Makeover – Houses To Impress

Create the right mindset before you sell

Charyn — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 03:19:29 +0000

I do a lot of speaking engagements these days about Selling Homes for Profit using Cosmetic Makeovers and Home Staging. I always demonstrate my proven results with a PowerPoint presentation showing some of our clients before and after photos and generally my audience are always amazed about the huge returns we make our clients.

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

Burunga Avenue, SA

Charyn — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 06:38:43 +0000

This client had a very small budget to work with, so Houses to Impress helped the client with a Home Renovation to achieve a look that was more spacious and modern throughout the house. The major downfall for this house before the makeover was the original 1960’s kitchen. Without having to replace the kitchen Houses To Impress used simple and cost effective techniques to give it a new crisp clean look. Bedrooms In all of the bedrooms the carpets were professionally cleaned and all of the clutter was removed. In the master bedroom Houses To Impress supplied a new bed cover with matching cushions and replaced the old curtains with a modern wooden venetian. The cost of the Home Renovation/makeover in the master bedroom was the small amount of $150.00. Before After New quilt cover, declutter and cleaned Kitchen Before – Very cluttered and in need of upgrade After – Cleaned, excess clutter removed. New laminate bench. Walls painted one coat only just to freshen up. Existing wall tiles painted white. Existing Cupboard Doors painted and new handles installed. Old curtain and blind removed and replaced with black aluminium venetian blind to match new benchtop. New vinyl floor purchased and laid. Houses to Impress supplied accessories for benches and dining table for open inspection. Before After New bench top, Cupboards painted and tiles painted. Before After Painted existing tiles, painted walls, added mosaic feature strip and added fresh bathroom accessories

Increase your Rental Yield with Renovation and Home Staging

Charyn — Mon, 10 May 2010 04:10:18 +0000

How to fast track extra income from your existing rental properties.

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

Gives you instant equity – don’t wait for the 7 – 10 year property cycle to give you capital growth
Increase rental yield
Attract a better quality tenant
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