Forum Replies Created
nrma were absolute nightmare in our recent tenant damage and rental claim, went on for months, terrible service too, cost us about 5 grand, shouldn't have bothered claiming
Hi YI,
rent estimate 140 /150 week before, got $170 week after reno.
not much increase but thought it a good cash flow buy. basically house was filthy and really needed reno, new paint, carpet, some retiling bathroom, tiled kitchen floor (cheaper than lino!), new curtain,blinds, garden tidy, and built a wooden deck.
we should have bought closer, travelling killed us but couldn't afford closer:)
after tenant adventure have dropped rent to 150, so not our best choice, but riding out the storm.
we like to have a clean, tidy , homely house and cross fingers get nice decent people in
Do you do many renos? I was thinking of building next time?
MichelleHi Richard and Terry,
yes thank you very much for all the really interesting comments, you can learn so much from throwing ideas around and soaking up others knowledge. your time is much appreciated
ta michelleHi,
thanks for positive reply, was abit shy about sharing
I feel its worth all the stress, but at times it was really hard, just scrape by money wise most of time, especially when I finished work to have bub last sept and the interest rates were rocketing up!! held our breath then! wer are average income couple, just didn't want the average life of slogging away, and me rushing back to work when family is little. thats what keeps us going when it gets tough.one thing we should have allowed for was ongoing maintenance once rented, being older homes things have worn out, hot water system ,sliding door, been quite expensive. one tenant did decide to let her kids use clothes line as a swing, broke it, then tried to bully me into compensation!
the two houses that rent quick are in Wingham,near Taree nsw. been looked after really well, and made the most in renovation, boosting the house value.but i find that tenants move on after a year to housing comission homes(cheap rent) which is frustrating
the house in Cowra, country nsw, is the one we are really questioning ourselves over. it only grew in value the same amount we spent on it, despite slaving over it. ahh the smell alone nearly killed us!
was great in that bought it under 80 grand, and rented straight away for 170 a week.
until a year later, tenanat lost job, went crazy, trashed house, did a runner. we had a nightmare experience , really upsetting.we won at tribunal but they haven't paid a cent, went straight into housing commision, and don't have jobs so we can't use sherrif. the insurance covered some, but the quotes and work took ages and shoddy quality.honestly I would just pay a handy man to fix next time and not claim.lost about 8 months rent with all the stuffing around. insurance didn't cover loss of rent, bc tenant had moved out…anyway they catch you on the tehnicalities….just bad luck of the draw
the house is in a rough , but impoving area and hard to rent,even though when we stayed there we had no problems, just had a stigma attached…now wondering whether to sell and be rid of it?hi
my first reply on post
I enjoy readng all the different opinions as well, learning from each other and sharing ideas, then making up your own mind.
Can I share what we have done?
My partner and I own 4 properties now, 3 in areas of very tight rental demand, all reno rescues and renovated ourselves on very very tight budget. We basically slaved over them doing all the work ourselves,sometimes living in them, sometimes working fulltime and travelling to house, even while 7 months preganant!
Looking back we probably took too long, did too much etc but its all a learning curve, and each house has gained a lot in equity and rented straight away, one is pos gear, 2 neutral, one still reno
each one allowed us to recoup some reno costs, save up again and use equity for next purchase(usually in a years time)
people often say we must be mad, but I believe in giving it a go to your best ability, and be proud of your efforts
