Adding value to a damn ugly house with as much street appeal as a brick wall.

I'm thinking of doing a reno on a property I've seen with potential to either sell or keep. I've got a few idea's of my own, but would like to hear how others have overcome this. I'm thinking picket fence, nice carport, nice garden bed - row of kangaroo paws. Worst house, best street. The other houses in street are mainly new (upper class) or 1900's to 1960's character houses. This house is a 1970 built house.
 
Totally agree NBS, not giving us much to work with.

Is rendering the brickwork and option?? Raised garden beds?? Patterened driveway??

Thing is, how much do you want to do to keep it as a rental, how much more would you be prepared to do for sale?? How much is it worth in the final figures???
 
Hope this worked!!
 

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declutter the garden, put in a few cottage style garden beds, around the sides or in the middle (big round one with pansies), would plantation shutters work on the front windows, maybe a gazebo in the front garden would take the focus away from actual front of the house?

Depending on where your located, maybe a water consious garden would work, lots of pebbles, palms and suculants etc, colour the driveway, and render/shutters on the front of the house, Some other focal point at the front of the house.....huge planter pot , tree/garden in middle of yard, water feature in centre of front wall as part of garden. Maybe even a divinding wall with a flowering vine climbing over it to break the bleakness of the front of the house...Doesn't have to be against the wall, just enough to break up that 70's front.
 
Ok, get rid of sliding doors and square up the corners/edges (if selling), can one fit a car under the carport?? Or would a big deck with privacy screens be better out the front of the house have more impact? Could the driveway go into the front yard, putting up a heritage carport to cover up the view of the front of the house??, back yard looks fine, just needs a good tidy up, gardens are option, but one or two help potential buyers more confident about putting in more of their own. ( Had a friend once not want to buy a house because it had NO gardens, she didn't see she had a blank canvas).

There are lots of ways to change the look at the front. Just adding something changes it. The key can be adding the 'right' thing and that takes knowing your potential buyer (retirees, families, dinks, immigrants etc).
 
Yep, power pole at front, you could most likely put heritage carport at front of existing carport.

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Hope this worked!!

What about placing two single carports either side at front of block with a Pagoda covered entrance gate, then a path leading from gate to front door with some lush planting either side. I would go with shutters to front windows too.

JASA
 
Wow, that is quite ugly. I like the old wallmount airconditioner hole that they've filled in.

Some suggestions, much like others have said:

Spray-on something or other over that driveway
Put a rollerdoor on the carport or build more carport forward of the existing one with gables and twiddly bits that matches others in the street
Render the house, whack on quoins or shutters just to reduce how much blank wall there is, and get a letterbox to match
Rip out the entire garden and put in something that matches the rest of the street, with a very tall focal point in the centre to hide the blank wall of the house - little gazebo does sound good, or landscape a mound upwards with big rocks or something on and an ornamental tree or large yakka if you're going waterwise.

What's the rest of the street like? Would a verandah or pergola out front fit in? The poles of a pergola would break up the front of the house and you could grow flowering plants on it, if it faces north or west having deciduous plants on a pergola would be great.

You really need to tart that house up in context with the street. In my town it is dead easy - 80% of the town has picket fences and standard roses. In new estates it is mostly gravel and flaxy-look plants.
 
Picket Fence

If your still thinking of a picket fence, think about getting one of the newer types that are not made of wood and that never need to be painted or maintained...like polvin pickets for example.
 
I'm thinking of doing a reno on a property I've seen with potential to either sell or keep. I've got a few idea's of my own, but would like to hear how others have overcome this. I'm thinking picket fence, nice carport, nice garden bed - row of kangaroo paws. Worst house, best street. The other houses in street are mainly new (upper class) or 1900's to 1960's character houses. This house is a 1970 built house.


Hi INVSTOR
Interested in what the inside of house like? Do you need to spend any money here?

I have added the 5% on top of purchase to cover s/duty and financial costs and then selling costs + 20K.

I think there may be about 10% in the deal if you onsell.

Cheers, MTR
 
I haven't done spreadsheet yet to have a really good look, will do later today. I can paint inside myself. Would get pro to polish floors. Need tiler for kitchen and bathroom (already have tiles) New kitchen door fronts and reconstituated granite over existing benchtop. Property has been sitting vacant for a while, needs a good dusting. There's another person interested in the property, so I need to have max price and be prepared to walk away.
 
Hi INVSTOR
I have been looking at doing similar and finding it hard to find a suitable project which will make anywhere close to 20%.

Cheers, MTR
 
Hi MTR, yer, it doesn't seem worth the risk. I think there's still a lot of uncertaintity in the market, and I don't really want to be left having to hold onto to neg geared property if it didn't sell. There's got to be an easier/less risky way. Maybe a better idea would be to look into ways to increase the yield on my existing resi properties.
 
I would render the outside brickwork ,paint the roof a lighter color,
Put in a nice rendered mailbox,get rid of that power pole and run the power underground (If possible)
Stencil the driveway with a terracotta look,
Thats just for a start,;)
 
Yeh it all adds up soon enough.

Just have to watch you dont go over capatilizing.

Sometimes instead of doing 10 things, picking one or two 'changing' ones will have just as much 'wow' factor as doing all.
 
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