Renovating for sale: is it worth updating the kitchen and bathroom?

A new bathroom or kitchen can set you back many thousands of dollars but there’s a lot you can do to renovate your home for sale without going near these big ticket items.

Auckland interior designer Jackie Jones advises painting walls and edges so everything looks fresh and clean.

Get some new cushions and throws for the couch, put up some new curtains and get a new, inexpensive rug for the floor - and declutter.

If the children’s rooms are a mess, get some colourful storage baskets so stuff isn’t strewn about everywhere.

Get rid of as much stuff as you can - chuck it out or rehome it, Jones says.

You can also fix minor blemishes. If there are cracks in ceilings or walls, for example, get them filled and painted, and don’t forget the outside of the house.

You can paint edges and sills to make sure the exterior also looks fresh and clean.

Think about how the exterior feels, as well. You don’t have to buy a statement front door but paint the one you have if you need to, and get a welcome mat and some pot plants to create a welcoming vibe.

“Make your house like a show home,” she says.

But don’t go overboard, she warns. You don’t need to go crazy buying things and renovating because new owners invariably want to put their own stamp on a house.

“You want to be careful you don’t spend money on things people are going to rip out anyway.”

Builder Owen Strawbridge, of Strawbridge Builds, says kitchens and bathrooms certainly add value but they can be mighty expensive.

The minimum cost of a bathroom is $20,000 and the depending on what you want, like underfloor heating, they can easily go up to $40,000.

“It’s all the different trades. You know, you need about seven different trades in there. You need a builder, plumber, electrician, tiler, painter, gib stopper, you know.

“Same thing with a kitchen, you need about five different trades plus you’ve got the cost of the kitchen [cabinets and appliances]. A kitchen can range from $7,000 to $250,000.”

You can keep away from these areas if they are functional and concentrate on renovations in other parts of the house, and definitely think about the outdoors, Strawbridge says.

Kiwis love outdoor living so putting in a nice deck and a set of doors opening out to it can add value.

“That’s quite a big selling point for a lot of New Zealanders I think. You can put a pine deck up for a reasonably good price.

“If you just want a pine deck you’re looking at about $300 a square metre then there’s just timber and aluminum joinery - aluminium joinery’s a lot cheaper and then just whack a set of doors in. We seem to do a lot of that at the moment.”

People also like dry homes so putting in a vent can be a good idea, and people like light homes so you could consider putting in sky lights, but how easy that is depends on the roof structure.

“And then, obviously, all the basic stuff like painting, polished floors, carpet, that sort of stuff.”