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Welcome to the Gold Coast Smart Real Estate Podcast—the ultimate guide to navigating one of Australia’s most dynamic and competitive property markets. Hosted by Brad Scott, Principal of Smart Real Estate with nearly two decades of experience, this podcast is your trusted resource for making smarter property decisions.
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  Welcome to the Gold Coast Smart Real Estate Podcast. I'm Brad Scott, here to help you make smart moves in the Gold Coast property market. Whether you're thinking of buying, selling, or just staying updated, we deep dive into everything you need to know, from our market insights to our unique open offers method of sale.
A blend of auction and private treaty to give you the best of both worlds. Hello
and welcome to the Gold Coast Smart Real Estate Podcast. I'm your host Adam Bell and today we're diving into a crucial topic for property owners and that is how to add value to your property without overcapitalizing. Now this is probably one of the most common concerns for homeowners. How to make money without overcapitalizing.
Well, let's call it smart upgrades and renovations and boost the value without spending more than they'll they'll get back and I guess that the common homeowner doesn't necessarily know what that is. So today we're going to we're we're really going to dive into that and look at some. Some really smart ways in to do it.
So I'm joined by Brad Scott, Principal of Smart Real Estate, once again, to share his insights on where to invest your time and money. So let's get started. Brad, welcome to the podcast. Excellent. All right. So let's, let's wind it right back. What does it actually mean to, to over capitalize and why is it such a common pitfall for homeowners?
Yeah, sure. So in essence, overcapitalizing essentially is just more actual value spent on perceived value. So, it's really crucial that whenever you're improving a property or renovating or getting ready for sale, Yep. that we spend less money. of actual value than what there is on perceived value.
Yep, and what that could generate when you go to, go to market and sell. That's it. Sure. Let's, uh, look at, this came up in one of our previous episodes. I want to use a big example first off. I know we'll talk about smart ways to spend a little to get a lot. Yep. But, let's talk a pool. All right. So let's really have a crack at this.
So someone's there, this is just to give the, let's get , the concept of this out there by using a big example. Right. I don't think this would happen too often in reality. Okay. But I think it's a good way to, to get our listeners to understand. So you decide that, all right, I'm probably going to sell in a year's time or something like that.
Forget market conditions, all that. Yep. I reckon putting a pool in is gonna up the, now I remember in the last episode, I think it was, was it 50 grand you said, generally on maybe your standard home, it might add value too, I don't know what, do you know what it costs to put a pool in? I got no idea.
Yeah, it's, you look at about 30, 000 for the install and then you got all your tiling and uh, landscaping and stuff like that.
So anyway, 50, 60 post COVID is about what it costs, extreme case is like 100 grand, cheap case 30. Right. Around 50, 60.
So probably a good example where you could very well over capitalise.
I say to people, they're a little bit like sunroofs in cars. You know, everybody sort of wants one.
Pools is a bit of a unique case. It's a lot of work. Planning approvals, uh, getting access to the unit, to , the block, it's a big job. You can definitely add value by having a pool, especially in a family type property where kids love swimming in pools. You know, so you just gotta weigh up.
Again, gotta be smart about it. Don't go and spend 100, 000 on a pool because you will add about 50, 60, 000 by putting a pool in, so if you can get one done for 30, smartly, you're probably going to do okay. You're going to do okay. If you don't spend, I've seen clients spend 100, 120 grand on a pool, and I don't think they've improved the value by that much.
Sure.
Now, as I said, probably just a good example for us to start with, to show the concept of overcapitalizing and one that very well could. And I can tell you
from a. Perspective of investors too. Investors will shy away from pools. Oh yeah,
it's a big problem for them. Maintenance, safety, pool
pumps, and yeah, you got the pool fence regulations and it's more of a headache for investors.
So for an investor, they'll generally look for properties without pools. Yep. Because they're cheaper to maintain, less risk. Stuff like that. So the things to be aware of. Sure.
