Hi Hughski,

It is funny what Suavemachanic said about the position of the door … I completely agree. 

We currently have a renovation project at Nerang on the Gold Coast where the 4th bedroom use to be a garage underneath the roof line.  It to had a hugh archway into the room from the lounge and it looked stupid as it wasted alot of the wall space in the lounge. 

HAVE A LOOK … So that you can shee how we did it  … if you are on Facebook, goto our Boston West page or just follow the link http://bit.ly/cEpcYU … and look at the videos on Nerang Reno Update (Day 26) and Nerang Reno Update (Day 56).  You will see how we resized and repositioned the door to one side.  It looks alot better now.  One other thing we did this time was to render the internal walls of the 4th bedroom.

Well, I hope this all helps!

Hi Anthony,

Rather than seeking the sliver bullet answer, in my experience I have found it more benefitical long term to understand how to properly analysis an area of interest if your strategy is renovations.  For example, if I said a suburb to you, you would not understand my rationale or the lead indicators I used to come to that recommendation. 

Hi Omiy,

You are not talking about a major renovation here … just an air conditioning unit and built ins … I personally think it comes down to personal comfort … If those items would improve your standard of living today then go stick them in … If you were doing a major renovation such as painting, new kitchen, new bathroom & new flooring my opnion would be to wait.

That is my 2 cents worth.

Hi Michael,

We are based in Brisbane and have 4 renovation projects on the go at the moment.  To answer your questions:

1.  The best way to learn:  Get a mentor who has a current track record in doing renovations … get educated in the basics buying well, project management and people management … and above all else get started.

A Mentor … Some of our best mentors are builders and project managers.  There are people who love talking theory about renovating and then their are others who just go out and are doing it.  Find the people who are actively doing renos all the time.

Education … Dean & Elise Parker website and educational products at http://www.propertysystems.com.au/ Their systematic aproach to doing renovations was really impressive.

Getting Started … Theory is good … action is better.  Just for the initial few properties you might want to Joint Venture with someone to minimise the risk of doing a deal and also to have a running partner.  Long term … I prefer doing them myself.  My opinion is make sure you know all your costs and make sure you buy really well.

AN IDEA … if you are on Facebook, become a fan of Boston West at http://bit.ly/cEpcYU … You can follow all our property / renovation projects as they happen and see some of the results of the different renovation techniques that we use … Check it out.

Well I hope that is of some help to you ….

Keiko,

Shot we an email and I can email you one.

Subzero,

Love your question … Why crawl like a snail when you can sprint like a cheater.  I have done well over 100 property transactions and the ones we like are …

1.  Acquire properties under valued and flip the property for a quick profit (30 – 60 day time frame)
2.  Buy, Fix and Sell (Renos) for a quick profit (150 – 180 day time frame).

Now in saying that … you now need to read (Steve McKnight's new revised book), research to find out how to do these types of transaction well and then set yourself up to do them with resources (funding requirements etc) and a team around you.

All the best

Hi There,

We usually replace the whole kitchen in all our renovations, however if you are doing it on the cheap think about the following:

1.  Replace the cupboard door only to get rid of the blue and get a more modern look.
2.  White tile over the blue check one.
3.  That space at the back looks odd.

About the kitchen having a washing machine … try to think about putting the washing machine is another area of the house.  Entertaining friends while they see your dirty washing … its not so appealing (my opinion only).

If you are going to sell it invest in some bar stools as they look fantastic … the house we sold last week the buyers wanted the 3 bar stools thrown in with the house.  The paid over $400,000 for the house and the stools cost me $130 all up.

If you get stuck on the design see an interior decorator … We use one on all our jobs and they are fantastic.

Well enough said … I hope this helps.

Thanks Jane …

Finally someone has been able to quantify the results of staging a property and I tend to agree with those numbers.  I have not staged any of our renovated properties that we have sold and we can still sell them within a 14 day time period and get a premium price for the property.  We are heading towards staging 2 of our 4 renovations we have on the go at the moment.

My opinions on the subjects are as follows …

1.  The Display Home Effect:  I do not know about anyone else but when I would into a display home I can usually imagine myself living in one .
2.  The Google Ranking Effect:  It definitely helps if you have a fully renovated, staged home to be at the top of a short list of desirable houses in a given area.  Which makes it sell quickly especially if you are in a down market.

Things to consider:

1.  Staging can be expensive and can eat your profitability.
2.  The moving (knocking it about) and storage of the furniture is an operational consideration.

Like everything we do … Give it a go … sort out the teething issues and then do it all the time.

Thanks for your insight Jane.

Ha Melinda,

The Interior Design we now use has just launch a new book and that is working wonders for her.  You can check Karen Devereux out on her website at http://www.kddesign.com.au.

The stock standard things you could do to showcase your work are:
1.  Get onto Twitter
2.  Get a Facebook fan page
3.  Get onto Google

Matt,

I have been doing wrapping for about 5 years now full time and during that time I have done a significant number of property transactions. I have done most of the vendor finance techniques during that time.

What have I learnt during this time … wrapping was a starting point in my wealth plan and as time has passed you learn a hell of alot and experienced a hell of alot as well. As a result you transform from a poor earning student to a well paid professional / business owner.

INITIALLY … When I started my monthly cashflow / profit share was $140 per month per property with the potential backend profit of $10,000 – $12,000 with significant acquisition, holding costs and management headaches.

NOW … My monthly cashflow is now $450 per month per property with the potential backend profit of $20,000 – $30,000 with low acquisition and stress free property management.

As time progresses in gets easier and easier with you doing more and more.

You must commit time and be willing to work hard to build it. It has not been easy along the way, however it is well worth it in the end.

Sorry if this does not answer your question directly … I just wanted to encourage you to get started.

Regards,

The Property Trader