OUR EXPERT ADVICE FOR UPGRADING YOUR HOME
When your home doesn’t suit your needs, but you feel unsure about the current environment, it's easy to prioritise other needs ahead of your home upgrade wishlist. With most Kiwi homes built in the 1950s-1990s, families are living without insulation or double glazing, and these homes are usually in need of new cladding. For everyone, a warm, healthy home should still be a high priority.
We all know that the longer you wait to improve your home, the more it may cost as building expenses continue to increase. So by making simple upgrades to your home now, like aluminium windows and doors, new cladding, or improving the overall thermal performance of your home, it will save you in the long run. Think about improved power bills, and the overall health and wellbeing of you or your family.
At NZ Proud, we’re award-winning renovation experts, and through crafting thousands of renovations we’ve put together our advice to support your decision making when considering necessary improvements to your home under the cloud of the current economic climate.
Some of the reasons you may need to consider renovating include:
- A cold, damp and unhealthy home that's not comfortable or functional for your family.
- A home with poor energy efficiency making heating and cooling costly on your utilities bill.
- An older home with high repairs and maintenance challenges further exacerbating your expenses.
- A home with out-of-date fixtures in high-use spaces like the bathroom and kitchen creating dysfunctional spaces.
So how can improving your property help?
Upgrading an old and outdated property is going to improve not just your home's value but your quality of living. The need for repairs and maintenance is an expense that can be easily removed by upgrading key components of your home like cladding and windows. Improving your home is one of the best places to get a return on your investment, and is one of the strongest investments you can make.
There are currently sustainable lending options you may not be aware of to improve the thermal performance and energy efficiency in the home you live in. At NZ Proud, some of our recent clients have been able to access 1% interest rates for sustainable loans through their banks for this type of work, or by using our lending brokerage.
With all of this in mind, it's important to know that the building science behind improving the thermal performance in your home shows you need more than just insulation. Aluminium window upgrades are a larger priority and can in fact improve the quality of your home's thermal performance by 35 - 50%. It's also crucial you have quality performing ventilation, heating and cooling products installed to minimise moisture and improve climate control.
We treat every home on its individual requirements and can provide a custom upgrade package that takes into account thermal performance and energy efficiency and of course your budget. It's also very important to note that upgrading the home's thermal and energy performance adds a wealth of value not only when it comes to resale but improving the need for future maintenance.
To recap, here are our helpful tips:
- One of the best ways to improve thermal performance is to upgrade your windows & doors rather than just updating the insulation.
- Energy efficiency is about how ventilation, heating and cooling are performing in your home for long-term gains
- Consider customising all of your homes upgrade requirements to add the most value to its performance and resale value.
Upgrading your home’s high-use spaces
The high-use areas in your home like kitchens and bathrooms are our most common areas we upgrade. Investing in these areas provides the greatest return on your investment when it comes to adding value to your home but only if they are done well. Ensuring you design your kitchen and bathroom space to maximise functionality is crucial. Also, adding fixtures and fittings that are efficient and last the test of time will have a huge impact on the quality of the performance in these spaces. It’s also a bonus that you can also complete these spaces in stages as your budget allows.
Here are our tips on the value of improving your properties need for repairs, maintenance and the high-use areas:
- High use areas like bathrooms and kitchens add the most value once upgraded.
- Doing things on the cheap is obvious to future buyers so might not add the value you need, so investing in quality fixtures and fittings is important.
- Upgrades can be executed with a lot more ease than you may think, and can also be done in stages as your budget allows.
In summary, improving your home has got to be high on the agenda for every Kiwi family, not only to add value to your biggest investment but improve your quality of life. And the best news is, most property improvements are more achievable and affordable than you may think.
At NZ Proud we can provide FREE advice from our experienced and qualified Contracts Managers who keep your individual priorities in mind. As property improvement specialists, we have the expertise and tools to customise your home upgrades based on your needs, and help create not just a better home to improve your quality of life but a property that provides generational wealth for a sustainable investment.