All right. So let's what is maybe your advice then for homeowners? Who are there looking to? Identify what upgrades what little reno's what little let's call them little bits and pieces Let's look for those low cost high increase in value things start to talk me through a few
Yeah, so this is a very common question when I go and see sellers.
Oh Provide like a free, you know, sales consultation in preparation for going to market. So I'll go and see clients, have a look at their property and say, look, you know, they'll ask me questions like, Oh, we're thinking about gutting and doing a brand new bathroom. Should we do it? I'm sort of like, look, you know, it's going to cost you about 20 grand to gut and redo the bathroom.
And if you redo it, In a way that is, not broad, offering broad appeal, it can actually put some buyers off. And the problem with that is to, it's sort of like, when you start doing a bathroom and then you got an old kitchen. It's like, well, you know, where do you end? Because it's a bit weird walking into a half renovated house.
A half renovated house. Or part renovated house. You kind of do it all, or you just do the minimum. So don't go halfway. So generally what I'll find, some quick tips and tricks to get your best bang for your buck. Try and think about, like high surface area, of, things that you're looking at. So things like paint.
Paint's pretty low cost for the amount of coverage of what it covers. So it covers all your walls, fresh paint can make it look like a brand new house. Your, floor coverings. So, carpet, putting carpet in bedrooms is always a good idea. I have some clients that want to put hard flooring in carpets.
It's generally not good. Sort of, it's cold, it reverberates sound. So in bedrooms you want it to be soft underfoot, comfy. You want it quiet as you get into bed. New carpet doesn't cost much and it can bring the value up quite a bit. So you might spend two or three grand on new carpet. Probably add like 10 grand worth of value.
Perceived value when you go to sell. Same with paint. Paint can cost you 5, 000 to 10, 000 depending on what you need to do and that can improve the value by 20, 000 to 30, 000.
They're probably the two biggest things. Two biggest ones there. Yeah. Okay, some, some good advice and, cause yeah, Renault's always been one, when you talked about that bathroom, that I've always wondered about.
And, it's risky isn't it? To do that. You just don't know what, you know, buyers are wanting. What that, how much it can or won't. But, I love what you said there. Cause, so what about, you know, you said surface area, curtains, things like that, or blinds. where do they fit in?
Yeah, look, they're probably less so, again, there are cheaper solutions, so I've put in, very expensive, um, sheer curtains and block out curtains in my house, looks amazing, , it's about 15, to put in. You know, really unoccupied property. It does add value, dressing the window coverings does look great.
In my investment properties, I actually do a similar thing, and I go down to Spotlight, and I spend about two or three thousand dollars. Yep. And get a pretty similar, quality feel, similar to what the 000 curtains in my own house cost. So getting your sheer curtains, floor to ceiling, put them on runners.
So it depends on if it's an owner occupied property or an investment.
Yep.
But even if you're going to put an owner occupied property or a rental property on the market, you can get a 15, look with window coverings with a 2, 000 or 3, 000 outlay from Spotlight. Yep. And you probably wouldn't really even notice the difference to be honest.
So that's a big part of what we're talking about here too. So not just what you're doing, but how you go about doing it and where you get, you know, what you pay for, for doing that thing to get a similar result to. Yeah.
And the good thing is too, like when I go out and see clients, like I've probably renovated now, I think probably about a dozen properties.
Yep. From high end to low end. And again, we've got a team of trades people that can help clients with painting, electrical, plumbing, tiling, everything. Trades is also another difficult thing, when you're renovating and improving value. So yeah, we have high pressure cleaners, gardeners, the whole kit and caboodle.
Yep. And we help our clients to try and, get a lot organized for little cost, to try and improve the value because it could make, you know, you can spend five grand and if it's done well and done smart, you can improve the value by 30 to 50, 000 quite easily.
Yep. Cause curb appeals, that was going to be my next, point here.
