Hi again,

Well its been a little while since i posted here and a bit has happened.

I bought an IP in Ashfield back in March with a 2 month settlement, which went through Mid May. The place was an 18 months old It was a 3bed 2 bath 2 car on about 530 and had not been completed by the previous owner. The walls were still only plaster, no skirting and no landscaping, with opportunity to put in a 4th bedroom easily (enclosing the “study”) leaving a good sized “theatre” room.

In a couple of fairly solid weeks we gave the entire place a coat of Dulux antique white USA, installed Click n’ Stick skirting round the place, and walled in the study, which turned out fantastically, looking as if it was designed in the original plan. All in all we spent under 3k on the interior, including about 500 bucks worth of tools, and I was very pleased with the rental tenancy we snatched (mine are all still in Brissy!)

The original rental appraisal was 370pw when we bought it. After about 25 enquiries, we took a deposit and bond 15 days after settlement for rent of 495pw!

I am spending about 5k on the yard, including a side fence (which half of which will should be reimbursed when the neighbour builds), and turfing and retic out the front.

It was a great project and once again we learnt so much. Now that is done, we are onto the next one, looking at a place in Burswood.

I am looking to get a valuation on Ashfield property once the landscaping is done, and wondering if i should go through the bank, or through a valuation company external to the financier. I was surprised with my last valuation because we waited to do all the renos, then they didn’t even come to the house. Given its a different situation in this case (the house in the previous situation was lower than median price, and the previous sale was more than 24 months earlier. I’m expecting the valuation on this place to be 50-70k over median price, and it was only sold a couple of weeks back) I want them to actually come to the place and look. What would you think is the best way to go about this?

Also, given I’m new in Perth, can anyone suggest a reputable and experienced builder and plumber?

Thanks,

Q

Fredo – thanks mate – I got no assistance from centrelink or lord mayors fund so they may not send it to me, butill check online. Can you give me the form title?

Hi all thanks for the great responses again! Well my offer for the property in Newman was turned down unfortunately. To be honest I am not too disappointed. I did have concerns about the longevity of investment and its a little outside of my risk appetite. I decided to focus on Ashfield as i have been looking around that area recently. I found a decent deal and have got a contract on it. To be honest i did not expect the owner to come down to my offer but he did and I’m quite pleased.

I believe Ashfield has quite a good potential for growth in Perth. Lets hope I am right!

Cheers,

Quattro

Hi Gents,

Thanks for the responses!

Sorry I haven’t gotten back to you but I have been busy the last week or so!!!

Andrew – Valuation is over what I believe market value is – shhhhhhhh! However yes, I spent about 15k renovating the kitchen, bathroom, putting a new timber deck on the front of the house (replacing the existing concrete/landfill) and also some painting, general cleaning etc. I would say market value would have been closer to low to mid 600s before the floods. Ironically I spent about 8k on fixing up odds and ends after the water subsided and now the property is in far better condition than before, but I expect the valuation to come in lower now. It is rented for another 8 months so I am not concerned really as I don’t intend to sell. Frustratingly enough my tenants were all able to access around 3k of government support, however I wasn’t able to claim anything

Kent – Turns out I can access quite a fair bit more than originally thought! After I “broke up” by email with my branch manager in Brisbane (Hopefully she wasn’t too upset ) I went down to my local branch and put in an application. I have put an offer subject to DD and the regular stuff on a property in Newman. Apologies – I of course meant land is finite.

Thanks again for the responses guys. This is a top notch forum.