Designing Contemporary Homes & Landscaping

Designing Contemporary Homes Using the Equity in Your Home

By Wayne Saman

When building or renovating your home, you obviously want to change the house to meet your needs, but you also want to ensure you are adding to the value of your home when you are spending large sums of money on landscaping and renovating. And like other fashions, trends in home improvement come and go. So it makes good sense to differentiate the home improvements that actually increase the value of your real estate from those that are simply a fad such as the latest fashion of flooring, internal decor or shade runners around the pool and do not add so much to your bottom line.

There are many options available for improving your home’s value, from simple DIY projects through to glamour makeovers of all window coverings such as Venetian blinds supplied by ShutterShop, new bathrooms and kitchens, new flooring, fixtures fittings and fasteners to complete overhauls.

But does it make more sense to install a brand new kitchen with state-of the art fittings, or is it better to give it a coat of paint and some new cupboard handles? Will a pool or spa really bring in the big dollars? Experts say there is a lot to consider when renovating to add value to your home. What’s your renovation really worth? Before getting started, you will need to make a dispassionate assessment of whether your home is appropriate for the renovation you have in mind. For example, some older timber or weatherboard homes may be better suited to a ground level extension rather than adding an upper storey.

Then there is the question of budget. According to Robert Caulfield, Managing Director of Archicentre, it’s not uncommon for renovators to lose $100,000 overcapitalising on renovations. “They spend $250,000 but the value of the property goes up only $150,000,” says Caulfield. He suggests that if you are undertaking a significant renovation to your home, you should keep the budget to less than half the value of the property. Another tip, from website realestate.com.au, is to check out the selling price of comparable properties in the neighbourhood as a starting point for your renovation budget.

For example, if you bought a two-bedroom house for $350,000 and the best threebedroom house in the street sold for $425,000, then you should keep your budget below $70,000. A professional real estate valuer can provide important insight in assessing the home’s current value against it

When implementing construction onsite – ensure you have the correct temporary fencing and portable toilet facilities from ITFHire

Full Home Renovations

If there’s one name in the design and construction field that has been receiving an incredible amount of traction recently; it’s Unique Residence home renovations. Specialising in home renovations of all types – their in-house experts are some of the most highly qualified and experienced in the field. Although their team are more than capable of offering a variety of remodel, construction and design services, there are three that are especially popular amongst homeowners in and around Perth.