Australians love a good renovation, and there’s also no better topic of conversation than the price of houses. It’s this dinner-party dilemma chat that makes Love It or List It Australia such an appealing and gripping show to watch. What would we do? As we follow the roller-coaster ride of couples deciding on their future home life, we wonder too about our own situation. Should we stay, or should we sell, buy and live happily ever after?
Enlightening renovations, property searches and all the drama that comes with reworks, buying and selling – there’s much to love about this reality series. But when it comes to getting off the couch and deciding what to do in actual real life, most of us could do with a little sage advice. We turn to Neale Whitaker, one part in the angel-versus-devil scenario that is the television show Love It or List It Australia to ask, how can home owners decide whether to love, aka renovate, or list.
Sure, we could just binge on the current fifth season of the show (it was a good one). And we could wait with bated breath for the next – surely that will give us all the answers? After all, the question on everyone’s lips is ‘when is the next season of Love It or List It Australia?’ and can we expect to see more brilliant advice and all the real drama in a brand new season soon? We have big-slash-tragic news.
Is Love It or List It coming back?
In shock news – you heard it here first – Love It or List It Australia has been cancelled, for now. Neale confirms to Home Beautiful that the hugely popular show has not be signed for a sixth season, much to his own, and “everyone else’s” disappointment. No network announces news that a show is not continuing, so viewers and fans are forced to come to these conclusions on their own. But Neale, an interior designer, renovation expert and past editor of Belle and Vogue Living, and who is also known as a presenter on The Block Australia, confirms the show won’t go on.
There’s no denying that the show has done well. Foxtel sold it on to Portugal, the Netherlands, Germany and Brazil. “It’s been a huge success. I’ve been dubbed in German. I get people contacting me from all over the world, so it’s sad that it hasn’t been recommissioned. But we are hoping it comes back in 2025.” Stay tuned.
Should you love it or list it?
If the show itself is anything to go by, there is no hard and fast rule on whether you should stay in your current home and renovate it to suit your needs, or find a new dream home. So much depends on the couple, says Neale. “On a show like Love It or List It, all the couples are different. All homeowners are different. They all had a different set of problems. We had empty nesters for whom the home was now too big because all the kids had moved away. We had young couples who were just starting a family for whom the home was too small. And every problem in between,” he tells Home Beautiful.
People sell because they dream of something else, says Neale, or they have problems they can’t resolve where they are. On Love It or List It Australia, as is the case in real life, a huge reason people come to sell is because there is something out there they love. “Let’s not forget the beautiful real estate that my colleague Andrew [Winter] showed them, which opened their eyes,” he says.
It sounds “very cynical”, but “in the case of the homeowners who decided to love it and stay, it was often a case of the property not realising the value, the resale value, that they’d hoped it would”, says Neale.
“That was a major influence. Let’s not underestimate the power of finance in all these things. I would say the majority of homeowners who decided to stay and love it, it was because it just wasn’t going to make them the profit that they hoped it would.”
Should you build, renovate or makeover in 2024?
Building costs, interest rates, isn’t building or renovating too scary right now?
Neale acknowledges building costs are high. “There is definitely an increase. But that can often be offset by the increased value of the resulting home, if you plan to sell it. If you are renovating purely to sell, then just at this precise moment, you’re likely to be selling that property for an awful lot more money than you would have done a couple of years ago.”
If you’re not planning to resell after the renovation, Neale says, “I think it would be prudent to just sit tight for a little bit longer and see what happens with interest rates and the cost of building materials”.
“I think we’re probably going to see a lot of growth around the makeover market, as opposed to the full blown renovation market”
Neale Whitaker
“People are scaling down their renovations. They’re not maybe taking on the full scale renovations that they were years ago. They’re picking just certain rooms of the house, doing more a makeover than a full blown renovation. Maybe doing a bathroom or two bathrooms, and not doing the kitchen. Whereas a couple of years ago they might have done the kitchen and both bathrooms.
There are plenty of ways a refurb can add value to your home, and a kitchen renovation is one way many homeowners achieve this. Giving a lacklustre exterior a magic makeover can create a whole new vibe for a home as well.
What are the most popular renovation styles?
Australians love a renovation, says Neale. “I genuinely don’t think we there’s another country in the world that is as obsessed with renovations as Australia,” he says. But whether Australians are going to renovate or find something new, they’re looking to tick certain boxes to suit their needs. Right now, when it comes to modern homes, Australians are prioritising specific needs.
James Hardie released a design forecast this year that outlined the kinds of houses those people who are planning an extension, renovation or new build in 2024 really wanted. It detailed seven popular, enduring and emerging contemporary home styles in its report. Through an extensive research piece combining advanced AI-driven technology, desktop research and interviews with architects, designers and key industry professionals, James Hardie believes its new Modern Homes Forecast 2024 has decoded the current and future trajectory of home design.
