Hi Emma,

A couple of helpful tips from someone who actually does the BUY – RENO – SELL strategy:

1. I found structural REPAIR renovations do not add value to the property, as buyers expect that to be done already. Therefore, realise that all the structural repairs that you will do to the property will only bring the property in line with other…[Read more]

Paul,I do like your politically correct style.  Regards,Jason Moore

Hi Kereno,If you want to follow some of our property transactions along the way, go to the websites and Facebooks of both Great Property Deals (flipping property) and Boston West (renovating property). We do properties in a number of different ways and might give you some ideas on what you can do in the future.Regards,Jason Moore

Hi Kevreno,I attended Dean & Louise Parker's seminar that was run by Steve McKnight a couple years ago and found it very informative. I found that they were very good at presenting and down to earth. I was impressed most with their information pack as they had systemised the whole renovation process in such a way that it turned out especially…[Read more]

Hi wombat,Cherie Barber is a great product, has great experience, and provides a support network by forums dedicated to renovations. She also has a telephone support system to help you out with your renovations along the way.  Another person to check out is Dean Parker from Property Systems. There are not too many renovators at the moment on the…[Read more]

Hi tictactoe,"Hi Property Trader … why did they wish they sold land only and not house & land package? was it more expensive / too much hard work building the house?"To answer your question, I think it comes down to a dollar return on time investment. Likewise, at the time there was price movement on the market which had an impact on their…[Read more]

Hi U36ma,Depending on the extent of the renovation that you are doing, you might want to investigate via a valuer whether it is worth doing a "current valuation" and at the same time get an "on completion valuation" done. To do this you need to list the scope of works that you are going to do to the property because you will provide this to the…[Read more]

Hi Guys,I can understand that you are a little bit nervous about spending $1,300 on an apprenticeship program with Stephen.  When I attended this course last year, his eight step process on renovating was impressive. We have now completed around 25 to 30 renovations over the years and I can share with you that, from our experience, it can…[Read more]

Hi echelon6,Unfortunately, that is one of the major challenges that I see in trying to buy houses via the auction process. We have purchased well over 100 houses in Queensland and always had a building and pest inspection done on the property every single time.  It is a bit of a gamble paying good money for building and pest inspection…[Read more]

Hi James, I attended Steve's course last year and he was pretty impressive with the level of information that they had and the system that they use for renovations. If you go looking through Mr. Google, you would be able to get information about him. We learnt quite a fair bit from him regarding renovations and I would encourage you to find out…[Read more]

Hi mg310, If you based in Queensland (or anywhere that matter of fact) and you are serious about a particular property you could ask the selling real estate agent to do an RP Data report on the mapping section. Through the report, you can select from the menu to highlight any easements on the block. However, I would still get the relevant…[Read more]

Hi Aldukes66, From my experience, the best way to determine whether a quote is reasonable or not is to get additional quotes (the three quote rule). The best quotes come from people who are referred to me (via good tradesman or builders) rather than getting tradesmen out of the newspaper. I hope this helps. Regards,Jason Moore

Hi Tictactoe, I have had no experience in subdividing a block of land; however, I have had a couple of mates in Queensland who have done it previously. They wish they had done subdividing the block and just sold off the new parcel of land rather than going to the effort of making it a house and land package.  Regards, Jason Moore

Hi MrsC, In my experience, the idea of having a park with small kids near you might be fantastic. However, I have purchased a couple of properties that have been backing onto public parks and these are the issues that we have on them. [1]  CRIMINAL:  they do present a criminal aspect as people can access your property from the park without a…[Read more]

Hi guys, I actually use both resources. The http://www.onthehouse.com.au is a fantastic public resource if you just want to get a general idea of house prices in the area. It also gives details such as how long the property has been on the market and when it was last purchased. It is also a great tool because it also gives the medium price of properties…[Read more]

John,From my experience, I would normally negotiate on price first and then on terms, second. The reason for that is I would like to know if they are interested in my price before I basically consider bombarding them with all the terms and conditions upon my offer. The sooner we agree on price then it won't be a waste of time, basically,…[Read more]

Dear dbloomf,

Please feel free to send me a private message with your contact details and I’ll put you in touch with a qualified builder who has done work for us in the northern side of Brisbane. Once you’ve shared it with me, I’ll give you his details. Thank you very much and have a nice day.

Jason Moore

Hi johnycitizen,

Look like the guys in this thread are giving you heaps of good technical comments, so I will concentrate on some practical advice on the topic of being a renovator from my experience. We’ve done around 30 renovations over the past 10 years amongst other property transactions that were done.

1. The key principle that I…[Read more]

Hi Gurkosh,We are property traders up in Brisbane and also do renovations as well. We are currently in a downward market and have sold four properties in the last 70 days.  From our experience there are so many houses on the market to choose from that price has become a significant issue. If we are going to spend say $40,000 on a renovation we b…[Read more]

I There,We are based in Brisbane and have built a good trade team over time. Some helpful hints are as follows [1]  I normally stayed away from the local newspapers as that's where most of our horror stories have been sourced from.  [2]  what has worked best for us is finding a good tradesman in another area such as a plumber and asking whet…[Read more]