So in your opinion freckle there is good money to be made in FX selling the JPY against USD?

Maybe Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor of California had more to do with Fukushima then we know?!

Even though the market is quite flat at the moment, the fact that they have been listed for a number of years with no result means something is wrong. You say the property has been in the family for generations… could this be clouding your parents judgment on what the property is actually worth? Have they just picked a figure on what they think the property is worth or had a professional valuation?

I would also change agents as the one they are currently with obviously isn't doing a good job at pushing the property, even if it is just advising of a lower price range they should be doing all they can to turn the property over.

Even the most rundown, unappealing houses will sell for the right price. They can even sell really quickly if the price is better then whatever else is on the market. I would try and remove all emotion from the sale of the property and meet the market in terms of price. Get a couple of agents appraisals and go from there.

Another issue is why it is vacant so often? Is it the same case with thinking it is worth more than it really is and charging an above market rent for the quality of the property?

Hi James,

I know exactly what you're talking about! My house has the exact same walls and strips.

Originally I did just rip of the strips in one of the bedrooms (my trial renovation room) and plastered the gap.

After a couple of weeks it all started to crack. I was then later told that because the walls are some sort of timber board that it expands and contracts with the heat/cold (maybe why they use strips and leave a gap).

In the end with the walls in all the bedrooms I just ripped off all the ugly 'square' shape strips and replaced them with a much nicer looking half circle style, and repainted. This made a huge difference in my opinion, but my strips were below average to start with, not sure what yours are like.

My ceiling was the same, ugly timber strips. I ripped out all those strips to give me a flat but ugly ceiling, and then put a heap of top hat over the existing ceiling and then new plasterboard sheets on that. As for cornice, mine only had a strip of timber so my new cornice just went straight over the top of it. Added a new fan and light and painted the room and now looks great. Compared to what it was anyway.

I did just do an electrical job for someone on the weekend though that has completely ripped out all the ceiling and walls (same material) and getting all new plasterboard installed.

Depends how much you want to spend I guess.

Keep us updated.

Cheers,

Emil,

At first I couldn't understand why you would recommend a certain type of unit, in a certain price range, in a certain city? Seemed like very narrow minded advice to be giving to a newbie.

Than I seen your signature and it all made sense!

Generally it's a good idea to contribute to the forum before you try offload one of your developments  

Just out of curiosity, how much commission would you receive from the sale of one of the above units?

Cheers,

Could be wrong but I am pretty sure the apartment is only $40k and using 20k of his own money?

I'm another one on the Townsville bandwagon. I really think it is undervalued at the moment and has huge potential.

I bought a 3 bdr in Kingston Park, Burdell in Feb last year. Haven't seen much Capital Growth in the last year but the yield is quite good. And haven't had any problem with vacancy either. It's a long term hold for me and I am pretty confident in the Townsville market long term.

I couldn't agree more Johann! And Rosa has proved it.

Working out in the mines I see soooo many people on huge incomes and as time goes on they just get further and further behind the 8 ball with accumulated bad debt! Is quite frustrating to know what they could be doing with their money and they just have no idea. 

Personally I don't think the amount you make will ever change where you want to get to in life, just the time it takes to get there.

Low income is no excuse really as Rosa has proven.

I found API's Renovation guide booklet quite interesting. Doesn't tell you how to do things as such but more what sort of renovations add the most value to a property and which ones you probably won't make your money back on. It's on http://www.businessmall.com.au. Few other good books on there too.

Agree with the You tube comments! I learnt how to lay carpet, install ceilings and how to plaster from youtube. And you wouldn't even know it was a DIY job

Also the Bunnings and Mitre 10 sites are really handy! They have some really good step by step instruction manuals and video's on how to do most DIY jobs.

Have Fun!

Cheers,