First Reno’s any help appreciated!

Hi wombat,

Cherie Barber is a great product, has great experience, and provides a support network by forums dedicated to renovations. She also has a telephone support system to help you out with your renovations along the way.  Another person to check out is Dean Parker from Property Systems. There are not too many renovators at the moment on the market (Brisbane real estate market)who are trading stock. If you have a look at a bunch of renovations that we have done, go to our website listed below.  In the property acquisition aspect, our motto is 'we make our money when we buy.' In buying extremely well, we make up for any mistakes made along the way. In relation to the mechanics of the renovation, Dean Parker and Cherie Barber have excellent products to help you. We identify the top three selling agents in the area when we sell. We look at hard-core numbers and not what the agent says or promises. Typically, the top agent will sell 3 to 4 times as much, or faster than the average agent. Case in point, the other day the top agency in Deception Bay in Queensland sold 29 properties in a given period compared to a nearest rival who had sold 7 properties during that same period (that is a bit extreme).

Kind regards,

Jason Moore

I agree with Catalyst – $50k spent on cosmetic renos for a $300k IP seems excessive. Depending on whether you carry out most of the work yourself – I would try to limit your expenses to around the $10k – $15k mark. We recently carried out a similar reno to what you’ve described in south Canberra and got away with spending about $7k – this included new carpet throughout (bunnings), new paint throughout, refaced kitchen, new blinds (ordered online from overseas) and a tidy up of the yards. Next month it will be externally rendered which will add about $5k to the bill – so all up, for $12k we’ve transformed the property completely and have added a fair bit of value as well.

Cheers

Jamie

Lol Jamie! You beat me to it!

Flat pack kitchen from Bunnings, Flat pack laundry trough from Bunnings, all in one bathroom vanity from Bunnings, misc materials Bunnings, Plants Bunnings lol Customer of the year here Mitre 10 in regional areas are ok and Home Hardware store in regional areas as well. Find the handyman, ask him for quotes and then ask him where he buys his materials from, then go there and have a look.

D

I really don't think you will make much profit if you spend 10k on your house.
Wombat you are right, good kitchen with stone and appliances will cost you 12k. If you start using flat pack kitchens, and painting yourself even though you never did it before, you are wasting your time and money.

My tip.
Buy cheapest house in the best area, and spend at least 50k and you will make 100k back.

I've just finished one reno, i spent 73k and i made 120k profit.

Good points veseli,

But, if I spent $128k buying the whole house, I think spending $50k on it would be a bit of a waste of money. In the area I'm doing mine, a flat pack Bunnings kitchen and fresh paint (who cares who did it) and some new bathroom bits such as putting in a tub ($145) makes me about $30-$50k on a $10-12k input. Smaller profit but smaller input too.

If I was doing a reno in a $500k area I would be spending $50k and not doing the painting myself, horses for courses.

Cheers

D

Wombat clearly stated that his property is 300k, so giving him poor advices will send him bankrupt very soon.
I would just add that no house in Australia is the same, and no area is the same, so you really have to do your research, what to change and how much to spend.

Advices like 'go to bunnings and buy some paint and flat pack kitchen and make 50k' dont work for every house.

Hi Veseli

With all due respect – that comment just makes no sense. In a previous post you said "Buy cheapest house in the best area, and spend at least 50k and you will make 100k back."

I think if any comments are going to place anyone in financial hardship, it's comments like those.

This is an open forum, with people offering varying opinions. What works for one person might not work for the next and vice versa. We can only offer opinions based on our experiences. You've had a great experience via expensive renovations whereby others have had a great experience with more affordable renovations. Neither is right or wrong – just different ways of adding value to a property. It's up to the OP to decide which way is more suitable to his/her needs.

Cheers

Jamie

My apology to DWolfe and Jamie M,

No hard feelings guys, i didnt mean anything bad, i just didn't use the right verbs.