Hey all,
We are looking for suggestions on what to do with our property. I’ll try to give as much info as possible. It is our PPOR.
Land is 1/4 acre (1012 sqm). Long block – Approx 44 ft wide (haven’t measured length as yet – tape measure too short to bother).
Street access to bottom block.
2 other properties built recently, one across street and one 4 doors down with similar block to us.
Paid $92,000 for property in March 2004, owe $69,000.
Valued Dec ’04 @ $125,000.The house itself is OLD. post war fibro 2 brm, all old fittings, old taps etc. Kitchen has no cupboard doors (my fault lol – i am no renovator) and the dimensions of bench depth and cupboard depth are not standard anymore (too shallow).
This is what we are thinking about:
1. Renovate house to increase value.
2. Sell house as a removal and build new house.
3. Sub-divide and build on 2nd block.
4.Combine 2 and 3.
As I work for a bank we are thinking of refinancing with them up to the value of $125,000 which I think would give us approx $40k (taking out costs etc) and using that to fund one of these options.
We have 2 IP’s, a unit in Cairns and a house here in Ipswich, QLD where we live.
Also with our first baby coming in March, would this be financial viable going onto one wage?
Any thought or other ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
K&R
You can dream, so dream out loud. – Bono (Acrobat)
Hi K and R,
Congrats on the looming arrival. You will find that the little bundle does change things quite significantly (well it did for us) and your priorities change somewhat.
If you plan to remain living where you are there are significant lifestyle advantages to making your place more comfortable. From your comments I get a sense that you would like to spruce the joint up a bit.
If this is your preferred course of action then I would try to get as much done as possible before the bundle arrives. Renovating (even cosmetic jobs) can impose on your living arrangements somewhat.
Above all you will need to budget carefully before embarking on any course of action as the little bundle does increase expenses. Learn to live on one wage for a while to ascertain exactly how the cash is flowing – constructing a budget and living on one can be very different in some instance.
Biting off too much now could be very costly in the long run.
Derek
[email protected]
http://www.pis.theinvestorsclub.com.au
0409 882 958Congrats on new babe. First the bad news. Having new babe will be totally different to movies/TV Baby could scream day and night with colic, not breast feed, be alergic to formula, (require soy milk formula). (All happened to my DIL who thought she would go back to work after having baby – never happened) You could end up with depression and not be able to get out of bed. All of the above probably won’t happen but sorry – dose of reality cause you don’t want to be in too deep in having started something housewise you cant see your way out of. Bad stress on marriage believe me.
Good news, check with local council and surveyor and draftsman (all free advice) but you should get 3 townhouses on that block. One entry from top street and two – one behind the other going back up the hill on a new driveway in from bottom street . You would need to subdivide. Ask local draftsman for “footprint of useable land you could use and use time to design you own townhouses and then get them drawn up by draftsmen. You could even get approval from Council and sell block with plans and buy new house somewhere else
Old house will probably be full of asbestos so I would demolish. But you need a nice house to live in for a couple of years while you have baby/ies and save. Spruce up existing house with cheapest new kitchen you can find. Paint everything like mad, In Qld you don’t need new carpet, can you have floors polished?. Cheap & cheerful is what I would be aiming for. Couple of years down the track you can decide to build 2, live in one, sell one then build the third one. Just a thought, good luckFern
Excellent post K&R…..
It really depends on your desries as others have said. Each of those options is ascertainable, its all up to you which way you go, and what you want to acheive.
Myself, i am just putting the finishing touches on our first subdivision of my PPOR…… i got lucky and sold the rear block off within a week of getting the permit. However, not all roses, as cash flow is a serious problem when you are doing a subdivsion for the first time, as you cant access those funds until settlement, something that has made it a struggle for us, and we done as you suggested and refinanced the full block to get us through.
Its been a very worthwhile experience though, as we sold the block off for $87,500, and the front block with house will be valued at $240,000, after purchasing the entire block for $228,000. In any case you dont have to sell the block, you could use it as equity if you wish to avoid CGT. I am planning to do many more now that we will have surplus funds, but next time i may not have to sell so hastily.
So it worked for us, its all acheivable, its just depends on your circumstances. Good luck with it all[biggrin]
dont mess around with fibro, especially with a baby. either knock the house down or leave it be. nobody will buy a fibro house but you may be able to have it removed at their cost
http://www.posigear.8k.com
Positive Geared Share InvestingIf the old place is not worth a reno, i would live in it while you build a new one at rear, then move into it ,then move or knock down old one, build another new one at front, sell new one at rear and move into new front one.
robo
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