Re Wooden floors
If you can afford it, go for a marble feeling floor. Wood is better than carpet, but extremely problematic when furniture is moved around and fixing a deep scratch may also be problematic. If you’re renting the place out, you don’t want to have to deal with inspection reports that detail every scratch on the floor.
Sometimes air conditioning and changes in humidity will affect gaps between wooden planks as well. And not all furniture is compatible with wooden flooring.
Hi Leila,
The best thing to do for exteriors is to take a walk around your local neighbourhood, even a neighbourhood which is a ‘step up’ from your own (ie – houses are more expensive there) and take note of all the houses that make you go ‘wow, I’d love to live there!!’ As long as you paint and landscape your house in colours that fit in with the rest of the neighbourhood, and if you can see it done already on a house that is of similar style to yours, you’re not going to have too much of a problem.
There’s a story in Steve’s recent book about 2 of the mappers who painted their home a very bright ‘ginger crunch’ then wondered why nobody was wanting to buy the house – it turned out that it was just a bit too ‘out there’ for prospective buyers.Just added a pergola to one of my IP’s. Costed the materials at a hardware store and then went to a recyle place, saved $400 on the cost of the timbers, also found out that recycle place had new clear looking shower screens (needed for other IP), which cost $110 instead of $400.00 at bathroom place.
So big savings can be had when you start to look for materials.
Good luck
Jenny1
Thanks for all the great suggestions – I’m putting together a folder with all the ideas and have been out today costing new timber windows – the old aluminium ones are the big ‘problem’ area for the house, along with the brick cladding.
The point several of you made about shopping around was reinforced for me today. My husband and I are trying to match architraves for our home, and we saw prices varying from about $3 to $10 per metre for these. Neighbourhood you’re shopping in can really make a difference …
Am also going to head for the auctions soon for bathroom vanities and taps and new toilets (I suspect the current pink plastic toilets wouldn’t be a great selling point?!)
Light fittings are also on the list, and I agree on the points about downlights. I’m thinking of using these in the “big ticket” areas of the home – kitchen, lounge, bathrooms, master bedroom and parents retreat/study – and sticking to basic light fittings for the other bedrooms, corridor and laundry. Any thoughts?
The adjustable shower heads are a good point – luckily I already have a nice adjustable one that I won in a raffle last year. It’ll be nice to finally get it off my dining table [wink2] Was thinking about keeping it for myself, but since it was a freebie, I suppose I could bring myself to part with it. [biggrin]
I’ve also been starting to look at similar houses to find a ‘wow’ exterior colour scheme – so far no success – but I’ll keep looking. After my husband and I painted our house and fence we had lots of people come past with colour charts and digital cameras asking for details of the colours, so it looks like it’ll be my turn to do this to someone else!
Good point about the fridge space – that is definitely going to be problematic with this reno house. Current fridge space is too small and I’m tossing up whether to leave it, or to reconfigure the room. Sounds like reconfiguring may be on the cards.
Thanks again for sharing your great ideas and renovating successes. Settlement is in May and we don’t have access until then, so I’m happy to hear any further ideas, because I’m still in the planning phase for a while (completing reno of PPOR while waiting).
Leila
P.S. Kerwyn – only $3k spent on renovation and $45k valuation increase – that’s awesome!
Hi, I found that driving around the neighbourhood on green waste week can be very rewarding. I recently drove past a place that had cuttings of hardy frangipani’s. I took them all, around 15 of all lengths up to 1.5m and within 8 weeks they are all flowering and looking great in my IP garden. I buy my plants from swap meets for half the price of nurseries. Never underestimate the wow factor that can be found in plants and nice garden. I also use scorcia (orange stones) to lessen the use of grass. I spent $300 at a local nursery when I visited my Ip’s in Geraldton late last year and the garden was looking great (block of 4 units) unfortunately the tenants didn’t water the hardy plants (flax’s) and they died. Ideas would be appreciated in what I can do where tenant assistance isn’t required
Driveways and front yards/gardens…
If you cant get ’em in the house and all that jazz…
Mate had a business turning over around $4M p.a. doing up driveways, agents would call if the house wasn’t moving or wanted to add value/appeal…
Landscaping, even just soft…Clients of mine (Arb’ industry) will pay REDICULOUS amounts over value for a great garden or tree/s…Create a point of focus on the front door, should draw them in every time, love all the other comments!!
Building/renovating on and off 25 yrs, landscaping etc and 20 years of photography…
“ask and you shall recieve”
Sincerely, Jarrah
++CASH FLOW PROPERTY HUNTER
(your not hunting if your not hungry)[email protected]
Climbing & Consulting
Arboricultural Services
0431433288“be ye angels?”,
“nay we are but MEN!”I think you need to work backwards by determining your end buyer first and then target the reno to suit. If its a good sized house on a large block aim for a family friendly finish. If its more compact on a small block then aim for first home buyers.
Road appeal is very important you want a prospective buyer to get out of the car and be eager to enter the home. Pay attention to the front entrance being neat and tidy, perhaps replace the entrance set , and always have a small garden at the front to make it homely. A young couple will look for a few trendy finishes such as down lights and a stainless steel fan. Just replace the ones in the lounge and main bedroom. For a family look at improving storage space and ensure the yard is fully fenced and level with some shaded area for children to play.
If you’re stuck for paint colour you can buy from Bunnings a Dulux paint scheme pallette which has samples of recommended colour combinations. We’re currently using “Buff It” with glossy white trim.
When it comes time for carpet make sure you get the better quality underlay as it feels softer underfoot.
Look at buying from the auction rooms for vanity, bath etc or try http://www.xsstock.com.au
Hope this helps and if you ever need a reno problem solved as you’re going, please feel free to “PM”
Kind regards,Amanda
“It is better to be inconspicuously wealthy, than to be ostentatiously poor…”
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