It's very important with this topic we're talking about, isn't it? I mean, and there can be little things like you've just talked about getting, you know, doing, I think probably the things most people do generally think about, you know, getting the gardens cleaned up mulching and, You know, pressure cleaning the driveway, but, there are little things like Painting the front door.
Yep. So, actually, it's funny you mention that, like, I've just listed a property this morning and I went and looked at the property and, curb appeal is probably something that's a little bit understated. So, that's something where a lot of people spend a lot of money and time emphasising the inside of the properties.
Yep. And also the backyard, the lifestyle, the living areas at the back, which is very important. Biggest issue is a lot of people don't spend time or money on the front of the house. Yep. They just don't think there's a lot of value in that, and it's all like, oh we drive straight to the garage and we go inside, Brad, so.
But they're not
thinking about those buyers turning up, are they? Yeah, so. You've got this anticipation, you're, well I've seen a couple of photos, but you know, it's when you see it for that first time, isn't it? Your
first impression is so important. So, you know, as an agent, like when I get a call up to come and see a client about selling a house, I'm driving down that street, you know, and it's number 22 Smith Street, and I'm driving down, I'm sort of, and I'm looking at the houses and I'm going, okay, this is number 16 and 18, or we're almost there, and I can sort of, geez, there's a nice one, oh, please be that, you know, and if it's the, if it's the good one, I'm like, Yes.
Yeah. You know? And then sometimes I see the nice one and I go, and then it's like, that's 20 and then I go 22 next door and I go, oh that one, alright.
Okay. So. Yep.
And it's like, okay guys, we've got to work on street appeal. Yep. Because when I rocked up, I wasn't really wowed.
I've got to make the point here, you know, you said people do, you know, spend a lot of time and effort on the inside of the home, but I'm just thinking myself, that's all well and good.
But if you turn up and you see the first thing that your heart drops it, this isn't what I was hoping for. And yeah, but because they haven't done anything there, it's almost doesn't matter what. You've set an expectation in that there's a mindset that's already,
it's like the first impression is so important.
And it's like, when you rock up to the kerb, I've actually seen houses that don't present well and the buyers actually will pull up, look, and they keep driving, they keep driving. And I'm just like, ugh, and I know, it's like, just come inside, have a look at the photos, it's great inside, once you get inside, but sometimes they won't even get through the front door, because sometimes the seller won't give it a fresh coat of paint, or won't spend a few hundred bucks just, you know, making it more appealing from the front, and it's so crucial because, you know, we've had properties just in the last few weeks where I said to the client, I said, look, we need to just do some gardening, high pressure cleaning, a bit of paint, it costs, you know, a few hundred dollars, and when I actually came back a week later, And it was one of those houses I sort of went, eh, and I came back a week later after it spent a few hundred bucks, got it ready, and I was like, wow, like, if I was a buyer, this is the one I want to go in.
And we had so many, we had, I think over a two week campaign, we had, it was about 37 groups of buyers in two weeks. And that first impression, they, again, they sort of walked up and they were excited to walk inside and see what's
inside.
The inside was great. Yep. But the front was really letting them down.
And I said we need to improve this. And then we, yeah, we organised the gardeners, the high pressure cleaners and the painters. Got it all done in a few days, and it went from a 5 out of 10, to probably a 10. Wow.
Okay. Alright, let me throw this one at you. We've all seen those signs up, and we won't get into this, about roof restorers, and, you know, especially here on the Gold Coast, we know, we've all heard the stories there, but let's talk about, I do want to talk about a roof restoration.
You get a good guy who can restore a roof. I see those signs, 1500 bucks. I think the good ones would cost more like three or whatever. Let's say it's three. Let's call it three for one of a better number here today. Is that worth it? Is a roof restoration worth it? Yes. Yes, straight up. Yes.
100%.
Worth doing. Roof restoration. Especially if your roof is not looking good.
