In these days of physically attending the workplace only part of the week, a great home office can add as much as 10 per cent to the value of a property.
And the larger, more comfortable and luxurious the space, the greater the number of potential buyers will be attracted – and the higher the final price.
One beautiful renovated Victorian terrace currently on the market in Melbourne’s Albert Park, for instance, has a stunning self-contained studio above the double garage.
“A lovely home office like that easily adds five per cent or 10 per cent to a home’s value,” says agent Simon Gowling of agents Greg Hocking Holdsworth.
“It’s completely decked out with bespoke cabinetry, a built-in desk and pinboard but it’s also multi-use, which people love.”
In Sydney, there’s another house for sale with a fabulous “executive office”.
Selling agent Roger Wardy of Ray White Touma Group says, for him, it was love at first sight.
“In fact, I think it’s my favourite room in the house,” he says of the office in the renovated four-bedroom, split-level home on a 700-square-metre block in Rosebery, which had 60 inquiries in the first 12 hours of listing.
“Just the way it’s so colour-coordinated, its position, its size and the way the space just flows … It’s one of the best home offices I’ve ever seen.”
“I have no doubt it adds a lot of value as it really helps attract the right buyer; someone like a surgeon or a solicitor or another professional, the kind of people who work from home and never switch off.”
The home at 35 Trevilyan Avenue has a price guide of between $4 million and $4.4 million, which is indicative of the price point where home offices are in the strongest demand.
The four-bedroom Albert Park home, at 48 St Vincent Place North, is in a similar range, from $5.5 million to $5.8 million.
Another Albert Park house on the market with an excellent home office is the five-bedroom 50 Kerferd Road, also being handled by Simon Gowling, which is likely to reach $5.25 million to $5.75 million.
“Home offices are more in demand now than ever before, with people realising they want a better permanent solution than working from the dining table,” says buyers’ agent Michelle May.
“Having a proper room with a window and natural light creates a significant amount of extra value. We’re also seeing a wide range of ‘home offices’ like a space for a desk somewhere, or even a ladder being pulled down from the attic, being billed as potential for an office!”
As a result of the new hybrid working patterns, Andrew Gilbert, head of merchandise and marketing at Office Brands, has been surfing a huge second wave of demand for quality office equipment, with both health and wellness in mind.
People are now paying up to $1000 for stylish ergonomic office chairs, and there’s now a big market in smaller sit-stand desks, with push-button electronic raising and lowering.
“In the early days, the equipment we were selling seemed like a stop-gap,” Gilbert says.
“But now people are recognising this is a more permanent arrangement.”
Diana Ribarevski, head of interior design at Coco Republic, is currently seeing homeowners spending $20,000 to $40,000 on creating wonderful looks for their home offices.
Many are choosing furniture and fittings in a monochromatic, contemporary style with lots of metal, textured glass and leather.
“Coco Republic is also selling a lot of marble and alabaster desk lamps with blackened brass,” Ribarevski says.
“It’s all with very clean, contemporary lines but it’s also sophisticated and luxurious and warm.”
“People are wanting their home offices to be an extension of their homes, with stylish, not over-sized, free-standing beautiful desks and chairs on casters that are good for working and also look great.”
Sourced from domain.com.au