The good news is that the house is under contract for a very nice price. It goes unconditional later this week and the agent assures us that all seems to be going fine. If it goes through we will make enough to cover the equivalent of the 5 weeks of wages plus an extra 10,000 to put into another. It also meets the 12% profit criterion.

The buyer…[Read more]

Here it is: the finished product. Any comments appreciated. Link to RE.com.au. Have just emailed agent to ask if can reorder the photos as I think the interior shots are the ones that will attract.http://

http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=105615700&f=0&p=10&t=res&ty=&fmt=&header=&cc=&c=41656779&s=qld&tm=1237458354

Thats all folks…[Read more]

Sorry for lack of input. The final cleaning/decorating/mowing etc has taken longe than expected (as expected!!) and the need for my hb to get back to his full time job has really effected the time frame. We have gone 4 weeks over our time frame, but realise in hind sight that it was unrealistic with our other committments (4 young children, our…[Read more]

Hi K,

Purchase price:$230,000

Budget: $23,000

Sell price: $305,000 optimal, but $295,000 would still provide satisfactory outcome ($5,000 per week of physical work). Confident achievable.

Went with the white tiles thru the kitchen and bathroom and does look really nice against the polished floors.

Not ging post any more photos but here is the…[Read more]

Getting so close. Excited/terrified about getting market appraisals shortly. I have been monitoring market carefully and still feel confident of goal price.

Floors were all polished today but not allowed to see until Thurs (apparently make sure no dust blown in).

Spent Sunday grouting the front sunroom with my 8 yo dau. We both enjoyed it and,…[Read more]

Still going. Definitely on home straight.

Last week we had a go at tiling the front sunroom. I layed the tiles and my hb was chief cutter. It came out GREAT. Really enjoyed it but have to grout yet…

Waterproofed the bathroom. Will get tiles layed in kitchen (only a few metres) and bathroom tomorrow.

Paving out under the verandah finished.…[Read more]

Hopefully towards home straight. Looking like maybe go 2 weeks over, but considering hb working own business full time too, will be OK. Budget is looking being ~$1000 under so will even out.
Paving under verandah should be finished tomorrow. Is coming up great.
I repainted the garage doors yesterday, mending gutters and repainting. Is also…[Read more]

Hi Linar (K), Appreciate the advice. I think you are right – white it is. Can always add a bit of colour with a plant or some such.

What are you planning with yr reno – similar budget to us be we have 12 weeks to get it back on the market. Renovating with young kids certainly makes things a lot trickier. I would love to go finish painting my…[Read more]

Finished painting the underside of the verandah roof today. Painter has done most of gloss paint around window frames and skirtings. Started painting up laundry walls.

New bathroom layout looks great (sorry didn’t take camera).

My hb (Wayne btw) is out in the shed spray painting the window latches and handles.

Thanks Andrew. It’ll certainly be…[Read more]

Plumber in today sorting out plumbing for sink, dishwasher, vanity, toilet (will be great to have a functional toilet onsite), bath, shower etc. We had supplied taps but mixer had gotten for sink (from Bunnings) leaked badly and used one of one.

Went to a couple of open inspections on w/e to try keep idea current market in my area. Also keeping…[Read more]

More interesting photos. This is the newly created living/kitchen area. It feels great. You can see the roof beams we inserted to replace the 2 walls we removed. Now that they are painted they blend in really well.
Still debating what colour tiles to use in the kitchen. Was going to use white tiles on the wall but maybe white tiles with the white…[Read more]

By the way, the time here is 11;15, NOT 12:15!!!!!

Photos!!!Ask and you shall receive. Is taking a while to download them.

These are of what was the lounge and opening to the dining room. The opening was quite nice but house layout didn’t work. Is now bedroom 1 and opening is so neatly closed you can’t even tell was there. Painter has done walls and ceiling but not yet window frames. Floor have…[Read more]

Things going ahead beautifully now. Painter is in last week and this week and the rooms are looking really great. I can imagine someone wanting to live there now. Taken the oppotunity to get some painting tips from him – he insisted I use one of his ‘decent’ brushes to paint front fence.

Last week my husband dropeed some of the skirtings down as…[Read more]

Well now that the Xmas rush is over, we are progressing nicely again. My husband has committed 2 solid weeks to the project and is flying along. Following some sort of nail gun for Xmas, he is flying along replacing the broken asbestos panels we had removed, finishing off the doorways we filled in, edging, etc.

We did get out of order as he…[Read more]

Thanks for concern but I am being really careful to avoid that ie yesterday was a “work” day but also my last childfree day b4 the hols, so I decided I deserved a day off. My girlfriend and I spent the day at the shopping centre, finishing xmas shopping etc.

Plus I don’t take on the big jobs, just the small unskilled. It is great to do a job and…[Read more]

Thanks for that guys. Will make more effort to post more regularly.

Have to go measure up paving area and take some windows to glazier tomorrow so will even try take some progress photos.

Am definitely a bona fide “worker” now – have a massive blister on my palm from pulling out the staples in kitchen floor ready for sanding, numerous scratches…[Read more]

Week 3: Tried to pressure spray outside of house – only to find pressure sprayer needed a special extension cord. Spent day digging a front garden border, sourcing plants for it (chose a variety of lilly pilly that is rapid growing and dense to cover stumps and underneath house. Using bricks from paving in removed greenhouse to do garden…[Read more]

Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since we settled. Not much spare time now to go online. Have been working every chance I can and am having difficulty getting my hb to go do some paid work. So far so good.
Front fence posts and rails up.
Rear verandah removed.
Builder has removed walls between kitchen and lounge and put in support beams. Removed linen…[Read more]

Just went over for couple hours – started pulling down ramp and rails at rear. Discovered hb had left his angle grinder (and safety gear) in the boot – figured it out OK with help of my DIY book, so able to cut away wire where welded to posts. Apparently he has a smaller one – think might try that next time.

Ramp and verandah out back at present: