Not every dollar spent before a sale comes back. The improvements that tend to pay are the ones that remove a buyer's objection or bring the home up to what the street already expects — rarely the ones that make it the best house on it.
Most buyers form a view during the first open and spend the rest of the inspection confirming it. Work that changes that first minute is usually worth more than work that does not:
Kitchens and bathrooms move buyers more than anything else, and they are also where the most money gets wasted. A dated kitchen in sound condition often does better with new benchtops, handles and paint than with a full replacement — and a bathroom with a failed waterproofing membrane is a repair, not an improvement.
See which improvements may be worth it An estimated cost band and value impact for the projects most likely to matter for a home like yours — including the ones we would recommend against. Explore improvements
The test is not "does this make the home better". It is "does this make the home sell for more than it cost, sooner" — and those are different questions.
An agent who is selling in your suburb every week knows what the current buyers are objecting to, which is the only information that matters here. Ask them what they would do and what they would leave, and ask them what they think it is worth doing it for. That conversation is free and it is more use than any list.
Communities.com.au