Hi everyone
I'm back.
Ready for the news?
Altogether we had the following offers:
330k, 60 day settlement, subject to building and pest
338k, 60days, subject to finance
(both rejected on advice of agent)
342k, 60days, building and pest (accepted so agent could give 24hrs notice to all buyers),
345k, 60days building & pest
348k, 30 days, unconditional
350k, 35 days, subject to bank valuation.
At this point we met with the agent (5:30pm tonight) and she decided to try one more time, so called the 348k buyer and asked him to match the 350k.
He did, so we signed. $350k, 30day settlement, unconditional. The only possible problem is the 3 day cooling off period, but should be ok there.
So needless to say, we are all very pleased with the result.
Now we can get out and find another one.

I will post again soon with some breakdowns of costs etc etc.

Thanks don
Elka, I will definitely get bathroom photos, probly today. We originally were going to basically leave it alone, but decided it needed a lift so it didn't drag the rest of the house down.
So we:
-re-tiled floor
-tile paint all wall tiles (white)
-added splashback tiles to vanity
-changed vanity handles
-all new taps, toilet and mirror
-timber venetian
-downlights
-added a row of mosaics as a border around the wall tiles
-re-siliconed

The "Sale by set Date" method that we are using is like a cross between an auction and a private sale.
It starts with "sale by 4pm on 20th Oct" – 4 weeks after first open house. The idea is that people make their offers and then on that date we choose which one we will take (if any).
But if we get an offer that is high enough we can say "yes" immediately, and then the "set date" is brought forward to 4pm the next day. So then all the intested buyers are contacted and told "This property will be sold at 4pm tomorrow, so if you want to make an offer, you have 24 hours to make your best offer.
From that point all offers are put in an envelope so only the agent who takes the offer knows what it is. This gets agents competing, and puts pressure on buyers to truly make their best offer. Then the next day we open the envelope and choose which offer to accept -either the one we already said yes to, or another one if better.
We think this method will work well for us in the current market which is very strong, with many buyers frustrated at missing out, and with properties like ours being quite rare in the area.
As a buyer though, this method is really hard to get a bargain. So as a seller, Yay.

Anyway, today is the day.
I better go finish cleaning and make the place pretty!!!
See ya.

Thur 20 Sep
-pressure cleaned and painted driveway, footpath, and porch
-hung bistro blinds to deck
-finished most of touch ups
-plumbers came and finished carport roof and fitted off all taps etc
-went to Bunnings, Target, Reject shop, Coles and a couple of others looking for little bits of furnishings.

One more big day tomorrow, and it will all be about done.

Thanks for kind words everyone.
elkam, no bathroom photos because still finishing the bathroom. Plumbing gear went in today. Still need to hang blind, hang mirror, towel rail and toilet roll holder, silicone around bath and vanity. I will get photos of it (maybe not till Sat) and put them on the flickr site so everyone can see.

The ad is up now.
http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=104303866&f=0&p=10&t=res&ty=&fmt=&header=&c=1022479&cc=au&s=vic&tm=1190291042

The open house is 11:00-11:30am Sat. If anyone is in area please have a look, and tell me what you think of the agent, the house, and the crowd (I hope) that shows up.

BTW the couches are grey not purple, but apparently sometimes fabrics just look weird in photos.

Thanks all for reading. What are we all going to do for fun when this is over with?

Jason

Tue 18 Sep
Hi Diana!! Thanks. Great to hear from you. Hope you are recovering ok from the weekend. I am still pooped.

Today I:
-took my sister to help me and took a few vases, table cloths etc from home
-picked up more vases etc from business partners' house
-went to the reno and cleaned up a few places that needed it
-raced up to the nearest shopping centre and did 1hr 10min of speed shopping. I bought fruit for a fruit bowl, mugs, wine glasses, glass tumblers, jug, plates, bowls, cutlery sets, place mats, fake flowers, canisters for kitchen, door mats, a floor rug, napkins etc.
I have to say, I did pretty darn good for a bloke.
-raced back to house and set it all up
-the profesional photographer came and took photos.
-did some more painting 2nd coat on bits and pieces
-went to Bunnings and got some paving paint for driveway, and other bits and pieces.

