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Becky Neale

Renovating before Selling

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It is the usual story. Your home gets renovated just how you have always wanted it to look and then you sell it! Sometimes, making those improvements to your home could actually turn off potential buyers.

Here are 10 tips for home improvements that can make or break your house sale.

Screen Shot 2014-09-11 at 2.52.58 PM1. Kitchen Renovations. We all have different tastes when it comes to kitchen design. But a renovation of a kitchen that is too taste-specific or extreme in design can be a turn off. Update your existing kitchen in a way that allows a new owner to add their touch. Getting existing cupboards painted and putting on new handles can be cost effective. Ultimately you want to appeal to the broadest range of buyers when selling a home, and if a buyer thinks they need to spend money re-doing what you’ve done, they will offer less. 

2. Bathroom Renovations. The same can be said for bathroom renovations. Any design that is over the top could detract from the value of the home. A fresh coat of paint will do wonders in the bathroom, as will new grout in tiled showers. Go for a clean and fresh look. If the bathroom is really outdated then talk to your real estate agent about their advice before you do a complete makeover. But please, get rid of the old shower curtain!

Screen Shot 2014-09-20 at 8.16.55 PM3. Painting. Painting the walls is a great way to freshen up a space prior to putting your home on the market, but painting with bold colours such as red, orange, purple or even black is a sure way to turn off a potential buyer. Buyers want to feel like they can move right in and not have to re-paint the walls to match their own tastes and their existing furniture.  A neutral color palette throughout your home will enable your potential buyers to place their furniture. If they want to go mad with bold colours when they move in – they can – and it will be easier to paint over light walls than dark! The same goes for painting the exterior of the home – Please! No bright blues, yellows or greens! 

4. Water Features. Having an in-ground pool or pond will raise questions, as buyers may perceive these as extra maintenance expenses they don’t want to incur. Also, buyers with small children may be fearful of these as well. Make sure your pool has compliant fencing and check any possible defects that may cause leaks. Clean the pool and surrounds to make it an enticing feature of your home.  

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5. Room conversion. Taking valuable square footage in a house and using it for a specific, personalized purpose can make the house harder to sell and/or detract from its value, for example, turning a garage into a gym. Most buyers would see this as wasted space. Parking is usually important to buyers so dismantle the gym and put it in storage while your house is on the market. The great price achieved for your house will help pay your gym fees!

6. Redecorating. Redecorating in a highly taste-specific style, country clutter or extremely modern can turn-off potential buyers. When selling your home, you want to appeal to the broadest range of buyers, so it’s important that the furniture and décor is neutral and broadly appealing. If your home style is ‘eclectic’ then maybe consider putting your furniture in storage and home stage your home. A move that will prove to be an investment.  

7. DIY Home Repairs. More commonly known as DIY Home nightmares! While needed repairs and maintenance should be done to a home before putting it on the market, doing these yourself can sometimes end up costing you money as buyers perceive your ‘less than professional’ workmanship as something they have to spend money fixing. Our Pre – Sale Evaluation covers potential areas for cosmetic improvement and repair. We give you a list of projects that you can then get a quote for from a professional handyman. Ask for one – it will be worthwhile investment!

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8. Floor coverings.  If you have to lay a new carpet think neutral! Avoid strong colours that dominate. There are still a host of colours you can choose from, but stay away from strong, heavy bold colours and maybe think awhile before you put down white! Particularly if it is a family home!

 

9. Illegal home improvements.  These days it pays to make sure that you have all renovation work approved and certified by your local council. Decks, driveways, and additions that are not approved by the local council can devalue your home. Unfortunately you will probably be forced to correct the situation prior to selling. Worse case scenario could result in having to remove unapproved additions. So always get sign off!

10. Gardens and Landscaping. A high-maintenance garden and landscaping could also polarize would be buyers. If buyers are not avid gardeners or don’t want to spend money watering or hiring someone to constantly weed, trim and spray your garden, then this may deter them from buying your home. But then an avid gardener or two is likely to fall in love. Just make sure repairs are made to any paths,sheds or decks and that your lawn is ready for a Mad Hatters Tea Party!

