By Looeeze Grossman, founder and CEO of The Used Kitchen Company
Perfect means many things to different people, and none more so than to the buyer for your next property flip or renovation. For a family home it can be a large island with room for the kids to sit and bake or do their homework, stacks of storage, a pantry, fitted ovens and two dishwashers.
For a young couple it can be a built-in wine cooler, a warming drawer and a state of the art cooker. For the young professional, a super charged coffee maker, excellent display shelving and bags of quirky features and light fittings.
The key to delivering the ‘perfect’ kitchen is to first decide who you’re marketing the property at. The next stage is to look at how much your property will be valued at. If you’re looking for first time buyers there’s no point putting in a hugely expensive designer kitchen. The value of the kitchen will push the property value up and out of the reach of potential first time buyers. While you may want to elevate your property’s worth as much as possible, this does mean further investment on the rest of the home. You can’t have a designer kitchen with all the mod cons but a cheap and cheerful bathroom.
Knowing your budget level will enable you to ensure you stay within your renovation budget, target the right buyers and attract a lot of viewings.
If you’re looking to achieve a high-end finish, attract a more affluent buyer and only actually need to renovate the kitchen, one of the best ways to save on your budget but get that designer look is to buy an ex-display or used kitchen from The Used Kitchen Company. Kitchens are often sold for up to 70% off their RRP, meaning you can get that super high-end finish, great appliances and quality worktops for a lot less. Leaving you with money in your budget rather than finding yourself way over.
It’s also worth remembering that people will spend hours looking at properties online with often many blending into one. By making yours stand out with items which can easily be removed like artwork on the walls, or bold accessories and great flowers in the kitchen, you have more chance of them remembering your property as the one with that great picture or those beautiful roses.
Adding pops of colour or familiar items to the kitchen also allows the potential buyer to instantly feel at home and imagine themselves living in the property. Seeing a few carefully placed textbooks or some framed photos on the walls give the idea of homeliness whilst remaining stylish . The concept of having fresh bread on the side or cakes on display is definitely not a fallacy and only has a positive impact on the kitchen.
Don’t discount a great dining table setting. With many kitchens now being open plan into the dining room, having a carefully set dining table will transport your buyers into chic dinner party mode.
The same can be said for your pantry. Having it neatly laid out with everything labelled and in its place can create that instant ‘I need this house just for this pantry moment’. That’s something money can’t buy.
The key to creating a perfect kitchen is having your potential buyers envision themselves using it. Keep this in mind, accessorize well, know who you’re targeting and how much they have to spend and you’ll have the ‘perfect’ kitchen for your ‘perfect buyer’.