The house is now looking fantastic.
The professional photos will be up on web tomorrow at latest. In all the rush I didn't take any more of my own today.
Here is the link to see the pics when they are ready:
http://www.open2view.com.au/Property/34741

The open house will be at 11-11:30 on Sat. All welcome.

Total spend so far is $23,168. I think it will get to about $27,500. Out budget was $25,261 and we have made some deliberate choices to do additional things over our original plan (like tile bathroom floor), so I am quite pleased with 27.5k on the reno.

Cheers

I just put some photos up of the furniture, bar on deck etc.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9273576@N06/?saved=1

Hi Mark
We are doing the driveway ourselves next week.
If you email me I will send you the number of the roof restorer. He was great.
Just send me a private message through my profile page and I will write back next week.
Thanks
Jason

Thurs 13 Sep
Me and 2 helpers:
-demolished the gate where the carport is
-painted the brick wall where the carport is
-did a big clean up and took a trailer load to tip
-took a load of timber and paint left-overs home
-did some repairs to the deck and started sanding it
-oiled some mirbau ready to make a bar on the deck
-hire furniture arrived and installed
-bought paint for the deck, one more timber blind (had wrong size), some misc timber, and picked up the floor tiles for bathroom

The furniture makes a big difference, but I didn't have the camera with me today sorry.
The furniture company brought a 7 piece dining setting instead of a 5 piece, and the 7 is too big for the small dining room, so they are going to change it tomorrow.
They also had a lovely vase set up just inside the front door with some tall dried flowers in it. We were all admiring the bedrooms and walked in just a gust of wind blew in the front door and knocked the vase over and onto the floor. It smashed, and put a divot in the floating floor as well. Bummer.

Another story about the floating floor: I took all the taps off the other day, and forgot to put the washing machine taps back on before I turned on the water again. So got back to the house to hear water gushing onto the laundry floor (floating floor).
It was very flooded. I mopped up all the water straight away, and hoped it would dry, but a couple of the boards swelled on the join so I had to pull up the boards in the laundry and replace 4 of them. Lucky I did, because there was still water sitting on the underlay with nowhere to go. It would have wrecked the whole floor if I left it. Next time I think either vinyl or tiles in the laundry would be better.

In answer to questions:
Floating floor: it took a couple of hours to prepare surface and do underlay. The actual laying is not too hard, but you have to sort of do it a row at a time, not a board at a time, because when you put the 2nd and 3rd boards etc on a row, all the ones before it lift up a bit and don't stay stuck together. So you put all the boards down as best you can for that row, then go back along the row and give it a final push and yank to bring the boards all together nicely. When the whole row is clicked together right, then start the next one.
A pair of knee pads are very handy.

Reno cost: I have been flat out and not added it all up. I will let you know.
REA comments: all very positive so far. REA is coming back tomorrow to see furniture. She is quite excited about how the house is turning out and expects a lot of interest.

Glad the fence stain works for someone else also. Good luck with your reno bpudadera.

Try to get some pics tomorrow.
This is a very full on week. Trying to make the deadline of Photographer on Monday morning, then the other deadline of open house next Sat. So many little things that are not expected or planned for.
But we are almost there. And very soon I can start earnestly seeking the next one!! That will be fun!!

Tue 11 Sep
-nailed rest of skirting around floating floor
-started making some new stairs onto the deck
-went shopping for more stuff
Helpers:
-painted first top coat on bathroom wall tiles
-filled all gaps around skirting just nailed on
-started cleaning some windows
Also had someone come and cut timber venetians to size and fit most of them for me.
REA's all came and did their walk through the property.

I guess we'll find out soon.

Fri 7 Sep
-took some rubbish to the tip
-carpets installed
-helpers put 1st coat of paint on carport
-roofing for carport and deck delivered
-bought tile paint, suede effects paint, floor tiles and border tiles for bathroom, light fittings for bedrooms
-took some photos. Have a look!

Question for anyone who knows:
Can I lay the floor tiles (ceramic) over the top of the existing floor tiles (ceramic), or is that just way too dodgy? I don't have much tiling experience, so need you input.
Thanks