 


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So, before you decide to make those improvements to your home, go through this list and see if you are making the improvements for you or your buyer.

Make A Wish

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A house designed to make dreams come true

The foundations for the Fairway Bay Wish House have been poured, and building work is underway in Pinecrest Drive, Gulf Harbour.

GJ Gardner’s Managing Director Elaine Morley says notwithstanding the 130 homes she is building this year in the Rodney District, she is delighted to be involved in the project at Fairway Bay. “For us it is one of the ways that we can be giving back to the community. “

The “Wish House” is a collaborative charity drive involving GJ Gardner and Fairway Bay developer Top Harbour Limited and Barfoot & Thompson. The project will see a house be built by GJ Gardner for auction on 8th November 2014 by Barfoot and Thompson. Living Edge Interiors will assist with the supply and home staging of furniture while the property is being marketed. All profits from the sale are going to one of New Zealand’s favourite charities, Make-A-Wish.

Make-A-Wish grants the wishes of children aged 3-17 throughout NZ with life threatening medical conditions to bring them hope, strength and joy at a very challenging time in their lives. Make-A-Wish CEO Shane Gorst says “We are dedicated to making every eligible child’s wish come true. With this kind of support, we will be able to grant over 200 wishes in 2014.”

Fairway Bay CEO Sean Pan refers to his ongoing support for Make-A-Wish saying “this is our second major charity initiative with Make-A-Wish. We look forward to it being a huge success and hope there are many more in the future.”

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All profits from the sale are going to one of New Zealand’s favourite charities, Make-A-Wish.

Make-A-Wish grants the wishes of children aged 3-17 throughout NZ with life threatening medical conditions to bring them hope, strength and joy at a very challenging time in their lives.

Make-A-Wish CEO Shane Gorst says Make-A-Wish CEO Shane Gorst says “We are absolutely thrilled to be working with Fairway Bay for the second year in a row alongside Barfoot & Thompson and G J Gardener on this exciting community event. The proceeds from the Wish House will go a long way towards making wishes come true for special kiwi kids locally here on the North Shore, and all over New Zealand”

This is the second major charity initiative that the Fairway Bay developer has undertaken with Make-A-Wish – in February last year, the organisation sowed and sold fields of sunflowers for the charity.

Source: G J Gardener and Fairway Bay

 

Home Staging Essentials

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It’s always great when real estate professionals and home stagers create strong partnerships. In these situations, both parties support and rely on each other to handle the important aspects of preparing and selling homes. Ultimately both the real estate agent and the home stager are working together to achieve the best price and outcome for the client.

Here are some of our top tips for helping to sell real estate quickly and for the best price.

1. Selecting your Stager More important than cost is the experience, talent and resources a staging professional will have, and the results they achieve! When selecting your staging professional, base your final decision on their portfolio, professionalism and expertise. First and foremost have a look at their website and social platforms like facebook. Read online testimonials. View their portfolio of home staging transformations. This will give you an immediate sense of the type of interior styling they are capable of. Here at Living Edge Showhomes, we have a team of interior stylists that have a wealth of experience, talent and enthusiasm. Take a look at some of our interior transformations http://livingedge.co.nz/~googlek9/livingedge-googlebusinessprofile-co-nz//real-estate-listings/

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NEW! PRE-SALE PROPERTY Evaluation    

I am sure you have all experienced the beautification of an interior by home staging only to have it compromised by an untidy exterior! Living Edge Showhomes has just launched a comprehensive interior and exterior property evaluation service. This evaluation will help identify potential areas for cosmetic improvement. From trimming hedges to cleaning gutters, you will receive a list of projects to complement home staging services. Most of these projects are simple DIY projects that the owners can do themselves or employ the professional services of a maintenance company. This service is  offered at $155.00.