Yeah, so a couple things. Roofs are probably one of the most underestimated things you can do. From an aesthetic point of view. appeal thing. Yep. And secondly, from a protection standpoint. So, yeah, again, with all my investment properties, I always paint the roof.
Yep. Mostly to clean it, seal it. Because when you've protected one of your biggest assets, you want to make sure from the roof down, it's watertight. Right. Because if you have leaks in that roof, It's all going to trickle down and it causes a lot more problems with framing structures, tracks termites.
So generally as a rule, your tin color bond roofs are cheaper to paint. Yep. And seal. This is something I didn't know at the start. Yep. And your tile roofs are more expensive. Yeah. Because they've got to be re bedded, re pointed, cleaned and stuff like that. Capping. So, generally with a tile roof, you're probably looking at anywhere from about 5, 000 to 7, 000, 8, 000 depending on the size of the roof.
Yep. Your Colourbond tin roofs, they're probably more sort of your 2, 000, 3, 000, 4, 000. Sure. So, that's something, but from a, an aesthetic, thing as well, changing the colour of that roof can bring it from 1980s into the 2020s. Yeah. Yeah. So, just using a modern colouring, sometimes getting rid of that.
Orange terracotta tiling, and putting like maybe a slate gray or dark gray, similar to, you know, the color of the walls in here. It can really modernize it and you can, you know, again for a few thousand dollars and two, maybe one or two days of painting. And again, we've got. guys that can do all that for you.
It might cost you 4, and you'll again approve that front appeal by 000. Wow,
okay, so roof restoration, painting, big tick. Big tick. Big tick. Alright, before we move to the backyard, and I don't even know how much there is to talk about in the backyard, other little things. So, colour of the door. Getting the door painted?
Yeah, so, getting, you know, as part of painting in general, yeah, getting doors done. So, yeah, the one we just listed this morning, it had a really nice feature door. And it was probably worth, it was probably a 4, 000 door. It was weather worn.
Right.
It had been hit by the sun. It's west facing. It's been hit by the sun and the water.
And it's timber. And it's just. Just looked. Just looked really drab. Old and. Old and drab. And it was an amazing door. And I said to the client, I said, look, looking at your street appeal, Everything's pretty good, it's just your door. I walked up the door and I just went, it's just not, it's not the first thing you want to see.
Because then again, the buyers sort of go, okay, they're not maintaining or looking after the front door, what else are they not maintaining or looking after? So I said, look, She's a very busy client. She runs multiple salons and she's got a restaurant. Hasn't got time. I said, look, I'll get it organised. It
was 360.
Got the painter in. It's all freshly painted. Looks like a brand new door now.
Yep.
And first open home's tomorrow, so we're expecting And that first thing they see when they rock through that door is going to be essentially, it's going to look like a brand new doorknob. Sure.
Any other tips for the front of the house?
Probably, yeah, your gardening, your high pressure cleaning. High pressure cleaning is probably an underestimated one.
Yep.
So, a little tip with high pressure cleaning. Don't do it yourself.
Don't do it
yourself. Don't do it yourself. Like, I get so many clients say But I've got a gurney in the gurney in the Karcher Brad from Bunnings.
It's a really good one. And I say, yeah, I know, I know. The problem and I've done it myself. I've sat there for hours. Yep. You get the lines It's very time consuming. And the problem is like with mould, it's a living organism, so you actually need to kill it. And just wiping it off with the gurney doesn't kill it.
So you can spend a day gurning all the concrete around your house and the eaves and stuff like that. A week later when we do the open home, a lot of that mould comes back, creeps back. So having a professional high pressure cleaner, they'll do it quicker. They'll charge you two, three, four hundred dollars and they use a, like a solvent or a chemical in it.
Yep. That will actually kill the mould. Right. And it will stay fresh and clean, like brand new for about six months. Right. So.
And obviously you've got contractors that you recommend and. Yeah, we've got,
we've got a couple of different guys depending on the, you know, how busy they are. Yep. One of the guys at the moment, he's up at.
