Staying or going?

Staying or going? A guide to maximising your investment, whatever your intent.

When it comes to recommending the customisation of your floor plan, it comes down to what your needs are – and those needs can differ drastically depending on your plans and life stage. If you’re planning on spending a lifetime in your Arden home, we’ll help you customise it to fully suit your needs, preferences, and personal style. Conversely, if you’re planning on living in your new home on a short term basis only, we’ll help you choose inclusions that will hold general appeal and maximise the resale value of your home when you choose to move on.

Going – things to invest in to maximise your return

When you’re building with the intention of living in your home for a short while and then selling, you need to be strategic about where you sink your money. You’ll want to invest in the key elements that will generate the best return on investment to sell, not what’s going to work best. Here are our top places to sink a little extra capital if you’re wanting to see a bigger return on your investment and add the touches of luxury where they’ll make the biggest impact.

Kitchen 

The kitchen is the hub of the home, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that any additional investments here usually pay dividends at market. It’s the room that a prospective buyer will pay a lot of attention to, so a ship-shape kitchen will stand you in good stead for the result you want. Spending a little extra on premium surfaces and good quality appliances will add to your home’s appeal. 

Bathroom

Like the kitchen, the bathroom is a room with a particular purpose – so we want to make sure it meets that purpose effectively, while holding broad appeal for potential buyers. It’s best to keep the decor clean, neutral and functional in the bathroom to ensure broad appeal. You might want to take a look at buyer demographics in your selected area and make an educated guess or two around items like a tub or double vanity.

A striking façade

Real estate agents agree that a striking, polished exterior doesn’t just positively influence sales price – it can also reduce the amount of time a home will spend on the market.  Sometimes a sale is won or lost on first impressions, so you’ll want to tip a little bit of cash into ensuring that your home looks the goods on the outside as well as the inside. Investing in a stunning façade now will mean more street appeal and higher selling prospects later.

Flooring

Spending a little extra to upgrade the flooring in your build can increase market value by up to 10%, according to market reports – and when it comes to what buyers are looking for, hardwood is still the gold standard. We’ll discuss with you your options for flooring in your space, with options to suit every floor plan, and recommendations for preserving your floors effectively before you sell.

Staying- customising your home to suit our lifestyle

If you’re staying, the above will obviously hold some relevance too – but further than that, building with the intention of staying allows you to truly customise your space to the needs of your family both now and in the future. The genuine design flexibility of our Lumina and Aspire ranges enables you to achieve the enhanced comfort and convenience of a home that’s made specifically for your lifestyle.

Increased natural light 

Natural light is nature’s great mood booster, so if you’re planning on sticking around long-term, ensuring your home contains a little more of it makes sense. From skylights to enclosed sun courts to picture windows, we’ll talk you through what will work best for the location and position of your new home so you can catch that vitamin D!

Energy efficiency and top-notch heating and cooling

When you’re building a home with the intention of staying, you want to be able to ensure you can heat and cool it effectively for comfort in any weather without breaking the bank. Tesla Powerpack 2 is available across our Lumina, Aspire and Luxe ranges, and even  comes as a standard inclusion in our Luxe range, so that you can lock in long term savings on your electricity bills while staying comfortable all year round.

Soundproofing

Especially for families with children, upgrading the noise attenuation elements in your home is a no brainer. It allows people to create space in a different way by being able to remove noise and distractions from the equation. We’ve never heard anyone say they regret upgrading their soundproofing. 

Lifestyle additions

When you’re building to stay, we encourage you to think about your lifestyle, and how a home that facilitates and amplifies your favourite things will bring you joy. If you’re a musician, allow for a dedicated space to practise. If you’re a movie fan, a home theatre with built in projectors and wall-to wall seating. If you love entertaining, add a butler’s pantry or a servery to your alfresco area from the kitchen. You get the gist – whatever your joys in life, we’ll help you to factor them into your home design so you can always make them a priority.