On a long term scale, we are at an economic low point. Properties are difficult to sell at other than a bargain price, tradesmen are short of work, and interest rates are low.

With the cost of borrowing likely to be low for some time, a good case can be made for renovating your home to make it larger or more comfortable rather than selling to upgrade. Negotiate a good price with tradesmen and suppliers to keep the total costs down and potentially you can add significant value to your house without having to outlay a large amount of money.

Now is also the time to take advantage of the subsidies available for insulating your home. Insulation has the advantages of making your home more comfortable and easier to sell with the added benefit of reducing your power bills. More information on home insulation subsidies is available at www.eeca.govt.nz.

There are some words of caution, however, if you are thinking of embarking on a renovation project. Strictly speaking, your home is not an investment; it is what financial planners refer to as a ‘lifestyle asset’. If you have spare funds, you can usually get a better return on your money by investing in assets which give you income as well as capital gain.

If you need to borrow to do your renovations, don’t borrow so much that you are living from payday to payday to keep up with the mortgage payments. Finally, do your sums and check local property values to see if your resale value will improve by more than the cost of your project.

Liz Koh is an Authorised Financial Adviser. The advice given here is general and does not constitute specific advice to any person. A disclosure statement can be obtained free of charge by calling 0800 273 847.  For free eBooks, go to www.moneymax.co.nz and www.moneymaxcoach.com

Let’s pretend you’re going to sell your house and prepare for putting it on the market.

Make a list of all the jobs that need to be done.

Then just do them !! One at a time and cross each of them off the list when the job is done.

You’ll probably find that they don’t actually take very long and don’t even cost a huge amount.

Do the same with cleaning jobs – walls, windows, carpet cleaning etc etc etc.

Then sit back in your own home, without the hassle of packing up and shifting, relax and enjoy the result.  How good is that feeling!!

Well you’re at the place where you can find heaps of hints, tips and “How to’s” plus the answers to questions that you might ask your mother if she was close by.

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