2 bed unit close to cbd, adding value through renovations tips please.

A coat of paint would be about the extent of it.

Consider this, you are going to be getting an extra $10/wk ie $520 pa. 2 weeks lost rent while getting the place painted = $440-460, agent's letting fee $220+lease prep + gst, advertisement $150ish.

It will cost you close to $800 today to recoup $10 for the next year and a half, so unless you will be getting a substantial uplift in rent, is it really going to be worthwhile?

Hi g0biin,

I've done a few renos on 2 bedroom units and firstly let me tell you that despite the work it is absolutely worth it. The first was a standard 2BR unit, 1970's, old carpet, blinds ect. When we purchased, the agent suggested we would be looking at a rent around the $200 mark. On settlement day we got to work, we ripped up carpet, took down blinds, scrubbed everything, we painted the place, prepared, sanded and polised the floors, put up new blinds, replaced all door handles, replaced some tiles, new light fittings and landscaped the courtyard. We did this in 8 days (10-12hr days) and it cost around $3000.00. As a result its rented out at $260PW (going to $280 at lease end) and it will not need any work for several years. The second was just a paint and a tidy up that took 3 days but increased the rent by $20PW. We did all of this work ourselves without any formal training or anything like that (we both work in white collar jobs) so it can be done, just a matter of some long days and a sore back.

If you are wanting an idea on a few essentials to have in the place, get a split system air con, (around $2000 installed) heating and cooling will get you extra rent, but something like a Plasma TV is just going to cause headaches, but the best thing (as you have indicated) is a coat of paint. It sounds simple but it makes the place look so much better. A tip when painting, decide on a colour palet that you are happy with, and stick with it for all of your places, (makes touch ups easier) and go for off whites and light creams. But i think the best tip is just get the place clean and fresh, thats what the majority of renters are looking for.

Hope this all helps

Hi all

Paint definitely and in particular the latest look is to add 2 painted feature walls in bedrooms. They need to be walls that are connected (if that makes sense) not opposing walls and a dark/rich colour is good. Just adds a WOW factor. Painitng should take more than a couple of days – a week at the most. Fresh carpet is good too if needed. You can often get end of rolls really cheap from carpet places. Dishwasher if you can, air conditioning too or maybe just fans throughout. If you can allow pets (body corp may not let you) you can charge another $10 -$20pw just for that. Easy rent.

Get a quantity surveyor to go over your unit so that you maximise your tax deductions. It’s def worth the once off cost ($3-400) cause it’s also tax deductible and will be a 5yr schedule on depreciables plus any building depreciation if it’s less than 40 yrs plus they can back date it for tax purposes if you have not claimed any of this b4.

All the best!
Fran
http://www.nakedtruthrealestate.com.au

Make sure you know EXACTLY who your target market is, this should be aparent if you do good research of the socio-economic makeup of the suburb.  Once you know who is most likely to rent out your property at the increased price you are after then ask a local rental agent what exactly are those kind of renters willing to pay more for.  You'd be surprised how much and agent can tell you with things like this…and ask more than one agent also to get a good idea.    Then figure out if the price of that update is worth it. 
Amanda