The fireplace can be the most prominent and eye catching part of the home for all the right and wrong reasons. It’s one internal feature that can make or break a house sale. Done elegantly to either suit the aesthetic or set the aesthetic, it can be a game changer when it comes to selling your home.
If you have a dark, poorly maintained fireplace without a surround it can look like a big black hole that requires a lot of effort to restore and that will turn off a lot of potential buyers. Of course, that may not be the case at all, but perception is everything when it comes to buying and selling a home. A potential buyer might see what’s in front of them and fear what they can’t see. On that note, and if you are thinking of selling, it’s not a bad time to revisit our previous contributions on how often to clean your fireplace and what to do if your fireplace smells.
So what if you are selling and you have a fireplace that’s either redundant, unpleasant to look at, or both. You may be concerned that if you go ahead and replace or restore you might be over capitalising, but on the other hand, if you don’t you might turn off potential buyers.
In the United States, their National Association of Realtors identified fireplaces as one of the most desired features of a home and almost 70% of their agents claimed that a pleasant, functional fireplace increased the value of their home. There isn’t a comparative study here in Australia and you can argue about the difference between our climate and that of the US. But on the other hand, is there a more real estate crazy place than Australia. Fireplaces are a structural change and those types of changes to major features generally have a positive impact on the saleability of your home, even if you can’t apply an exact dollar amount to the benefit.
When you unpack the reasons, it makes sense that a fireplace would be value adding. Done nicely, they exude luxury and bonhomie. The later is harder to qualify but you know it when you see it. Natural gas and wood fireplaces exude warmth with high levels of functional and economic efficiency. Having a cost saving measure that would otherwise cost you a fortune must add value to your home.
So if you face that conundrum and you’re leaning on the side of going for it. Here are some things that you might want to look out for.
Budget
If it’s a remodel/makeover or installation, you need to budget for it. Don’t over capitalise, especially on an installation. That also applies to fireplace makeover cost blow-out. It’s easy to do so take stock of what you are doing and choose your materials carefully.
Dress it up
There are lots of features you can add to make the fireplace more attractive. Brick, stone, concrete, and wood paneling or for a more traditional look, a fire surround in timber or marble. You might include some rows of bricks directly above the fireplace.
Don’t neglect the functional bit
Make sure you do whatever you need to do to make the fireplace functional. Remember the odd smells and the falling creosote, debris and soot. You might think you can cover those things up but you can’t.
Nothing inspires like a crackling, glowing fireplace. Add a fireplace that increases the value of your home.
Fireside have a magnificent showroom with a full and exciting range of wood and gas fireplaces in Castle Hill. We have traditional and modern fireplace designs. We are the reliable Sydney fireplace installers who measure up, install and leave your house looking as though we haven’t been there. Pop in this weekend for a chat with one of our experts. We’re there 7 days excluding public holidays.
