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As buyers chase turnkey homes to save time and hassle, agents can lift sale prices by guiding sellers through renovations, connecting them with trades, and showcasing the proven payoff of smart upgrades.
Turnkey properties have surged in popularity among buyers keen to save time and effort, even if it means paying a premium upfront to forego additional renovations.
A new report showed that buyers have been rejecting fixer-upper dwellings, with rising construction costs and a shortage of tradespeople making renovations more difficult to complete.
The findings from James Chase Buyer’s Advocacy founder George Cherchian also revealed that many families with school-aged children and demanding careers have found the idea of managing renovations unappealing.
According to Richard Matthews Real Estate director, Matthew Everingham, agents can help sellers capitalise on ready-to-move-in properties, achieve higher sale prices, and secure better commissions.
He said that agents can encourage property owners to upgrade their homes by advising them early, showing them the proven value of renovations, and providing contacts to assist with the process.
Agent as advisor
Everingham said agents should give their advice early in the selling process and recommend trusted contacts so vendors can be as informed as possible.
“Agents play a role by being more of an advisor rather than just the agent that's there when the sale is happening,” he said.
He said agents can make themselves available during the renovation process, acting as consultants rather than simply salespeople.
“[It’s about] clients having a relationship with an agent where they reach out and the agent provides general information, advice rather than just, ‘we're here for the commission side of, and that's it’.”
Everingham said that while specialised advice on costings should be left to the experts, such as builders, accountants and financial advisors, agents can provide general insight and recommend trusted tradies to make the process simpler.
“Those people are giving them the costings and the how; for us, it's just, ‘how do we get more for our clients at the end of it’?”
“There are a couple of contacts I have that I would say get jobs every month from us – interior stylists, as well as architects,” he said.
Demonstrating the value of renovations
According to Everingham, agents can motivate sellers to renovate their properties by showing them examples of other dwellings that have undergone changes and achieved a better price.
“Most owners are saying, all right, if we're going to spend $50,000 on updating a property, we want to see that return of a hundred or $200,000 on the sale price,” he said.
“It will really come down to what's the benefit, how much more would we get for it, and how do we go about it?”
“For a lot of owners, if it's their primary place of residence and they're updating to make a turnkey solution when they sell, that's tax-free money – so the $50,000 turns into $150,000 tax-free.”
He said that by considering the probable financial benefits, sellers may be more encouraged to view renovating as an investment.
However, if owners are hesitant about spending money, they can take a loan through the agencies’ partnerships.
“If there's $30,000-40,000 worth of renovation, a lot of people don't have that extra money lying around. We're going to a third-party provider in order to help the client get those funds in order to get the finished product,” he said.
“If they can't access the funds, if they want to do the work and they don't have access to the funds, it doesn't matter how much they want to do it, they just can't fulfil it,” he concluded.
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