I have to say this particular area is all planned estate (not saying good or bad). The advertising is set to appeal to young family buyers including couples with babies and small children in the tv advertising and the occasional young professional man for that market. The majority of house are 3 and 4 beds and I have looked at the warehouse styled townhouses for young couples.

 I think part of reno-ing the right property, the right way is to look exactly at the market. If you have a one bed or studio you wouldn't expect to see a huge claw foot tub and cabinet etc. In a family house you would expect to see a bath and no it doesn't have to be big enough for a 6 foot bloke but it does need to be there.

 I have to say Wealthy, that I think we will hit a wall with these tiny woman in a shoe type houses and the buyers will start to look at other types of property and I think for this reason urban sprawl will still happen especially in Melbourne even though the Govt will try to stop it (so they don't have to pay for infrastructure).   

I still put separate laundry's in ours and a separate bathroom, toilet arrangement. And yes I have baths in mine.

Sorry to hijack this post but the shrinking house size is pretty important to look at.

have a nice sunny day

D

Christian will you be coming to the get together in Melbourne, sounds like you would bring a lot to the party especially in Melb with the subdivision bonanza that is going on!

Yeah look I am super conservative with figures I hate being caught out. I may be out by 5 or 10k but better to be over than under.
Plus I would hate to give anyone looking to get started a figure that may cause them problems.

D

Hey all just wanted to get this back in the active part of the forum in case anyone else wanted to come along!

D

It costs an arm and a leg, takes forever and having your builder call you and tell you to get rid of the landscaper like today's little adventure is not for the faint hearted! But apart from that it is heaps of fun all the way through and you spend a lot of time on the phone and email learning something new every day!

 As for the real cost if you factor $50k for not doing it yourself and maybe 30k if you are you will be safe. This does not include holding costs and misc items that crop up. Will I do it again? Oh yeah! Will I do the subdivision part myself? Nup, I'll leave that to my guys, like I leave the tax part to the accountant, the legal part to the solicitor and the building to the builder. (I'm a fan of outsourcing to people more expert than I)

Hey JacM just tell me to be quiet if I keep ranting about the same ol same ol, lol! 

D

No one liked the phone info? Or the pretty pictures of the area? Or the fact that they have invested not much into it?These are all reasons I buy property!

Hi,

It may not be all new land but you'll probably find that if it is in a new estate it will. Most new estates are aimed at the family market and while they might be close to shops, transport etc they may not be right for subdivision. Yes look for an old house because you will avoid this and probably get more land for your dollar. Some older properties are in better locations also. Don't worry about the old house it should only cost around $10k to get rid of and even if it has asbestos etc up to $15k.

Good luck Vic is nuts for subdivisions right now
D

Do a lot of people borrow at 90%? Or do most people leave a safety net of 20%? Or is the idea to borrow as much as you possibly can? We have always done 80%.

D

Yeah look I have to say it is not all roses and you do wonder why you are renting when the 40th call the rea has gone unanswered (sposed to have a gardener inc…where is he?) We could have bought something where we rent and with a bit of reno made about 400k. But……………….Then we would only have one house not 5. Our risk would be in one area.The costs would be all our own, there would be no depreciation, no tax breaks no nothing, just a giant mortgage that my grandkids would probably still be paying off in 100 years time. If the value of this property decreased then that would be it whereas it is unlikely that all 5 will go down at once. So I guess it all comes down to where you want to be at the end of all this. No I wont be renting in 10 yrs time! But it suits me now

D

If it is minimum security then it might be worth a look. My parents in law love the fact that where they are the minimum security inmates come and deliver wood and paint fences etc so I don't think that is is the worst thing to be near. Anything that smells is a no no for me! 

D