Coolum for 18 days working on Clive Palmer's resort up there. Yep. So he's our first port of call, but he's busy so we've got another guy who's able to help in his, absence, so at those busy times of the year.
Yep. Very cool. Alright. Is there anything you can do there? I guess it depends what you're starting with, doesn't it?
Yeah, look, backyard, again, probably, there's not a huge amount to do in backyards generally. The biggest thing with backyards is mulch. Right. Garden beds, fresh mulch, looks amazing. Doesn't cost a lot. Doesn't cost much. You know, I have clients that want to put Stones can be very expensive, they're very hard, they've got sharp edges, not good for kids who want to roam around.
Mulch costs less money. Yep. It's easier to spread, put out, it's lightweight. It
sort of defines areas too. Yeah, and
like, you go and mulch all your garden beds. Yep. It just makes it look, again, you'll probably spend, you know, three or four hundred dollars on, on , mulching the gardens. And you'll probably add 5, 000 to 10, 000 worth of value, so, we've got gardeners that can go and do it if you don't want to do it.
Yep. Another quick and what I do in a lot of my investment properties, I'll actually go to Bunnings and you can buy 10 15 kilo bags. I'll buy 20 bags of them, they're about 10 bucks each. Yep. Stick them in the car, you go down and you just lay them out where you want to put them. You get a, like a Stanley knife.
Yep. Cut it open, turn it over, you put the bag in the bin, and then you just, I usually just get some gloves. Yep. And just spread it out. It's like a couple of hour job. Couple of hundred bucks. And you'll make it go from a three to a ten. Really simply. Main thing is you don't want raw dirt. Raw concrete or raw timber.
So you want to cover those three things. I talk to clients all the time. So I put mulch on the the raw dirt, paint the raw timber, and the raw concrete, again, you can paint and seal that as well.
Perfect. And again, got any tiles, anything out the back, on those out in the garden. I mean, you know, those done as well.
So they come up. Yeah. So
all your, any retaining walls, they're usually covered in black mold. So again, high pressure clean, they'll come up like brand new. It's all just, it's just, it's little things like just cleaning. If everything's clean, tidy, you know, gardens, mulch, make sure your lights are working.
That's another key point. So. You know, we went into a 2. 5 million house, a couple of days ago, and, you know, maybe 30 percent of the lights are not working. Yep. So I'm like, is this just a bulb issue, or is this a bigger wiring issue? Because for buyers, they, if they walk into that property, they'll say, this is going to cost me 10, 000, 15,
000 rewiring this house. Yep. When it could be a 2 light bulb. Yeah. So I said to the seller, I said, look. I want all these lightbulbs working before Saturday.
Yep.
So he went and went down to Beacon, replaced all the lightbulbs and we had 100 percent of them working so we didn't have any questions about wiring and stuff like that for Saturday.
Yep. Very cool. Alright, so, one thing that came to mind, when, especially earlier when we were talking about roofs. Solar.
Solar.
Yeah. Is this one, is this, are we coming back to another pool example here? Yeah. To pay, does, well, let me change my question. Does solar add value to a home? I'm not talking about whether we're deciding to put it there to increase value, but if it's already there, does it add value?
It's changing. It's changing. So I would say 10 years ago, there were so few properties that had solar panels that It wasn't very mainstream, it didn't really add value, and people, to be completely honest, didn't care whether it had solar or not. Yep. We would sell it as a feature and say, oh, we've got solar panels on here, save on energy costs, and, buyers go, that's great, Brad.
So, the, I think now we're probably ten years later. You'll probably find 70 percent of homes now have solar panels on their roof. The prices have come down, they're a lot more mainstream. So there, it is now sort of at a point where buyers do see a little bit of value in solar panels.
Does it ever
work the other way where people look at them on the roof and say, Oh that looks, don't like the look of that. Like in terms of aesthetics. Not so much.