2. Poor planning and time management – This is an important one! Many people fail to plan how much time it will reasonably take to prepare and stage their homes for sale. The sense of urgency prompts them to put the property on the market when it clearly isn’t market ready. Be reasonable and plan for taking anywhere between 1 – 3 weeks to get your home show-worthy. This includes both the exterior and interior. Calling in a home stager and then planning for photos the next day is unrealistic for both your clients and your stager. Book your home staging well in advance to make sure you can secure the services of the home stager you have selected.

3. Don’t sell your property vacant – It’s a known fact! Vacant properties take longer to sell than staged properties. That can mean sitting on the market for so much longer and going through countless price reductions.  Investing in home staging never costs as much as the first price reduction once a property is on the market. Remember that many buyers cannot visualize beyond what they can see, so home staging allows them to start placing their own furniture in their mind with a lot more ease! Sell them on the lifestyle and create an emotional connection. Here’s an example of an empty room and the transformation after it has been given an interior make over! See the difference?

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4. Always use professional photography – It’s an online real estate world and buyers are searching for their next dream home on their mobile devices. Buyers are also inherently visual so professional pictures of bright, modern spaces will get their attention and get them in the door for a visit. It is simply not an option any more not to use professional photography. A buyer’s feeling of your home inspires a vision of desired lifestyle.

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5. Encourage tidy tenants or homeowners during the Staging Once a home has been staged, it’s important that it be kept in the same condition throughout the time it is for sale. Moving furniture around or relocating staging decor can make the staging less effective. Additionally, if someone sits on a bed or a sofa, fix those pillows and straighten the bedding!

If you aren’t staging your property then we suspect that you are helping to sell the staged homes in your area. Sellers are aware of these changes and are seeking out real estate agents who offer home staging as part of their listing services. They know they have to do more to impress the new generation of buyers.

Staging will give you a more marketable property, less time on the market with a sales result that will meet or exceed your expectations. We say YES to home staging!

 

Blog Author: Sharon Laffan MD Living Edge Showhomes

You’ve made your bed!

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Probably one of the most common questions I am asked as an Interior Stylist is “Do you make your bed like this every day?”

And the answer in short is yes. Admittedly perhaps not the exceptionally full beds with double-duvets, three blankets, six pillows and a bunch of scatter-cushions, but every day without fail, I make my bed before leaving the house.
The duvet is tossed into the air, floating down upon the bed (evenly on both sides of course), the euros puffed and pulled taught at their points, standing tall at the back with my standard pillows stacked neatly on top of each other. The blanket is folded in half, or thirds, depending on the season (yes, really. There is method to the madness however, as it is much easier to pull half the blanket up and over myself when IN the warm delicious cloud I am currently encased in, than it is a wrestle with the thirds, ultimately getting tangled, resulting in the need to GET OUT of bed into the cold. Perish the thought!).

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The reason I make my bed every day is not so much that I have a mild-case of OCD or want all and everything to constantly appear in all of its’ perfectly-positioned glory (I am sure the other-half may tell you otherwise, with many a debate at 6am in the morning over making said-bed), but because I just don’t like getting INTO an un-made bed. I do understand that perhaps due to occupational requirements that it may seem a far more casual event to me than most, but that is just the simple truth. In my younger years, I am quite sure I was not so akin to making my bed, or anything else, other than dancing and sewing, but I have grown very much to appreciate a well-made sleeping-spot.

 

Here are my top tips for making a gorgeous, show home bed in 5 minutes:

  • Pull everything off – it is good to actually let your bed air out for a while before covering it all back up
  • If you like a flat sheet, tuck the bottom in first, enveloping the sides under your mattress. Pull the rest of the sheet up towards the top of the bed, flattening as you go.
  • Euros – fluff, pull taut and place upright at the head of the bed
  • Standards, stack one on top of the other, in front of the euros, but under your sheet
  • Easiest way to get your duvet on in one go, is to do it from the foot of your bed. Toss it into the air and ‘shimmy’ it into place. Turn back the top, folding the sheet down with you.
  • Similarly with your blanket, go from the base of your bed, laying it across the mattress and folding down in one go. Ta-da!

