they are often more consistant and have a better finish than pine ones. seem to be equally hard wearing, though MDF hates water so be careful where its used.

Hi Sebsez

I had spent 15 yrs on construction sites and watched other trades when I could. It helps but at the end of the day you need to learn every trade (and most of them have a 4 yr apprenticeship) by the end of the 1st reno. There is a lot of misconception about which trades are the easy or hard ones. Tiling looked easy but was probably the trickiest of all. Yes, I do extensive renos. You have to I think. You need to make enough profit to cover stamp duty, legals, agents fees, advertising…..and slippage on the sale. So for me, a quick paint, new carpet, yard tidy & even a new kitchen just aint enough. Any idiot can (and does) do that, so those renos are a dime a dozen…….plenty of competition on the buy side & also on the sell side…….which means you end up paying top dollar to buy it, and dont get much profit when you sell. But sometimes they can work, they are a quick deal, but I see these deals as higher risk. Theres just not enough margin to cover all those fees if something goes wrong……..like finding rot or termites.

I like to change layouts and add living space. I love knocking down walls and asking "why the hell did they put the bathroom there? lets move it here"

Ive been lucky so far in that Ive always bought cheap at the start of a boom, and only ever dealt with motivated sellers. If you have to chase a deal, theres a good chance you will overpay. Its possible I may have made nearly as much money just by sitting on these properties and not doing any reno work. Im fully aware that a large chunk of my profit is from capital growth and not value adding. But then again the market could also have gone down……

I guestimate all costs before submitting an offer, and triple it before telling the agent what Im going to spend on it and this helps the seller realise he needs to be reasonable. Im very good with keeping costs down. I shop around a lot, go to auctions, shop on ebay etc. I dont quite get the logic behind the serious budgeter…….I mean things cost what they cost, prices dont come down just cos you aint happy with them. I often get tradies in for a quote, then see how much I can do it for myself. I do keep a running total just so I know, but its a meaningless number.

My first reno was funded entirely by credit. I also had to revalue during the reno to get more cash. Reno #2 was much less stress, had $25k cash to start with, and dipped into credit about half way along. #3 should be a breeze, cash all the way.

People who fail at renos do so because of one or more of the following:

1. overpaying
2. overcapitalising
3. poor finish
4. getting tradesmen to do everything
5. taking too long
6. running out of money
7. not finishing everything
8. getting target market wrong
9. not getting building & pest inspection
10. not walking away from borderline deals
11. not selling at a loss if you need to
12. not putting in 100%

and probably more others could add………

NSW flat? not according to REIQ or RPData. Most suburbs I looked at in Sydney are up 15% this year.
Perth peaked? only if the commodity boom is over, which is a brave call.
Rising interest rates? they have been on hold about 8 months.

Is that armchair of yours stuck in 2006?

Those comments were made in mid 2003, and it should be quite obvious by the economic conditions listed. I dont recall many posters on this forum being as pro shares and anti property as I was, in fact I do recall being heckled and ridiculed for my views.

And now I feel the market is at a polar opposite. There will be a rally in property in 2010 that will make 2003 look like a blip. But thats a whole other thread…….

if you believe these clowns, the property market is doomed.

they have spent the last 2 years convincing each other the sky is green, when its obvious its blue.

http://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1977&page=77

I pity the poor fools who have listed to this nonsense over the last few years and missed out on one hell of a ride. Listenening to these clowns is hazardous to your financial health.

Hi Pat

I might be interested in buying. please email me details

nonasmall at gmail.com

cheers

congrats!

I remember being in exactly your position 2 yrs ago.

Dont hire a gurnie, you can buy one for $69 from Bunnings. trust me, you will use it plenty. you need to accumulate all the tools you can. You will find tool hire is between 33% and 50% of tool cost, an outrageous rip off. I was quoted $40 for a recipricating saw for one day. bought one on ebay (plus a drill and saw) for $50 and have used it so many times Ive lost count.

You could offer to pay for the extra work done.

Ask him what amount would make him happy and tell him you will think about it. Make sure he knows how happy you are with the work, sometimes thats more important than making a big profit. He will be sure to remember you next time.

You should be commended on your attitude to this tradie. Most people here would lie, cheat & steal just to save $1. Glad someone has ethics

no. more likely $30k – $50k

Old property addage – you make money when you buy, not when you sell. You have to buy below market value. The reno’s purpose is to increase appeal and value. Run-down houses are hard to sell which means they go stale and vendors are more likely to be motivated. Only ever deal with motivated sellers.

Renovated houses tend to sell quickly, and with less discount to asking price.

So its not just about modernising. You cant just buy a house for $100k, spend $20k on it by paying a heap of tradesmen, and hope its worth $140k at the end. You have to add value somewhere. This happens by either saving money by doing the work yourself, or by buying below market value, or ideally, both.

examples:

1. I bought hardwood decking at auction for $2k and employed 2 labourers to help me build the deck. Total cost $4k, added value $10k (which I asked agents about before auction)

profit for me – $6k

2. quoted $7.5k for new driveway. asked agent how much value it would add, $7k. got 8m3 concrete blend delivered, bought 40 bags of cement, total cost $1200. took me & the mrs 1 week.

profit for me – $5800

3. quoted $14k for new kitchen. bought stuff from Ikea returns dept, resprayed doors. put in granite tile benchtop & splashback. total spend – $1500.

profit for me – $12.5k

4. quoted $18k for new bathroom. bought massage shower from auctions for $800. bought pallet of tiles from auction for $4/m. bought flatpack vanity from Bunnings for $139. bought mixer on ebay for $20. bought cabinet & mirror from Ikea returns for $70. toilet from auctions for $130. total spend $1200.

profit for me – $16.8k

I told a friend I just spent $27k on a reno. He coughed and said he spent $27k just on a kitchen.

There is NO profit in paying market value for a house, then paying market value for renovations. People who do this usually make money from a rising market, not from thrifty spending.

The public these days know what a reno costs and have seen one too many shows on TV showing how easy it is (rofl).