Renovation as a career

My opinion is to read as much as you can, and watch some shows on tv which are great… if you have foxtel the lifestyle channel has some excellent shows such as property ladder, grand designs, the million pound property experiment etc and then there are heaps of decorating shows too like changing rooms etc.
The most important thing with renovating is to have a schedule and a budget and to keep things neutral when decorating… and always be prepared for the unexpected!!!
Good luck.

Owell yeah if his living in it especially over 12 mths there’s none , atleast l didn’t pay any . l was told if you sell within 6 mths you had to pay $1500 .
Wonder how much if your not living in it , just a reno investment used as your income ?
Mkc

Hey Salacious,

Sounds like you have a lot of fun ahead of you!!

I am in the final stages of getting my builders license and am planning to do the same thing as you. Buy old places and renovate, or renovate for other people.

A few things off the top of my head to consider.

1. Time – this almost always runs away particularly if you are doing everything yourself. If you don’t have an offsider to run to Bunnings to get that one little item, its easy to burn days just stuffing around.
2. Money – also tends to run away. Do a comprehensive budget and add a bunch as contingency.
3. Approvals – Depending on where you are and what type of work you are doing, you will probably need Council appovals of some sort. Again, refer to 1 and 2 above. Add frustration!!
4. Licence and insurance – Again, be mindful that depending on what you are doing, you will need to consider the implications when you go to sell. May need to be an Owner Builder, Builder or not at all depending on what you are doing, which also has knock on effects when you go to sell.
5. Consideration of what is the current trend of the day and also what is “timeless”. Trendy is good but be mindful of when you go to sell that you may not be narrowing the buyers pool.
6. Have fun doing it! I love mucking around the house with power tools and building materials and could do it all day everyday, but if you don’t enjoy it, its a lot of very hard work.

I am sure all of the above is commonsense but were some of my considerations.

good luck!

Its a lot easier for me as I am already an Engineer. Just need to get a few references from previous employers, statements of work history, police clearance and fill in forms. In WA, the Licencing board meets once a month so when I get my act together and send them in, it should be fairly quick.

If you have the trade skills as you say, the application is slightly differerent. You need 5 years experience in supervising trades but with a trade background, there may be other ways. Check with the licencing authority in Qld, over here in WA its the Builders Licencing Board. They can send out all the paperwork you need for you to sift through at your leasure.

When you say trades experience, what do you mean?

Hi Dom,

I’d classify myself as a bit of a renovator. No, on second thoughts, a bit of a “muck in there and clean up the grot” type of person.

I’m into industrial sheds and the like – wouldn’t go near houses….too much fluffy stuff, plus you’ve got to pay for it, both in time and money.

The tools of the trade for my niche are trucks & bobcats for the big stuff, and rakes, wheelbarrows, brooms, hands and skip bins for the little stuff.

I leave all the fluffy pretty tarting up for the tenant to do, (carpets / paint etc). That way they get what they want and I don’t have to pay for it.

I’m finding it’s reasonably well paid. I find the key to renovations is having toe to toe discussions with potential Lessee’s. This is what really pays off. Going to the bank with a fully installed tenant on a cracking Lease always ups the value. Scoop the equity – go again.

As long as the block and inside of the sheds are clear and clean, I consider that fully renovated…..thankfully so do the prospective tenants.

Good luck with your endeavours.

Hi Dom,

Yeah, that is pretty much what I spent 50% of my time doing eiter hands on or for others through the project management side of it.

It’s like anything. Some jobs come together easily and others for what ever reason just don’t want to get done.

Terry is right. Get all the finance ready to go before you give up you day job. At the moment for my own houses I use no doc products but this means I have to put in a 35% deposit and the institution is a bit fusy about the type of property.

I have just finished one (yesterday) and had it dressed for sale by a wonderful local person who has much better taste and furniture than I have. I turned out muc better than I had thought.

Couple of things: You are making a product for sale so you really need to get in tune with what is and is not selling. This is different for every area and every street. You have a distinct advantage over a developer as there is virtually no lag time between planning and product delivery.

You could have ajob done in 4 to 6 weeks depending on how many hours you are prepared to put in.

Doing it full time is great but don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you have to do everything yourself and then again if others do everything for you then I don’t see much profit left you at then end of the project.

These project need momentum so make sure that every day if it is not you that someone is there doing something. I find that as soon as a house goes quite it takes a while getting things started again.

If there is local casual labour available use it. Contract out all the difficult work. Even if you have a trade skill try anf find someone that you can get along with to work alongside you in your field. Don’t attempt things that you can’t do. Learn in your rental don’t learn on a product that is heading for buyers.

I suppose what I am getting at is that it is better for you to turn over more homes than trying to squeeze every penny out of each house.

One more: Don’t make it the best house is the street. Make it the second best house. Almost as good and 10% cheaper will gaurantee and almost immediate sale and you can move on the the next project. Location and bones are the key. Give the buyer a slightly cheaper product still of the category they want.

We did our last job in 34 days ( have some pics if you like) and really only had half a day off in the middle there. So get help, get others involved and be realistic. The quicker you get the product to market the higher the chance that the market is still the same.

While we were doing that job I had people in another project of ours doing structure work that I won’t go near.

Keep your site clean, tools and valuable looked away and stay out of the way of the pros. Keep the momentum going.

Regards,

Don

Hi Don,
Those are good tips and advices for the beginners like me.
Thanks for sharing with us.

Cheers,