I’m from the Uk too and I bloody hate WB. As nice as it looks finished, its a complete b******d to rub down and paint if you do renos like me. Can add weeks to a job, and its normally rotted here there and everywhere, and in Tassie, a 100SQM house will cost you upward of $5k to get a painter in. I like brick – even if Ozzy brick is as ugly as my twin sister. You can render it, paint it or leave it.

However, having said that, if you see a cheap house covered in asbestos brickboard (all the rage in Oz in the 50’s) then the WB’s will generally be superb underneath it, and just by taking the fake brick veneer off will add thousands.

Andy

41! Its not like your 80!

And you have hundreds of thousands of dollars to play with!

You’re a lucky, lucky man!

I was fired from a very well paid job in the US when I was in my late 30’s. Career down the pan, I suddenly realised that we had been living a very consumerist lifestlye – and we had very little apart from our home equity (about $250k) to show for all the years I had slaved for my idiot of a boss (who, by the way, sold his business for US750 million recently and none of the wage slaves got a red cent – and the moral of that story is “work for yourself”) .

So, my wife and I and our four kids have had to make a few adjustments – including emigrating to Oz (which was a very good adjustment!), cutting our spending by 65%, downsizing everything from house to holidays (camper trailers are just superb!), and deciding that working for someone else is a joke.

One of the best things we decided to do was go for broke and start buying and selling properties. We basically buy, renovate and sell but hold the decent returners.

We’ve been in Tassie about 18 months now and we own two houses and are building two more, all of which are just about neutrally geared. And, I’m looking for more as we speak. I also earn about $80k a year from renos and a bit of land speculation and spec building.

As you’re from Tassie, you’ll appreciate that that’s enough to live pretty well off now – and the renters will bear fruit in later years as someone else is paying off our mortgages on four houses! In five years time, we aim to own 10 properties and that will more than assure our retirement. And, in the meantime, I’ll keep flogging the odd reno to keep the cash flow turning over.

So, 41 and 300k! The world’s your oyster mate. Attend some courses, read as many books as you can, ask questions, get familiar with the market, decide on an approach that suits your lifestyle and then dive on in – that water temperature is a bit of a shock at first but crikey its nice when you get used to it!

And as for opportunities in Tassie, I’ve just printed four off the internet today – and they were all in one locality that I know well. You just need to know what to look for. PM me if you want a bit of advice about how I make the Tassie market work for me.

I’m no genius so if I can do it anyone can.

Best of luck

Andy

I know you’ve started painting but here are my tips:

1) A very neutral light beige for the walls, white for the ceilings, and antique white for the trim. I do this in all my houses.

2) Don’t mess around changing colour schemes in all your “standard” places. It just takes up to much time.

3) Do all walls in old houses flat as a tack matt. Hides all those lumps in the plaster work.

4) Do all the rooms the same colour – bar the bathroom which should always be sparkling white (with a splash of colour in the tiles – I normally use bumpy whites with maybe a beige mosaic trim – very cheap and looks good). Using one colour throughout makes that small house look bigger.

5) Buy your paint in large qunatities from a good trade supplier. It’s cheaper, and “yes” you will use up all the left overs as your next house will be the same colour. Dulux paint is expensive and no better than Solver for example. Trade shops also know what they are talking about and will give good advice. Bunnings do not know their arse from their elbow.

6) Buy one of those edger pads with roller wheels on the side to do the cutting in. They are the dogs and will save you hours.

7) If you rent property, then keep that left over paint. A bit of a touch up here and there is a lot cheaper than starting again when the tenant moves out.

Use lots of masking tape. If you aren’t a pro, you will need it. Nothing looks worse than overpainted windows etc.. Remove the tape within an hour of painting. Also, buy a razor paint shaver to remove drips on windows.

9) If you are sanding floors you can be a bit sloppy where the skirts meet the floor as the sander will remove the paint but don’t be sloppy in the corners as the sander can’t reach! Quad also hides any splashes.

10) If you’re putting down new tile or lino in the wet areas (or indeed carpet anywhere – although I hate carpet as it costs money), paint the skirts beforehand. The new tile or “Bronx marble” will hide your haste.

Hope that helps somebody.

Andy

I know a good divorce lawyer.[biggrin]

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