Should we renovate before we sell? Do we update the kitchen, redo the bathroom, repaint everything, or just sell it as it is?

Once you get a few quotes to renovate a kitchen and a bathroom, you'll find out these days that it's, uh, there's not much change out of 40 or $50,000. You're just not gonna get a, a big uplift there.

We still get buyers come in and say, "Well, I wish you hadn't have put that carpet there because I want floorboard." Focus on presentation, not perfection. Absolutely.

Welcome to the Selling Southport Podcast. I'm Andrew Wright, principal of Professional Southport since 2008. Real estate isn't just my career, it's my passion. With decades of experience, I know what it takes to succeed in the property market, especially here in Southport. Whether you're looking to buy, sell, lease, or invest, you can count on me and my team to deliver strategies that maximise your returns.

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of Selling Southport. Now, one of the most common questions sellers ask before going to market is, "Should we renovate before we sell? Do we update the kitchen, redo the bathroom, repaint everything, or just sell it as it is?" Because on one hand, you do wanna maximize your sale price, but on the other hand, you don't wanna spend money if you're not gonna get it back.

So today we're gonna break down how to think about renovations properly before selling. I'm joined again by Andrew Wright, the principal of Professional Southport. Now Andrew, this is a question you get a lot. So should sellers renovate before selling?

Well, there's a lot of answers and a lot of different questions, uh, to that, but it, it, it depends a lot.

It depends on whether it's a house or a unit. Yep. It depends whether it's a, a prestige property or one that's at the lower end of the market, and it probably also depends on how strong the current market is. Is it a really, really strong market, or is it a tough market? Now, in recent years, the market's been very, very good and, um, properties have sold quickly.

And the answer to that question, you should always ask your real estate agent for advice as to if you're planning on spending some money upgrading, ask the agent, "Am I gonna get my money back? Am I gonna get some extra? Is it gonna help me sell the property quicker, or is it not?" And you've got to take into account the, uh, the opportunity cost too, because on the Gold Coast right now, for example, trying to get hold of tradesmen to do work, uh, you'd...

you could be talking a three-month process, and during that time, if you're missing out on three months of rent- And you're getting $1,000 a week rent. There's 13 grand gone, plus an extra rates bill, an extra water bill- Yep ... and interest payments to your bank. So you've got to look at that opportunity cost.

You can quickly lose 20 grand there just in opportunity cost.

Yeah, no, and that's probably something a lot of people don't actually factor in. So when speaking to an agent and asking these, these questions, I guess the first thing is, you know, what's the difference between actually renovating and just sort of doing a, a, a few quick touch-ups?

Mm-hmm. And when either, either makes sense. I mean, I think you would always recommend doing some, some, you know, very basic stuff, I would imagine.

Uh, cosmetic things, yes. Mm. So nine times out of 10, new carpets is a good idea, fresh paint inside is a good idea, and upgrading, if it's an old property, the lighting to LED lights can be a very good idea, and it's a quick process to get an electrician through, some carpets upgraded, and a repaint.

It can all usually be done within a couple of weeks without that opportunity cost of getting tradesmen in to upgrade kitchens and bathrooms.

Sure. When does it actually make sense to do that- Mm ... more, I guess, involved work like you've just mentioned- Mm ... an upgrade of a, a kitchen or, um, you know, redoing a bathroom?

Well, once again, if you're in that prestige market, I would say the majority of the time the answer would flip there, and you probably should consider doing it. Um, where I live, uh, on Sovereign Islands, um, you probably would be much better off upgrading the kitchens and the bathroom because that prestige buyer, to them, their time is very valuable.

They're probably not gonna wanna mess around doing an upgrade. So if you're in a prestige area of Southport on the, on the river there or the TSS area, it may well be a location where you probably should get quotes to upgrade the kitchen and the bathrooms. Sure. Lower-end market, may- maybe not so much.

Maybe just- Paint, replace the carpets, and put in some LED lighting to make it nice and light and bright.

Sure. 'Cause that- Smells good too, Adam ... yeah, new paint, ab- absolutely. Um, 'cause that was gonna be my, my next question, when is it better to just leave the property as is? If

the house is one that needs serious renovation or might be a knockdown job, uh, you're probably not gonna wanna do anything to it.

So i- it depends again, every, every horse is for courses. You need to ask the agent their opinion. Show them through the property. They'll tell you whether it's worthwhile spending time and money upgrading it, giving it a cosmetic refresh with carpet, paint, and LED lighting, or doing the full monty renovation, which at the moment you, you may not even be able to get that job done within a few months.

Mm. So, um, it, it's probably more the more prestige market where you're going to be doing the full monty to actually get reward for money there.

Sure. And I guess another, um, part to this decision-making process on what to do and, and how far to go would be, you know, the buyer that you're actually targeting for the, for the property.

Absolutely. And, and, and again, when you get that prestige market, you're, you're probably not targeting investors, you're probably targeting the homeowner, someone looking for a prestige property to live in.

Mm. Whereas a, a, an investor I would, I would say is, um, more just looking that, um, you know, it, it's in good nick and, um, you know, rentable.

A- absolutely. And, and that brings up a- another thing I'd forgot to mention there, Adam, I mean, it comes down a lot to your budget.

Mm. I

mean, once you get a few quotes to renovate a kitchen and a bathroom, you'll find out these days that it's, uh, there's not much change out of 40 or $50,000 if you're wanting to do a couple of bathrooms and a kitchen.

Mm.

How do you as an agent know the cost of a reno and whether it's gonna come back- Mm ... in increased value and sale price? Mm. How do you determine that as an agent? 'Cause-

Yeah ...

your clients will be relying on that- Mm ... on that bit of advice.

Yeah. Well, typically an agent sells in a particular location, and in recent months there, there'll be comparable transactions where we've sold a property that was upgraded and properties that haven't been upgraded, and we know.

In relation to the costings, you get a pretty good idea of what a renovation costs, but generally to do the best thing by our clients, we'll generally get at least two quotes on upgrades before we can make a good analysis of how much is it gonna cost to do versus what's the likely return.

Sure. Sure.

What's the biggest mistake you see sellers make when it comes to, to renovations?

Probably having a emotion- Of architecturally designing something that's perfect, and just not realizing that you're not gonna get your money back, particularly when it comes to a unit or a house. Like, if you, uh, have a unit and you're wanting to spend an absolute fortune in an old building, putting in a really expensive kitchen and bathroom, you're just not gonna get a, a big uplift there because the people that are gonna buy that property are probably not gonna pay a premium to you when there's 100 other apartments of exactly the same floor plan in the same building.

Whereas with a house, you're more likely to get a bit more of an uplift.

Yep, because you're, you're creating something more unique- More unique ... and more- Absolutely ... of emotional attachment that a, a buyer could, could, um, sort of have when they, when they see that upgrade, for sure. So, um, look, what... I, I guess, what is your key takeaway then for someone, you know, who is thinking about, you know, going to market- Mm

and, um, you know, is right in the middle here and thinks, "Well, you know, I've listened to everything you, you've said, but I'm, I'm just, I'm just not sure. This, uh, i- i- it could go either way."

If it could go either way, get the agent's advice, and just realize that even sometimes when we do the cheaper cosmetic upgrades with replacing carpets and paint and putting in LED lights, we still get buyers come in and say, "Well, I wish you hadn't have put that carpet there because I want floorboards."

So it just shows you that- Yeah ... you probably don't wanna... In the lower end of the market in particular, you don't wanna go overboard with how much you spend, but a, a light touch-up can provide the emotion of the smell of the new carpet and the- Yep ... new paint. Yep. And, and that's nearly always a good investment.

Okay. So focus on presentation, not perfection. Absolutely. Excellent. Okay. Well, look, thanks again for listening to, to Selling Southport. I hope you found this, um, this particular episode, uh, uh, helpful. And again, please do share it with anyone you do know who is, um, looking to sell or, or even buy in the, the Southport area in particular.

Andrew's always willing to have a chat with you about absolutely anything when it comes to, to property, so do reach out to, uh, to Andrew at, um, professionalsouthport.com.au. If you're thinking about selling and you want advice on what actually is worth doing, he's always willing to guide you in the right direction.

Thanks once again. Please do subscribe to not miss any episodes and, uh, look forward to seeing you, uh, on the next episode. Thanks again, Andrew. Thank you, Adam.

Thanks for listening to the Selling Southport podcast. I hope today's episode has given you some valuable insights and practical advice on the local real estate market.

Whether you're looking to buy, sell, lease, or invest, I'm here to share my extensive experience and guide you every step of the way. If you have any questions or want to discuss your next property move, don't hesitate to reach out. Your success is my priority. Stay tuned for more expert tips and updates on the Southport property scene.