Neale says anyone deciding whether to renovate or find a new home needs to consider their very personal needs. For many Australians, an increase in regional migration and dissatisfaction with city life has fuelled aspiration for a modern farmhouse style house. The large-format design gives people the chance to have multi-generational living, and it accommodates the needs of different age groups under one roof. More of us, as couples on Love It or List It Australia have also found, want a home that caters for hybrid living and working as the modern farmhouse style does.
When should you list your property?
Sometimes it’s time to move on. Even Neale has sold houses in the past, deciding to pack up and “list it”, and start fresh somewhere else. In 2018 he put his stunning Sydney apartment in Alexandria on the market, only two years after he bought it. The apartment, which the television host and magazine editor shared with partner David Novak-Piper, was filled with eclectic high-end furnishings, artworks and had a spacious balcony and large windows that filled the various rooms with natural light. So what was not to love?
“It’s very unusual for us to be moving on [from a home] as quickly as this,” Whitaker told Domain. “We have a huge love of the South Coast, particularly the Berry area. We’ve been going back and forth … and suddenly realised, there’s nothing to stop us now from having our main home further out of the city,” he said.
Neale still lives in the South Coast, in the same home. “Whether to stay or sell is such a personal decision,” he tells Home Beautiful. “Some people are never going to sell, they just love their home too much.”
Is Love It or List It staged?
Australia’s favourite property duo were reunited once again when Foxtel and Beyond Productions released the highly anticipated fifth season of Love It or List It Australia in 2023. The latest season followed the same pleasing format, which follows home owners across the country who are struggling with whether to renovate and love the home they are in, or to sell up and find a new home somewhere else.
Real estate agent Andrew and interior designer Neale tour the couple’s home before meeting with them, and typically Andrew finds mostly negative things to say about the house while Neale thinks a renovation will transform it. Armed with an understanding of what each couple wants, Andrew is tasked with finding a new home for the couple while keeping location, needs and budget in mind. Neale is briefed on what the couples would like to see in their current house and his budget for the entire project.
Andrew then goes on to find three potential homes for the owners to explore and consider. Meanwhile, Neale works on the reno. The homeowners are then given a tour of their renovated home, while Andrew gives the couple an evaluation of the home’s new market value. Each couple has to decide: will they love it or list it?
While each episode and season follows this format, Love It or List It is not staged, it’s very much a reality show, shining a light on real couples with real problems and real decisions to make.
Love It or List It, the non-Australian version, is now streaming all eight seasons on Binge. You can follow Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsopp as they go head to head – like our Neale and Andrew – and convince homeowners to either sell their home or refurbish it.
Why do Australians love renovation shows?
It’s a national obsession, says Neale Whitaker. Australians love talking about renovations, they love doing them, they love watching them on television. “Australians love a renovation show,” he says. “We have so much, like The Block, and Selling Houses Australia, like Dream Home and all the shows that have been on over the years. They’re all prime time shows, and many are on free-to-air television.”
“For about 20 years Australians have been fed a diet of this stuff. It’s like a national sport, isn’t it? We are passionate about renovating and we are passionate about sport”
Neale Whitaker
Neale points to what he calls “the Bunnings phenomenon” as a sign of the national obsession. “There is no equivalent to that in the UK, for example. British people do not go to the DIY store on a Saturday morning unless they’ve got something that they need to fix urgently. We go there for pleasure. If you go to Bunnings, the world will be okay. Whatever problem you’ve got, you’ll find something there that will sort it out. It’s like a pharmacy. There will be something to make you feel better at Bunnings,” Neale laughs. “And that’s a uniquely Australian thing.”
Who is the cast on Love It or List It?
Neale appears as host on Love It or List It Australia with Andrew Winter, a residential property expert and host of Selling Houses Australia. Andrew has more than 25 years’ experience in the global property market. The duo bring their unique dynamic to the small screen. While Andrew is a residential property expert who encourages people to list and sell so that they can move into a new home, lifestyle expert Neale helps couples with his design knowledge that comes in handy during renovation.
Where to watch Love It or List It Australia
Watch Love It or List It Australia on Foxtel. All episodes from season one through season five are available to stream on Foxtel in Australia.
The streaming service also houses other home renovation favourites such as Selling Houses Australia, Grand Designs Australia and Pamela’s Garden of Eden.
Stream Love It or List It Australia on Foxtel Now from $35/mth, with a 10-day free trial. Subscribe here.
This article originally appeared on Home Beautiful and is republished here with permission.
