3 Ways To Add Value To A Unit Instantly

Units can often be a great investment. They offer a lower entry point into the market and make it easier for first home buyers to get started in real estate. Often I get asked the question “How can I increase the value of my unit?” so I wanted to quickly cover 3 simple steps to increasing the value of your unit.

Adding value to a unit is a great way to make money in real estate. Units can achieve spectacular capital gains if they are purchased in the right area and they often have low vacancy rates as well which adds security for investors.

These tips are great because they can also increase the rental income of your unit instantly as well. If you own a unit, or are considering buying a unit and want to make it worth as much as possible then read this post.

1. Give Your Kitchen And Bathroom A Facelift

If you buy a house and you don’t like the colour of it do you knock it down? Of course you don’t that would be so expensive. So what do you do instead?

You paint it!

Let’s apply that same thinking to the kitchen and bathroom. What if you didn’t have to do a full renovation to give the kitchen and bathroom a facelift?

Me and my wife (mainly my wife) have painted 4 kitchens and each time they added not only value to the price of the property but also increased the potential rental value. Sometimes as much as a 25% increase on the rental yield or a $100,000 increase in value.

What you do is you take an old dated kitchen and you paint it white and put new modern handles on each of the cupboards. Obviously you need to use a special paint but this is inexpensive as easy to obtain from any Bunnings.

You can do the same to your bathroom. Most bathroom have extremely dated wall tiles. Paint them white and BAM your bathroom is almost brand new.

The kitchen is key in determining the value of a house and a bad bathroom just decreases the value of your property. A paint job will cost you a few hundred dollars, a weekend of hard work and is likely to add thousands to the value of your property.

2. Fresh Coat With Neutral Colours

When someone buys your house they are going to repaint it the colour they want, that is a fact. So you need to reassess why you are painting your unit.

You are NOT painting the unit for the tastes of the buyers and you are certainly NOT painting the unit according to your own tastes.

The goal is to paint your unit in such a way that it appeals to the largest range of people. You want as many people as possible to envision themselves living in your unit. This increases the value as it gives you more offers (so you can choose the best one) and sometimes it even helps to start a bidding war.

Paint your house with fresh modern neutral colours so that you don’t deter anyone, but encourage every potential buyer to fall in love with your property.

3. Fresh Flooring

Would you pay more money for an 200gm eye fillet steak cooked to perfection by a master chef with your choice of home made sauces or a double cheeseburger?

Both have the same amount of meat and the cheeseburger comes with cheese and bread. So why would you pay more money for the eye fillet steak?

The person who would pay for the eye fillet steak would be a different people than the person who opts for the double cheeseburger. There are different markets for different people.

The same is true for your unit. There are people who will pay top dollar for the best and people who are happy with average and low priced. Poor flooring attracts average buyers with an average budget.

Quality flooring mixed with the tips above help to move your unit from the average buyer to the buyer who has more (and is willing to pay more) money. Isn’t that who you want to sell your property to?

BONUS TIP – 4. Make It A Home, Not A Box

Would you pay more money for a beautifully decorated unit or a cardboard box the same size and shape?

People buy homes, not houses.

To increase the value of your home present it like a home. Set it up in such a way that it invites people in. Show them where the couch goes, where the master bed goes and where the kids get to sleep. Show them where they can sit at the breakfast bar each morning.

Setting your property up like a home, with neutral and modern furnishings, will get people imagining themselves living in your unit. Once you have them imagining themselves eating at the breakfast bar each morning then your property is already half sold.

Got any more ideas for how to increase the value of your home? Let me know on twitter by using @ryanmclean with your idea.