How to add value to your home: your outdoor spaces

Adding an outdoor entertaining space to your property is like bolting an extra room onto the outside of your home, so it should be no surprise that this will increase its value. Bigger homes with more rooms tend to cost more than smaller ones, after all.

By outdoor entertaining spaces, we mean somewhere where you, your family, and potentially guests, can eat and drink. At its most basic, this could be a table and chairs set up on your deck or in the garden, while grander outdoor entertaining spaces could involve an outside kitchen, a pizza oven or a permanent gazebo. Again, think about your budget and what you’re hoping to achieve for your property.

Staging your outdoor entertaining space will also be crucial when it comes to open homes. These areas can really help would-be buyers forge an emotional connection with your home, so you want them to be able to picture themselves spending long summer evenings out in the garden with friends and family, enjoying dinner in the open air.

One of the simplest, and usually cheapest, ways of boosting the appearance of your outdoor spaces is to add some structure through fencing and gates.

While this might not have the X factor appeal of something like a pool or outdoor kitchen, you’d be amazed at the transformative effect that these borders can have. Installing a simple timber fence and planting some easy-to-maintain shrubs or bushes will instantly help your home appear tidy and well-kept.

As well as the aesthetic appeal that these defining features have, there are practical benefits that can help boost the value of your property. For example, would-be buyers with young children and pets will appreciate being able to let them play in the garden safely, while the privacy and security that fences and gates provide are other factors that everyone appreciates.

Even in the hearts of our larger urban centres, Kiwi like to grow their own veggies. So, creating a space in your garden where prospective buyers can see themselves tending to their strawberries, tomatoes, broccoli or whatever else they like to grow.

These veggie gardens are also generally quite easy and cheap to install, and they don’t have to be huge. Again, it’s about making it easy for the buyer to see themselves at home in your garden.

Top tip: using concrete rather than wood as the perimeter for these veggie gardens will make them easier to maintain in the long run, as you get rid of the worry around wood rot.

Last but certainly not least, the famous Kiwi deck is an outdoor feature that simply won’t go out of fashion.

Of course, your deck could be the base that plays host to a number of the features we’ve mentioned already – outdoor entertainment spaces, veggie gardens, pool surrounds etc.

And this is the beauty. A deck, in many ways, is a blank canvas that you can do so much with, and prospective buyers know this.

If you want to make a deck that’s particularly attractive to buyers, low maintenance is key. For example, Kwila is a particularly popular hardwood decking in NZ. Not only are Kwila decks easy to install, they also have long lifespans and are typically low maintenance. By opting for materials like this, you can sell buyers not only on the dream of a great outdoor experience, but also on the idea that it isn’t going to require lots of extra work on their part to keep it looking great in the years to come.