Forum Replies Created
Hi F
my experience is not extensive. I only do renos on my PPOR so tax is not an issue. I do however watch every stinkin real estate show on the lifestyle channel which helps a lot.
Repainting is the most efficient improvement you can make. Better still if you do it all yourself. Would rate this as a 4:1 return.
new door handles – 2:1 – Bunnings does em for $15
also consider new doors – they only cost $42 and make a BIG difference.
downlights – 2:1 – easy moderisation
switches / points – depends how grotty / old fashioned they are. Nothing says “we need a $7k rewire here” quite like 1960’s bakelite. Spending $1k here may stop people pulling $5k off the price.
New floor coverings is a must. People assume it costs 2x the actual amount.
New taps – depends. they would have to be pretty bad.
new oven – same story
timber venetians – not sure. I put in PVC cos they are way cheaper.
render – probly 3:1. 100:1 if done yourself
respray roof – I resprayed a roof with $20 of fence paint. some people spend $4k. Probly a 2:1 here, at worst a 1:1 but anything that helps with street appeal will sell a place faster.
respray drive – probly 0.5:1 but I could be wrong.
gut front garden and re-do, trim and revive back yard – this costs almost nothing and can easy add $15k. mad not to do it.
I have just completed a $100k reno. However, I did all the work myself and only spent $27k in materials. Thats just as well since I only added $100k value.
Point is, dont spend $1 unless you know it will add $2 value. Im not sure spending $5k on a carport will add $10k value.
People think you can just throw $50k at a property and it will automaticly go up by $100k. In many cases it goes up by $30 or $40k.
Be VERY careful what you spend $$$ on. The perfect reno is a myth. Dont try and fix everything. The most profitable renos are the cosmetic ones.
If theres no ABN on the invoice then legally you can withhold 50% of the amount.
It is an assumption that he ripped you off, and not fact. Get more info.
Moral here is: dont delay when something needs to be fixed.
In court I think you would get bent over…..
kingB wrote:eg. if your shares cost $15 per share, they may rent it off you for about 60 cents a share times your 1000 shares =$600 cash in account for that month and you do that month in month out. one catch, the person renting your shares has the right to buy the share at a per determained amount eg. $15.50 so you get the rent as well as the capital growth. and if the shares go down in value you keep the shares and rent them out againcan you explain to us why someone would pay 60c to buy a $15 share off you for $15.50?
if the shares go down to say $13, and you “rent them out again” for say 12c (a more realistic amount, 60c is B.S) at a strike of $13.50, what happens when they get back to $15?
legal height is the issue.
you need 2.4m clearance (allow for batterns, ceiling, flooring) in living areas (bedrooms, lounge, dining) and 2.1m in wet areas (kitchen, bathroom, laundry)
council approval is optional but can be dramas with resale & insurance.
1. who says there is a boom?
2. what asset class are you referring to?as I see it, shares have had a boom and will have a bust. Property is starting to boom and a bust is a long way off.
Jase and Flic wrote:Does anyone know if you can just put a skim coat of sand & cement over bricks, just enough to fill mortar joints up to flush, then apply a roll on texture coat over that?? I think it would look almost like render, but maybe lots cheaper.
Anyone tried this??all the time. looks the same. costs about $20 for 3 bags of render and takes about a day. I found it easy when doing handfuls, forcing render into the joints with a gloved hand cupped upward. tried using a float but too messy / hard.
why not just build a 2nd residence at the back and rent it out?
someone from brisbaneunits.com telling us units are better than houses.
I think thats called “bias” or “vested interest”. sometimes even “ramping”. lacks credibility.
bunnings and Ikea sells floating floors for $20/m
I got my labourer to sand my boards with a 1/3 sheet orbital. took 2 days. bought a 20 litre drum of polyurethane for $100. total cost $250 or $5/m. thanks for comin
these are the facts of the case and they are undisputed:
1. there is a shortage of tradesmen
2. the customer is in control of who they hire and its their responsibility to accept the rates before work starts
3. a happy worker is a more productive and reliable worker
4. pay peanuts, get monkeys
5. a little courtesy goes a long way
6. treating people like crap wont earn their respect
7. having money does not earn you respect
8. who wants to deal with pricks on a regular basis? if a checkout chick was rude would you avoid her next time?
9. nobody said they would do a bad job if the customer was a prick or didnt get us a drink. we just said we wouldnt go back next time.
10. some in this thread tried to help and have copped nothing but abuse for doing so. thats gratitude……..lol
its like the blind leading the blank round here
as I said, I am no longer a tradesmen. So its quite funny that some of you responded with that pent up hatred of tradies youve been bottling for years but never had the guts to say, except from behind the safety of your anonymous keyboard.
It also amuses me that you think tradies are the ONLY business morally obliged to charge a rate below what the market will bear. Every other business on earth charges as much as they can, yet tradies are “ripoff merchants”.
Furthermore, when you EMPLOY a tradie, he should be treated as well as any other employee. Some of you sound like you run sweat shops. The most successful businesses on earth treat their employees like the asset they are. They get the best of everything…..
Its the middle of summer and Im crawling around in your ceiling sweating my rings off, if you have a cold drink in your hand and dont think to offer me one………?
then again, we are on a website full of money obcessed pricks who dont give 2 poops about anything except how much happiness they think they can buy with their next $$
bite me
there are hundreds of houses like this in New Orleans. Land value is basicly zero, and people are selling for very small amounts.
so of course they wouldnt spend heaps on advertising. and I doubt there are any agents around anyway………
Redcliffe peninsula.
aged population dying off & being replaced with young families. Beachside lifestyle & 20 mins to CBD. Prices very low compared to other cities northern beaches.