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Insiders tip – when putting on your clean, crisp linen, iron them once they are on your bed. This makes for a far easier and quicker result than attempting to do half a duvet at a time, dragging it along the floor as you go or the weight of it crinkling up what you have just spent ten minutes pressing.

 

 

 

Author:  Lucy Miles is Head Creative at Living Edge Interiors

 

Black And White Interior Design

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One of the smartest colour combinations—hands down—is black and white.

From the Chanel runways in Paris to the salons in West Hollywood and the interiors of some of the most prestigious homes, you will find variations of black and white contrast that are absolutely timeless and easy to pull off at home.

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When you use now contrast in the home you have a unique opportunity to make a bold white or black piece the focal point, such as this black and white Marilyn Monroe piece.

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You can emphasize patterns, like this rug on the floor and these great square guard rails on the stairs.

 

 

 

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An all-black wall adds a cool dimension to a theater room while all black walls throughout creates a museum feel to a living area. 

 

 

 

Even small spaces can benefit from black and white contrast. Here only the trim is painted black but it makes the room seem more interesting because it emphasizes the bones of the room that might not otherwise be noticed.

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If you can’t figure out how to work with a black and white interior, just ask one of our interior designers and we would be happy to help.

Blog inspiration:  Space Sculpt

Thinking of selling your home?

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Here are 5 good reasons to put your property on the market today!

As the old saying goes, the best time to buy property was yesterday so congratulations on having a foot hold in the real estate market. There may be many reasons why you are considering selling your home.  Sometimes these reasons are out of your control, but if you can sell and buy in the same market then you can realize many advantages.

Here are the Top 5 Reasons Living Edge Interiors believe now may be a perfect time to put your house on the market.

 1) Housing Demand Is High

According to Statistics New Zealand the growth in new housing developments appears to be slowing – just at a time there’s huge concern about housing shortages, particularly in Auckland.

Any continued slowing in the rate of growth in housing developments could put further upward pressure on house prices.

The Reserve Bank’s already concerned about rising house prices and the impact that a ‘housing bubble’ could potentially have on the financial stability of our major banks.

The number of new houses approved in August, excluding apartments, rose a seasonally adjusted 0.8%, according to Statistics New Zealand.

2) Supply Is Beginning to Increase

As interest rates rise it is not unexpected to potentially see more properties listed on the market as sellers begin to understand that current price levels may not be able to be maintained. Selling now while demand is high and before supply increases may garner you your best price.

3) Interest Rates could rise next year

Whilst interest rates are low, now could be the time to upgrade to a bigger home or property – just make sure you look at the interest rate movements and secure a term loan that you know is going to be affordable and suit you the best.

 According to Bernard Hickey from interest.co.nz “whilst RBNZ held the OCR, increases are forecast for interest rates. This would imply floating mortgage rates rise to around 7.5% by early 2016 and suggests interest rates would rise around 100 basis points by the end of 2014 as the next election approaches”.

The central bank warned again that house price and construction cost inflation could spill over into wider inflation pressures and it was likely to increase the OCR next year. Its forecasts for the 90 day bill rate suggest it has bought forward its first expected rate hike from the September quarter of 2014 to the June quarter.

 4) It’s Time to Move On with Your Life

Look at the reason you are thinking about selling and decide whether it is worth waiting. Is the possibility of a few extra dollars more important than being with family; more important than your health; more important than having the freedom to go on with your life the way you think you should?

5) What is the value of my home?

Selling your home and knowing it’s true value before you buy another house is certainly advantageous! Ultimately your home is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. So putting it on the market and selling it before you buy another is certainly powerful!

You already know the answers to the questions we just asked. You have the power to take back control of your situation by putting the house on the market today. The time may have come for you and your family to move on and start living the life you desire. That is what is truly important.

So what are you waiting for. Call us today for a consultation on (09) 630 0066

 

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