much a want, it is more of a requirement. Thus, you should do everything you can to add another bathroom or at least a second toilet.

Especially in some inner city Auckland suburbs, where space is at a premium, consider transforming that underutilised space or extra room into a bathroom. If you go to market with only one bathroom, you may be limiting the pool of interested buyers. Which will ultimately, affect your ability to generate the return you desire.

Changing the small features
If you are planning on renovating your property but only have a limited budget, there are still a number of small touches that could do wonders for your return.

For many buyers, they simply want to move into a house that is fairly modern and won’t require a large amount of investment on their part. One of the best ways to convey that is by updating the small features around your home. Things like the handles on the doors, sink taps, light fitting or light bulbs, are all small things you can update fairly easily and cost-effectively.

A new coat of paint
One of the simplest and most cost-effective ways of adding value to your home is by updating the paint job. As we have mentioned, buyers want to purchase a home that is clean, modern and doesn’t require much effort on their part. And, that is exactly what a fresh paint job indicates to them.

As the summer months approach, if you want to do this yourself, now is a perfect time to paint both the interior and exterior. This will do wonders for increasing the look and feel of your home to potential buyers.

However, your choice of colours will drastically impact how much value your new paint job will add. Remember, neutral colours will appeal to most people. So if you want to attract the most people you can, think twice about painting the outside lime green.


Obviously, there are a number of things you can do to add serious value to your home. But, one thing you do need to remember, especially if you are looking at selling in the near future, is to not over personalise the renovations. If you end up creating the home, in the shape that you love, you may be turning potential buyers off. Which will obviously impact your potential return.

However, renovating your home is a great way to add significant value to your house before you eventually sell. With competition for housing more competitive than ever, even the simplest renovations could add serious value to your home.

If you would like to discuss anything regarding accessing a loan for renovations or anything else to do with your home loan, get in touch today.

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