Not so much, not generally like. If it's, you've got to be selective on where you put them, obviously, but sometimes they'll, if they're out, again, the front of the house, that can be sometimes, usually solar panels are positioned at the north side of the property, whatever side that is.
Yep. So if you're coming into a property and you're looking to the south, having solar panels on that facade, sometimes not the best. But, yeah, it just depends on the property. But, probably the biggest bone of contention at the moment is the battery. Conversation. Sure. So that is definitely a, a spot where You know, sellers are overcapitalizing, I think.
Yep. 'cause they're not at a point, price wise where, you know, again, to put in a battery into a house, you know, you're looking around 15 to $20,000 at the moment and you're probably not really adding that value back. So it's, the cost to get that money back is too great at the moment. Yep. And I think a lot of buyers know that and can see that.
It's like an added feature, and buyers will probably pay an extra 5 grand for having a battery. Yep. But when it's costing you 50 or 20 grand to put that battery in, that's probably a place where you are spending more money than what buyers are prepared to pay. They won't, it's not like you're putting a 20, 000 battery in, they're going to pay you 50.
Yep. It's more like you're spending twenty and they'll pay you an extra five. Sure. So that's probably something to think about. Yep. When you're putting in solar panels, I would say yes. Not necessarily
a battery. Yeah, five
grand for panels, put them in for battery, twenty grand for now, just leave it. But that'll change over the next ten years.
Cool. Alright, final question on the spot. A, a homeowner's got five grand to spend on Whatever, whatever. Yep. And all of the things we've talked about are an option for them.
Yep.
What do they spend it on to get the most bang for their buck?
Five grand. I would five grand. I would say mulch the garden beds.
High pressure cleaning. Yep. That'll be under a thousand bucks for that. Yep. then I would work on, painting. Painting and carpets, so probably painting first. Again, depending on the property. So if the paint's good and the carpets are terrible, replace the carpets. You'll be two or three grand for carpets.
If you're painting and your carpet's terrible, probably focus on doing the painting, the render. Yep. That's what you've got. And maybe just leave the carpet, because then we can, when we go in, and we'll say to the Look, Yana's going to replace the carpet, but they thought they'd just leave it. You know, leave a bit of meat on the bone, as I say.
Sure. And you can choose the colour, a couple grand. Perfect. Put in grey or white, whatever you want. Great idea. I can overcome that pretty easy. The paints, fresh paint, it's just one less thing they have to do. And most buyers know that the carpet's only a couple grand. If you can do the carpet and the paint, big ticks, it's going to get you a better value.
But, Yeah, if you stick into a minimum budget, that would be the order I'd do it in.
Perfect. Excellent. Look, some really valuable insights today, mate. I think this is a great episode for anyone considering selling and you know, what you can do to get bang for your buck and what not to do. Don't go pull, pull.
Don't go put a pool in.
It's all about
tricks. So look, with the right strategy, homeowners can make smart investments to boost their property's value without overcapitalizing. So look, to our listeners, if you're considering upgrading your property and want, you know, advice tailored to your specific property, here on the Gold Coast market, get in touch with Bradney's team at Smart Real Estate.
Visit www. smartrealestate. com. au for your expert guidance. Look, thanks for tuning in to the Gold Coast Real Estate Podcast. We'll be back again next week with another new episode. Don't forget to hit subscribe, give us a rating, leave a comment. Look, whatever platform you're on, it's stars, it's comments, it's likes, it's shares.
So, uh, and look, we look forward to, uh, you joining us, uh, next time. Thanks again, Brad.
No worries. Thanks, Adam. Thanks for tuning into the Gold Coast Smart Real Estate Podcast. Remember, if you're thinking of selling, be smart. Explore your options and consider the power of open offers method of sale to maximize your result.
Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. And if you found today's insights helpful, feel free to share with a friend. Until next time, happy house hunting.