I have a project at Port Pirie that needs –

Replace maybe 6- 8 walls internally, skirting, cornices, bathroom reno- waterproof/ retile around shower area and floor, house paint a few rooms, resheeting of walls taken down, and odd jobs for about 5- 7 days to sort out some termite damage

If interested please email me [email protected]

Kylie

If you have a good property manager – ask them for quotes on the work, they can also check it for you and normally have a good pool of suppliers- yes normally they charge a fee per hour or add 10- 15% on top of the invoices.
I do a lot of reno project management work and normally I charge anywhere from $65- 120 per hour + travel to arrange everything, quotes, schedule of works, and also check my sites and take pics of works performed, but I mainly work in Brisbane, Gold Coast, but there must be building inspectors/ project managers down Canberra that can arrange quotes, schedules of works and send you a report/ pics, and check all works before bills are paid.

Hope this helps a little
Also good to set a budget and be realistic with your budget and also make 15 % plus allowance for possible price/ job cost blow outs.

I have worked a few times with an Interior designer- and they were fantastic- helping me with colours of walls, look, fell, materials, what buyers are wanting in the current market, where to place furniture and what sort of furniture for display homes and one helped me with getting a kitchen right and where the kitchen should really go.

Interior designers are not trained in renos, building, drawings- it is a very different discipline, and a very specialised area- and they can really help with creative ideas to get a wow factor when setting up homes for sales, getting a room right for photography, colour schemes, working out a theme and mood for a home.

Naomi- I am prepared to work with yo and I build, reno, plan homes/ units all the time.

Please email me

Kylie

[email protected]

All sounds interesting. We have 9 homes in Invercargill NZ and live in OZ. I think the key is to have a really good property manager, pay them well, keep in contact with them once a month for a little update chat, check all of your statements and bank every 2 weeks- mid month and eom. As soon as a tenant gives notice advertise asap for another one- pay for ads on net and paper, so you dont have vacancy in between.

We have had more issues and problems close to home in OZ  with our properties 10 – 15 min away and they are all very strictly managed- as our family own agencies also.

I laugh now but if anyone should have been deterred by property maybe it should have been us??
In the space of 12 months we had 3 major issues- 1 lovely home worth nearly 480k aud, and rented to a great tenant- neat, tidy, rent always paid, gardens done. After the ex wife finding out the tenant was moving in the new girlfriend- of which the new girlfriend  applied for tenancy and was approved and accepted by our agency and was a great tenant/ neat freak.

The ex wife broke into the home and lit 18 fires and blew up the house and pool filter- only 4 walls left, 1/ 2 a roof, and a destroyed pool. So luckily we had max cover and 12 months rent default- as took CGU 14 months to rebuild, and ended up costing them 265,000. So a lesson learnt please check all of your policies and make sure you have the maximum cover in all areas, especially full replacement, demolitian, rebuilt, asbestos clean up, and rent replacement.

2> Had a 5 brm renovated home in Logan- nice street, good area, long term tenant for 2 years, tenant unbenown to us started suffering depression and started drinking, taking drugs, hooking up with a wild crew and one weekend destoyed the whole house- kicked in walls, splattered paint, smashed windows, took the front door, threw dirty nappies everywhere, vomit, wee, alcohol- the whole lot, ripped curtains. Mind you the house at the last inspection was perfect, rent always paid on time. So 18,000 of damages later.

3> Attack of killer termites in Logan
3 bedroom full brick home, ant capping, checked yearly, no gardens or food matter around-  Within 3 months since last PMgt inspection termited invaded and ate skirting, window sills, some walls, behind bathroom vanity, inside walls. Aah another 12,000 damages.

Well after crying a lot for days and getting emotional about all of this, another terrible thing happened in my life- my younger brother died- so I thought well theres 2 ways to go only here- up or down, forward or back. So I ploughed into property full time to buy, renovate, build, subdivide and it kept me really busy and my mind focussed, plus every day I looked at deals, met all sorts of interesting and funny people, laughed a lot, read books, and enjoyed sitting in the sun or taking a beach walk with the dog and I think in about 12 months I bought and sold about 17 properties.

What I learnt from this terrible year was you can make excuses and give up, or you can go forward and let all the new experiences, challenges, daily tasks motivate and help you also go forward.

The main driving force is freedom, and having your time. Time to be with family, friends, time to go to the gym, swim, walk, sleep, learn, travel, give money to family if they need it.

So I guess property has had its ups and downs but this is life and Im glad Im not int he 9- 5 corporate job working for a terrible boss, or battling the traffic daily and breathing up all the pollution. Thise wanting to get into property – listen, learn, read, believe in yourself, talk only to people around you that are into business or property about your deals or they will bring you down or speak against your dreams and youll end up giving up. Learn to eliminate excuses, like – no time, no energy- etc- make time, dedicate time in your diary, go to a quiet place and study, tell friends only ring you at night or certain times, get rid of distractions around you so you can focus and achieve your goals. I did it and it works, but not an easy path but well worth it.

Kylie xx
 

We have 2 cars- 1 ute bought from the auctions for 12k, a trailer for moving around things/ reno stuff, tools, plants or whatever needs to be moved about sometimes.

I have a Nissan Pulsar work car 2006- which is prob worth 17k, but I bought it at a car dealers auction at wholesale price $12k as my friend owns a huge car yard in Sydney, so bought it for me and saved me $$$$ with the agreement I would help him find a good property deal in Qld.

I dont think we have ever had a new car? although we could afford whatever we wanted – but I dont believe in depreciating assets, wasting money, or image and I dont care what anyone thinks of me, and this money wasted on ritzy cars could go toward the next reno or subdivision, and then use the profits for some great travels oseas where we take and pay for about 6 relatives to go also with us for a fun family holiday, or we use the $$ for travel, and charity donations, or help relatives that really need it.

We normally buy cars with low km or 1- 2 year old from the gvt auctions or my friend gets our cars for us.

Most of the multi millionaires and a few billionaires I know have normal cars as often they dont wish for people to know they are very wealthy and are very nice down to earth modest people. They have hondas, suzuki vitaras, honda crv, utes, toyota corollas, nissan pulsar, or fords.

One of my wealthiest clients that also has over 80 properties and about 60% owned outright has a 2004 Hyundai Excel full of shoes, shopping, dogs hair, brushes, makeup, and her fav clothes are trackies, shorts/ thongs, sarongs, and jeans- She has a huge IT software company and has sold a few businesses to the States and China.

Normally the ones with all the bmw/ mercedes have huge debts, or they are leased and probably have less liquid cash and equity than most people on this forum anyway.

So you cant ever judge by car this is all ego crap

Ive been in real estate buying/ selling and advice for nearly 15 years now so have seen it all. There is no time to waste as time is money and yours dont forget in holding costs/ lost opportunity.

The buyers are not complying or offering any decent reasons, requesting extensions, so please look at your facts.
Step 1- Find the best solicitor you can in S/A
Step 2- If they have not complied with what you have served to date, then seek to terminate and keep deposit
Step 3 I would be getting the property either up to standard or a decent standard to sell
Step 4- I would also be finding the best agent possible to market the property for the best price you can achieve and keep moving forward.

Yes I have seen people not settle, refuse to settle, declare all weird and wonderful reasons/ excuses- cat sick, forgot to call, had a fight with the wife, cant find their cheque book, don't understand the docs, their brain not working, partner left them etc- so you just need to take swift action and treat it like a business as these people are not knocking down your door to do the right thing or come to some amicable correct arrangement.  
Remember you are not running a lifeline shop, you are running a business and loosing opportunity/ and $$$ now and being stuffed about to be honest and taken advantage of.

Yes – I own a few holiday rental properties, although mine are in Brisbane and Gold Coast.

Web sites we go on are stayz, takeabreak.com.au, totaltravel.com.au, realholidays.com.au

The main issue I guess is sorting out cleaning systems, standards, reliable people to help you, keeping up with the quotes, follow ups

We have had no issues with damage, found most people very good, clean, and have had minimal theft- maybe a few towels, and placemats, and some drinks coasters.

We supply what the market needs and have 95% occupancy so are very very happy, and our rates are decent, so always booked up. People require-
foxtel, net, office desk, chair, decent fridge/ tv, nice homely feeling, they are paying for a comfortable, safe, secure place, that has some sort of feeling of home or comfort, not just a cold clinical apartment, local info/ brochures to help them, we also supply tea/ coffee, milk, cold water, washing powder, dishwashing liquid, few books , magazines, hairdryer.

Seems to work- give it a go and see

Kylie

I have been investing in mining towns for a few years now and some are not only just reliant economically on mining, there are other industries/ income/ projects on the go.

I am project managing 30 new homes being built in Bowen, have approx 50 tenants on my waiting list and approx 30 investors ready to buy when completed, and some major companies coming in for all differing projects, not just mining related.

I think you need to just time when your in and when your out, but some of the most experienced property people in OZ, China, and NZ are heavily involved now in Bowen, Proserpine, Townsville, Mackay and a few other areas- that are responsible for billions of dollars of investment, Im sure their banks and advisors due a lot more due diligence than any of us could hope to do.

Goodluck to anyone out there giving things a go, and not just thinking the gvt is going to look after their retirement, in life you just have to do your best with all your contacts, knowledge, instict, listen to advice from people out there doing it- not just speaking and doing seminars- they have to be doing it live with their own $$$, and if you fail, get up dust yourself off, and go again. Most successful people have failed many times before they have fully succeeded.

You only fail when you give up and dont try, or sit on your computer judging or scaring others to death, the worst thing about our culture I guess is we do not support and encourage people and bring them up and help them, we try to knock them down, scare them, say nasty things- no wonder all of our good brains and talent have taken off to UAE, USA, UK, Germany.

This blog is to help others, advise, share experience, contacts, knowledge, support, not to be critical, nasty, and rude to people.

Im not negative, if I was I wouldnt have bought another property today up in Bowen!. All I stated was I am ready for whatever is thrown at me- good or bad, and if anything really terrible does happen, Im not too worried, Ill just go to my farm, grow veges, milk my cows, and take my dogs, take a few gold bars and have a party.
Im an optimist, I think in difficult times you just work harder, smarter, and be prepared for all situations, so Im not too worried.
Most of my properties are positive ++, or have very good equity in, so Im not too worried as Im there for the long haul regardless.

I believe in gold and for thousands of years it has always stacked up, also I watch where the wealth goes in the ethnic communities and learn from some very wealthy chinese and italian migrants and gold is where it goes when shares, stocks and currencies are in trouble and not guaranteed.

So Im putting next week some cash and my SMSF will buy some gold and have it stored

I have watched the movement of investments, have some great mentors in USA and OZ, and they are stacking up on gold now, and also buiying up as much property as they can if the deal is right and margin or opportunity in it.

If the shit hits the fan, Ive got a tent, will go bush with the dog to the hill of my farm in Bega, grow veges, and if gold goes up the river also, Ill have a party and melt my gold bars.

I think you have to look back at hard times and ask those that survived what did they do, how and what stood up- and most of the people tell me they survived as had gold, and some land to grow things to sell, or sold cattle/ dairy products, as most could not borrow any equity from banks, and their real estate was not selling at all. Also many people think they will be ok if they have a lot of equity in their property, or lines of credit- but dont forget the bank can stop this or recall it at any time, or change their criteria for release of funds.

Bye