Hi all,
Just wanted to see if people had much experience of older house's as rentals.
I'm looking at a house near the beach that was built in the 1910s. The current owner bought it a couple of years ago for $550K and apparently (according to REA) has spent about 100K on it and now wants about $650K
It has a biggish block of about 700sqm.
– its on a main road
– awkward kind of floor plan, not too bad though.
– 4 beds, sep formal dinning, lounge, kitchen, main with ensuit, second bath/toilet/shwr room + a bit of a sun room.
– rear lane access.We like it as it has potential for being our next family home. i'm thinking of fixing it up over the next few years and then when the time is right (ie our current house will be the value of this house (including extra reno costs)) then selling ours and moving in.
Is this a tricky strategy, mixing business with personal?
I love the history of the place (13ft ceiling/ leadlight) but it also screams money pit to me as its got a freshish paint job and cracks are already showing.
I personally think that its got good potential for capital growth (if/when things pick up again) with its location/block size/ character. The REA company appraised the rental at about $550 pw which is quite good, but I'm worried that tennents may find it hard to live in as there is only evap cooling and open fire places with an awkward floor plan / older wiring/plumbing etc.
The other option I was thinking was student accom (ie leasing each room seperately) is there much experience with that in old house's out there?
I'm a bit rusty so let me know if i've missed anything.
Thanks in advance,
If the vendor spent $100k on it, what did they do? It doesn't sound like they did much if there is still the old wiring & cracks reappearing. I would research what other similar properties have sold for in the area. Older properties and those in beachside suburbs require more maintenance than other houses – sea spray tends to affect all surfaces, not just metal (eg efflorescence, salt attack, corrosion etc).
Beachside suburbs rent better in the spring/summer months so you may need to get a delayed settlement (to late August/September).
Do your research, find out when it last sold – the vendor probably bought high and will have to sell low, just how low will depend upon how well you (or a buyers agent) can negotiate.
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