Hi All, I am looking around for a new IP, probably something to keep in the short term. Came across and interesting little place, but I am a little stumped buy the kitchen. I have alway been a buy/hold invester but I am looking at making a change and being more active with my investments.
Thought it would be a good exercise to see what people would do to the place, especially the kitchen. I am also interested in seeing what layout changes people would recommend… Kinda a virtual renovation lol…
Floor Plan http://images.realestateview.com.au/pics/661/34-Penola-Street-Preston-VIC-3072-Floorplan-2967661.gif
Looking at the floorplans, i would have thought about enclosing the Linving room to create a new bedroom and opening the kitchen dining up… The rear bedroom is tiny, not sure what to do with it.
Thanks
Joe
What about a more radical re-design?
The houses to both the north and south are both duplexes.
The property has a long north boundary.
There is lane-way access to the rear.I would propose dividing the existing dwelling into a duplex with garaging to the lane-way.
The outcome would be two, three bedroom dwellings, each with garaging on separate titles.The property may be within a heritage overlay – that's okay.
It may have a single dwelling covenant – that would be a problem.
Otherwise, the proposal would work well.I have no experience whatsoever! I am yet to start my first Reno which won’t be until Feb in the new year!
Do you need 4 bedrooms or are you happy with three. What’s the market I that area looking for? Family homes, couples, retirees etc. I think making the living room into a bedroom is a good idea. Living spaces and kitchens are important to buyers though. I would consider opening up the dining room, third bedroom, and kitchen into a new open plan living area.
For the kitchen I’d move the door that enters the kitchen to the other side. Rip out the pantry and along that wall make a new kitchen space with oven, cook top, pull out storage and pantry which could continue into the corner where the current door is.
http://www.hettich.com.au/media_hg/LW01_au_68-123.pdf
Something like this just as an example, there are many designs on the market, keep it streamline and add in much needed storage. Then an island kitchen bench with sink in it facing out to the dining room/ lounge into a new open plan living space. I would also pull down the wall where the kitchen sink currently is and consider putting in a nice long sliding or French door to bring some light in and look out over the back yard.
Not sure how that all would fit into your budget!
As I said, I have no experience just an interest at this stage. There are many options and I hope you find the right one!How about turning the bathroom into an ensuite for the front bedroom, enclosing the living room to make a bedroom, opening the kitchen/dining and back bedroom and making the laundry and area behind the kitchen into a bathroom and laundry.
This way you will have two large bedrooms and one smaller one as well as two bathrooms and the living area will be facing the north. You could even put some nice french doors from the back of the house (where the back bedroom east window is) and extend the pergola around to it.This will take a bit of work though……if you were just changing the kitchen I would suggest pulling out the cupboards that are next to the oven and putting a big 90cm freestanding oven in the middle of that area, with some new tiles it could look quite modern. To keep the cost down keep the sink where it is and put the cupbaords around the other wall, and a big island bench/breakfast bar in the middle would creat somewhere to sit as well as more bench space to work.
Good luck!
Ways to add and improve (depending on budget)
I'm going on the basis of what you've got in the photos. As you might guess .. viewing the place always fills in the gaps.
The place currently has a entryway that runs off the driveway. Thats the old .. very el-cheapo way of organising house access.
A more upmarket place has its own dedicated pathway that runs from the front gate to the house.
Your entryway is wonderful and allows for two or three point access to the house .. making it a real desirable entryway.Also you currently have a single car access driveway. In a modern world .. a two car driveway makes all the difference.
So .. so far … front gate access … extend the pathway to the front of the house and widen it. And double driveway.
The kitchen suffers from lack of bench space .. lack of cupboard space and restricted movement on size. What would work here very well is an Island Bench rather than an implanted kitchen bench set. So for parties and visitors .. you can free up that very limited space.
there is about 10 – 15 feet into the backyard that can be extended into without losing all the backyard. Replacing the pergola, losing the laundry and extending the third bedroom. It also allows you to fill out the kitchen. Euro laundry and wider entertainers area can be achieved with a little bit of thought .. rounding the house into a much more liveable zone.
Door into kitchen from Dining room is a good idea. Extending it to double doors would allow a flow through zone .. kitchen to dining area. From an investing perspective the dining room is rarely used now and could be a fourth bedroom or study area.
Aircon switching to something a bit more modern is nice but not a necessity. Keep the fireplace mantelpiece. To get an art deco that looks precisely like that now costs heaps. Its irreplaceable. The actual heating unit can be upgraded to something wondeful and fancy IF you have the budget. The false fireplaces really look good in those sort of frames.
If all this sounds expensive .. a reno of this proportion would be. But if its a gradual renovation you'd get quite a good result for spending about 25k a year on gradual upgrades. A bit here and a bit there would do nicely.
As far as price goes .. adding an extra living zone .. widening the kitchen and generating a more liveable utility house would extend from its current value about 30% over and above its existing price. Add a little inflation to that and your renovation would add significant value to the end result.
Its a good looking place that just needs a keen eye to bring out its best. I think if you are smart its easy to do this well.
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