When it comes to preparing your home to go onto the market for sale, one of the first things your real estate agent will look at is its “Curb appeal” i.e. What’s the impression a potential buyer will get when seeing your house for the first time?

Homeowners are told to mow the lawn, weed the garden and prune bushes, but how about your Garage Door? Garage Doors often dominate the front view of your home. An outdated, faded or damaged Garage Door can create a first impression you don’t want; that your property hasn’t been well maintained.

Standing outside your home and looking at it with fresh eyes will help you answer a crucial question, ‘Will the street view of my home invite in interested buyers driving past or will it deter them, sending them to look elsewhere?’

Your property is only new to the market once and buyers need to be wowed from the street. A Garage Door plays a big role in this as it represents a whopping ⅓ of your home’s front exterior. That’s a lot of real estate!

Thankfully, today’s Garage Doors are available in a range of styles, colours and types, integrating seamlessly with any house design or colour. In fact, modern Garage Doors are used as a feature to your home, something that stands out from the rest of the property.

What the research says

New Garage Doors always look impressive but is this enough to justify spending between $2,200 and $5,500 when you want to sell your home? Realtors, banks and property investors in New Zealand and across the globe have poured hours into researching which home improvements put money back into the bank.

The results?

Changing your letter box, light switches and door handles rank high in ROI (Return on investment) with low cash injection and major kitchen and bathroom renovations have between 50%-65% ROI* with high cash injection.

Where does the Garage Door fit into the picture? The research says new Garage Doors yield between 90% and 98% ROI*. And that’s without needing to outlay tens of thousands of dollars.

So we’ve established that increasing your curb appeal with a modern Garage Door attracts more interest with potential buyers and puts money back into your pocket. But did you know Garage Doors can continue to influence buyers even when they’re inside the house?

A not so warm welcome 

Often Garage Doors are used as an entrance to the house, forming an integral part of your home. Despite this, garages are known for being cold and dark spaces that are far from hospitable and welcoming. If your garage is an entrance into your house, it could be sapping warmth from your home, costing you more in energy bills.

The answer? Insulation

Insulating your Garage Door helps regulate the temperature in your garage by keeping the heat out during the summer months and the cold out during the winter months. By addressing the area where the most heat is lost, you not only create a warmer and more comfortable living space for your family; you effectively reduce your energy bills, helping your pocket and reducing your carbon footprint.

A sound investment

Insulation is an excellent noise barrier, keeping noise from your budding musician or rowdy teenagers inside the garage. If you live near a busy road or school, insulation will keep the noise out of the garage. Insulating your Garage Door will also reduce the noise of the door when opening or closing.

The benefits of a warmer home with less outside and door noise coupled with the energy cost savings outweighs the approximate $690 it will cost you to install the insulation on your Garage Door. In fact, research shows that insulation on a Garage Door has an incredible 116% ROI!*

Let there be light

Garages are often used for far more than just parking your car. Adding windows to your Garage Door brings natural light into your garage and adds even more value. When looking at homes, buyers are imagining how they will fit into the spaces; a warm, sun-lit garage opens up the endless possibilities for transforming the space behind your Garage Door. Windows can be glazed, ensuring the garage remains warm and comfortable. Put simply, the right Garage Door with windows incorporated can transform your garage into a versatile space buyers will love.

Get Smart

Everyone’s talking about smart homes and home automation, but what exactly is smart home technology? Smart homes are intended to make homeowners’ lives easier by allowing them to control many of their home’s electronics automatically or through smartphone apps. Everything is connected through the home’s wifi connection, meaning that you can always be connected to these smart home devices, whether you’re elsewhere in your house or even away from home.

A Smart Garage Door Opener offers convenience, control and the ability to say connected to your home even when you are not there. The DOMINATOR Smart Opener integrates with Siri, Alexa and Google Home. The App gives you control to operate your Garage Door from anywhere in the world.

As Smart Home technology becomes increasingly commonplace in New Zealand homes, buyers will come to expect it as standard. Why not future-proof your home’s value and integrate a Smart Garage Door into your property today?  

In summary

If you’re looking to increase the value of your home, a new Garage Door is proven to give you a return on investment in multiple ways. Whether it’s ensuring your property makes a great first impression, keeping the warmth in and noise out, or putting exciting new smart home technology into the hands of a potential buyer, upgrading your home’s Garage Door will set your house apart and help you and your agent achieve top dollar.

*Sources:

https://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/2020/

https://www.westpac.co.nz/rednews/property/10-ways-to-add-value-to-your-home-for-under-500/

https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/top-renovations-to-boost-home-value/