I happen to be selling mine soon which backs onto a canal development, so it will have water views in a few years. Would love to keep it as capital growth will be strong but Lo DOC finance forces me to sell for next development. $400k isnt quite enough but we can always chat……
The locals around here have no idea how good they have it. It was known as "deadcliffe" for many years because nothing ever got done. Now the Govt is on a wild spending spree & spending money advertising the place on TV, which is why its starting to take off. Email any agent around here, they will all tell you the next 5 years will be very strong. Its the next Mooloolaba….
this looks like one of the homes in New Orleans…….
mathewc73 wrote:Get 3 quotes. First do some research so you understand what they will be doing for you (ie finishings, quality of material, etcthis is a good point. If you dont know EXACTLY what you want done, then quotes will allow you to get a few different ideas / suggestions.
Another important point is that the cheapest quote is often that way for a reason. A good strategy is to take the middle one.
Quotes are also a good idea if you dont know if a project is financially viable.
I had some customers who tried to intimidate me by speaking the lingo. This tells me that they are either a know-it-all, or have had so many quotes they have memorised what everyone said. Either way, I deliberately over-quote in the hope that some other poor sod gets the job. If I do get it, the extra makes it worth the headaches.
a poor attempt at some back-peddling, some more hypocracy and still no apology.
why you have a chip on your shoulder and act like the sharp end of a needle is irrelevant. The thread was “how to find a reliable tradie” not “how to get on every tradies blacklist and make an ass of yourself”
I did a job for a guy once who called me from 2 hours south of me. I told him there must be someone closer & he tried to tell me I was the only option. I explained that I would need to charge a heap of travel time & he accepted. When I got there I queried him some more & his wife eventually explained that he had pissed off every other sparky in the city and had finally learned his lesson when he went 2 weeks without power in his restaurant. Lucky for him I was obliging. moral of the story – close too many doors behind you and eventually you are trapped…….
Its funny you question my ethics after admitting you have no problem dodging GST. Denial now only reduces your credibility further.
Your opinion of tradies is just that. I see no evidence that your view is universal.
I laughed so hard when you asked me to do work for you. My sides still hurt.
L.A…..
your post is not only defamitory, but just plain ignorant.
you have never met me and have no idea about my workmanship. Your claims that all tradesmen are scum proves what kind of person you are. I expect a formal apology for your baseless allegations. Ive spent quite a bit of time working on Frank Lowys house (among other blue chip clients) and have many awards proving my workmanship is top notch.
you need a wakeup call pal. You seem to think tradies need you more than you need them. Thats not the case. You think you can treat them like a doormat, well what goes around comes around.
Would you advertise for a cleaner at the rate of $65/hr? well thats effectively what you are doing when you get them to clean up their mess. I would rather clean up the mess myself and save $30 or so. Why pay a specialist do do work someone on min wage can do?
“I’ll pay cash (knowing it won’t be declared to the ATO) if I get at least a 10% discount off the price.”
you just admitted to tax fraud. be careful how you word your apology.
keeping the tradesman comfortable and refreshed will get the job done quicker. If the tradesman is frazzled he is more likely to bugger off for a long lunch or leave altogether. If the overall job has been a positive experience he will be more likely to come back next time you need him.
There are many words I could use to describe a person who treats people as you do. For the record, the only people I stung with inflated quotes were the arrogant jerks who looked down their nose at me. I knew they would be trouble and charged them accordingly. If I find people are friendly and respectable (and arent wasting tradies time getting 10 quotes) then they are the people I want to work for and Im not likely to overcharge. I would much rather be happy at work than be miserable and make a few extra bucks.
you sound like one of these clowns who gets 5 quotes for a 5 min job. or you find some small mistake and refuse to pay the bill. or you are happy with the job and dont pay the bill for 3 months.
there are just as many scumbag customers as there are scumbag tradesmen.
try Redcliffe area
homes within 200m of beach for under 300k
firstly, quotes are a SCAM
as a former tradie myself, I can tell you dollar signs flash in my eyes when I hear the phrase “can I get a quote?”. When we do a quote, we estimate how long it will take and how much materials are required, add some if we see obvious problems, then add 20% before submitting the price. Think about this……..if your boss said “do this job, but Im going to pay you before you do it.” If you thought it might take between 2 days and 4 days, would you accept 2 days or demand 4 days just in case? how would you feel if you were paid for 2 days and had to work 4? now consider the time and travel costs wasted going to where the job was. sometimes it can be 3 hours unpaid for a tradie doing a quote including travel time. thats about $200 which they need to recover from someone……..guess who?
also, we know its hard to get tradies out to quote. we know that you are unlikely to bother getting multiple quotes, or simply cant get 3 guys to turn up. we know the quote we give you will have about a 66% chance of being accepted, and it will be inflated because of these factors.
Instead, call a few tradesmen and ask:
– do you cover this area?
– are you available?
– give a good description of the work. is this the kind of work you take on?
– what are your charges?
– roughly how long do you think it will take?
– when can you start?call him the night before to confirm. if he trys to reschedule, threaten to call someone else. dont expect him to give you a precise time as its unlikely to be accurate. a “9.30 – 10.30” timeslot is more likely to see him turn up. we often get jobs take longer and with rigid times someone has to get cancelled so we can get back on track.
you will find the final bill will be much lower than any quote.be nice. show him where the toilet is and offer him a cold drink at least once an hour. make sure wherever he is working is clear of clutter & furniture. offer to clean up any mess.
when the job is complete, assuming the tradie turned up on time and completed the job to your satisfaction, pay IMMEDIATELY, preferably in cash. thank him for doing a good job and tell him you will use him in the future. ask for a card and tell him you have friends looking for a good tradie. leave a good impression in his mind and he will not only remember you next time, you will get preferential treatment.
