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I have used Ikea and Bunnings Flatpax in various kitchen and laundry renos that I have done in my own homes and in various renovations for investment properties. The advantage with making your kitchen up using these is that you can very quickly update your kitchen with new doors, in my experience you would easily get five years out of both Ikea and Bunnings flatpax. That said I have not been overly impressed with the kitchen counter tops but have just seen my father do his kitchen from Ikea but with a stone counter top. Looks fabulous.
Can strongly recommend flatpax as they have a number of "filler" sized cabinets that allows you to close out gaps as small as 100mm.
At one point I also got a flatpacked kitchen made up by mister ply & wood. Overall I have been very disappointed in this kitchen and regret not going to Ikea…..!
Good luck with the new kitchen
Hi coal is not that expensive to buy – internationally trading at less than US100 / tonne at the moment. Problem is getting it to where you need it.
Also you might not have some happy neighbours, coal in NSW tends to be quite sulphourous so there is the rotten egg smell of sulphurous oxides. You may be better off chasing some nice dry hardwood and using that for your heating.
good luck with it
Hi David I have been investing here since 2005. My particular focus is sad tired old properties that I can renovate and rent. I stick to properties that are smaller in numbers of bedrooms so they can be rented furnished to a single person or a couple of mates that can share together. I do rent furnished and touch wood have not had too many problems. There are still opportunities to do this and my most recent investment post renovation is showing returns of 14%+ furnished. Good luck with your investments
Hi all – i am a newbie to this site but have been investing in property for a while now. I have just about made all of the mistakes anyone could claim so I am not a milionaire yet.
With repsect to the cashflow + properties it is definately research which is the key. Get out about and know the area you are interested in – Steve’s first book mentioned that he spent time in Ballarat when he first cottoned on to his “formula for success”.
Make up your own mind and do not listen to the naysayers. A personal example, we bought two 1 bedroom units in Withers in Bunbury WA in 2002 princely price of $ 59 and $62 k, we spent about $1500 furnishing them and have rented them for $110 wk + since that time. Yes there are strata fees and these can be a bit of a negative when large expenditures come through but recently these units, not the bedsits in the same complex, were listing for about the $150k mark. Not only have we seen stellar cap growth but the units have been neutral to positive geared since we started.
We invested time with our realtor, our property manager, the strata manager and have at times served on the strata management council.
How did we find these little Gems? It was Christmas holidays we were visiting family in Collie I was reading the paper and noticed a small add for a unit renting at $100 wk for sale at less than $60k. Thought it was too good to be true but picked up the phone and called the agent, the property was already sold, but there were others in the complex for sale did we want to come and see them? Interrupted the holiday and went to Bunbury met the agent and went to see the properties negotiated on three and bought two (should have paid the xtra bucks for the third but hindsight is a wonderful thing)
Had some challenges to over come
1) the naysayers – oh that area is a bad one there is an element there that will ensure you loose money, strange the numbers stacked up
2) the detractors who said you are a fool the vacancy rates will be too high and you will always pay too much maintenance because the tennants will be crap and damage your property – tennant selection is the key …get a good property manager and if you get two bad tenants from the same manager get a new property manager.
3) The Bank, – I had a great relationship with Bankwest, in it from the start had been with them for 10+ years, told them what I wanted and they said you cant have it, its against the rules. Funny Commbank and St George didn’t play by the same rules. Get a good mortgage broker and stick with them. Have been using the same guy now since the Bankwest debacleThe upshot, CF+ properties bought in my wifes name who has no income except the rental income from the properties, mortgages solely in her name, tax on additional income is low, income good and growing.
The bank really likes us and yes we do cross collateralise so our borrowing power for the right property is high. We have a structure which keeps our names seperate on the deeds and mortgages.
It is important to understand that what is a good property investment for me may not necessarily be a good one for my wife so do your own numbers and be creative if you have too. If you can think of a way to arrange it dont assume that it wont be allowed ask for help and don’t just listen to the first repsonse. If I had we wouldn’t have these two little gems in our portfolio
Do you own work….. and smile
