What renovations should you be making to your new home?

When looking for a new home, buyers don't often just take into account the ways that their lifestyle could fit into the existing property. Rather, there are more considerations to think about, including how you can modernise, what value you could add with certain additions or upgrades, and how the garden areas might be improved. DIY gardening projects are easy and fulfilling, so even if your recently bought home doesn't really require any changes, maybe you'd like to make some anyway. 

With CoreLogic RP Data monthly indices showing the median house price of Sydney property has shot over the illustrious $1 million mark, making fairly sure the property you're buying is the right one is even more important. It's not just about where you'll live or with how many others, but what your lifestyle will include as well.

Your next home inspection might be made a little different by thinking about the renovation ideas below:

1) Start with the front

First impressions count. What did you think of your new property the first time you ever laid eyes on it? Whatever it was, it clearly worked, because you now own that lovely patch of real estate.

You might well have purchased the place with the absolute intention of doing it up, but the facade really is one of the most important aspects of your renovation plans. Domain Group suggests that an updated front of a house can add up to $100,000 of value. You don't have to spend a lot either, but giving the next buyer the confidence that you've maintained the property well is going to be great for your back pocket.

What would you do to your house if you had a blank slate?

Having a nice clean facade also helps with street appeal, and can really help your address to stick out from the crowd in a very positive way. Sarah Lorden of Sarah Lorden Real Estate says some of the little fixes you can do are so easy but can make all the difference.

"Tidying up the exterior; touching up paint work, often you don't have to repaint but you can have the house washed; fixing fences or locks and window frames."

To get yourself into the right places to make all of these easy changes, use a 3.6-metre aluminium trestle from Kennards Hire.

2) Put bathrooms right at the top of your list

The old belief is that a kitchen and bathroom should be updated or changed at least once every 15 years. Potential buyers looking at a home with a recently renovated wet area could pay $100,000 or more for the property, according to Domain Group. It should only cost around $10,000 to completely overhaul, but the fresh feeling you'll create in your home will be invaluable.

Modern bathroom appliances such as taps, toilets and shower heads can also help to save you money on water usage.

You can save a significant amount of water with a modern tap.

Yarra Valley Water suggests that an old shower head can use up to 15 litres of water per minute, while a new and efficient option will use approximately seven litres. The same goes for the toilet - let's face it, we all use them. In an old single-flush model, 12 litres of water would be used. However, the modern introduction of a double-flush toilet can save a lot of water. A half flush only uses about three litres of water and a full flush, six. That's at least half of what an older system would use, and that saving could translate into more cash for your back pocket.

You can also add value with the functionality of a bathroom area. Concerning space, having a bath and shower combined can be a great way to free up room while still having the luxury of a bath option available to your family. On the other hand, if you have the floor space, try a 'wet area' - essentially a shower room with a head that has a larger spread of water. This is a great modern alternative to the traditional shower construct.

A quick fix to make to your bathroom areas is cleaning out the pipes of any leftover debris from the previous owners. Do this with an electric eel. Job done.

3) Landscaping is key

From the outside, there's more to enhancing the attraction of a house than giving it a fresh coat of paint! Landscaping your outdoor spaces can be not only easy, and the garden DIY options we've already discussed are essentially endless, but they can add a lot of value to your property as a whole. A massive $50,000, in fact.

"From the street it sets up a good picture of the house … At the rear, it is about enlarging the outdoor space: providing lawn for kids and trees for shading," said Angus Kell, the New South Wales manager of Archicentre.

What will you create in your garden?

You'll really make a difference to your property with solid landscaping choices. Bright plants and big, beautiful trees that don't require a lot of maintenance are all great options. Make the job cheaper by doing it yourself, and use a 300-millimetre electric chainsaw, a petrol lawn vacuum and a knapsack weed sprayer to get just a few jobs out of the way. You won't regret it.

Contact the crack team at Kennards Hire today and get started on the renovations for your recently purchased house.