hi everyone, i just wanna come here and recommend the kitchen maker we used for the recent renovation in Sydney. their name is the good kitchen and bathroom, with one showroom in villawoord another one in punchbowl, they are also expanding to brisbane. they provide polyurethane finished kitchen cabinets and ceaser stone benchtop at super…[Read more]

hi michael, how much does the DA normally cost? and do we need a council DA too? are they different? hi holly, when you mentioned 'they can make you demolish anything they haven't approved', do you mean they can even make unreasonable decisions like force me to demolish the new kitchen and put the old kitchen back in? then i will have to go…[Read more]

The electrician disconnected the stove and the switchboard, removed the switchboard cabinet. I made one small mistake though.After removing the old stove, there's a thick and ugly electric cable sticking out of the wall, the electrician told me there are two ways to hide it: 1, he'll rip off part of the wall and hide it in the wall and shift it to…[Read more]

Thanks a lot everyone for the suggestions! We have removed the kitchen this weekend with some friends' help(saved $200!!). only have the switchboard cabinet and the wall tiles very close to the switchboard left (As i rip off the wall tiles, I can see the power cable right behind the tiles, so i decided to leave the tiles there in case i break the…[Read more]

Hello there, any good tradies wanna recommend themselves? I thought we have many tradies on this website? Anyone have done reno in Sydney got tradies to recommend?It's a bit disappointing that haven't got any reply except from Jamie…….

Thanks Jamie, yes we'll need to check the condition of the carcass to decide if resurfacing will work. Has anyone used Granite Transformation? Can they change the layout of the kitchen, tile the splashback tiles and floor tiles? Anyone know how's their price different from getting a brand new kitchen?

Hi Cattaby,Great idea to post this topic, I am also currently looking for tradies for my first reno project. Does anyone know some good tradies work in Sydney? We will need tiler, painter, plumber, kitchen installer(i am not even sure if this is the right name for them, bascially need someone who can make and install kitchen cabinetry, install…[Read more]

Hi Jacqui,Firstly congratulations on your first project, I am also doing my first project and think you may be able to help me with some questions.Just wondering how much did it cost you to  get the wall removed? Also did you get an engineering certificate to show it is non-structural? How long did that take and how much was the…[Read more]

Hi Jacqui,Well done! numbers and the reno result both look very impressive!Where did you find this house? from domain or realestate.com.au? and would it be possible to have a complete list of the jobs that you did and their cost? I am trying to work out budget for my first reno and think a list of your cost would be a good reference guide for…[Read more]

Thanks a lot Illuminati! I agree it is true that before signing they were all proactive and nice, then they change face as soon as I sign the contract paper. this is definitely a learning experience for me and i'll be more careful next time.Dwolfe, you are right, they are just too lazy to amend the ad, it probably only take them 2 minutes to login…[Read more]

Thanks for the tips Scott! in my agreement, the agent will pay for the marketing fees, they will deduct it from their commission after sale.They didn't mentioned in details where they will market it.I thought at least they should change the asking price and amend the ad according to my request? I've no idea why they won't do it.

They only put the ad up in domain.com.au, I requested them to put the ad up in realestate.com.au, they ignored my request and just told me the two websites are the same. I also asked them to include the current rent in the ad to attract investors, but they ignored my request again and refuse to include it in the ad.Before I signed the contract…[Read more]

actually lots of asian people do that in their house. and lots of overseas students share accommodations that way.for example, renting out a 3 bedroom unit gives you 450pw, but by renting each room you can get 600pw ($200 per room X 3 rooms). The only pro is you do get more rent, better yield on your property.cons are:1. Only a few agents are h…[Read more]

Hi May,Before making this sell or hold on decision, I think it would help to do a thorough calculation to analyse your financial situation.Firstly, it seems your house is heavily negatively geared. How much money do you have to put out of pocket each week to support the loan? If say you have to pay 300pw out of pocket to support it, each year you…[Read more]

The quote i got is 1.5% + advertisement fee ($800 roughly) or 2.5% including advertisement fee.Commission is only payable once the property is sold. If the owner changes their mind and withdraw the property from the market, there's no fees payable, except the advertisement fee.

I was told by my accountant that this CGT 6 years exemption only applies when you have less than 2 properties under your name and you only claim 1 PPOR at any point of time. If you have more than 2 properties under your name or claim 2 properties both as PPOR then you can't get this CGT exemption.

Hi, to answer your question:1) Residential2) In terms of borrowing, banks evaluate it the same as any regular residential property. It doesn't give you more borrowing capacity due to secure tenants.Some negative sides of DHA leased property:1) You, as the owner, do not have any control of the property, means you can not carry out any renovation…[Read more]

Hi everyone, thanks for the reply. So my understanding is: if the unit is refinanced and money is used to buy another IP, then the interest payment can be used to offset rental income, as the purpose is not to pay down debt in the new home, Is that correct?

Thanks a lot for the tips Shelletho, I will keep an eye on the auctions, sounds interesting and a good way to save money! Broccoli2, thanks for the info, one of the builders I contacted quoted told me my budget has to be increased to 17k to 20k, which is way over my original budget. your builder's price sounds really good. unfortunately I am in…

Hi everyone,I am back from the material shopping last weekend. Previously we had a budget of 10k including quality materials and labor, now I was told by the showroom guy that If i want the fittings with the quality that I want, my budget has to rise to at least 15-17k. Also got quote from 2 tradies, surprisingly they gave me similar price — 6K +…[Read more]