How do renovators renovates their property somewhere far away?

I'm about to do the same thing but i have a lot of holiday leave and i've got a clause in the contract that tradies can go in before the property settles and give me qoutes and order the materials they'll need. That way the day the property settles they can begin work. I'll probably be there a few days after it settles to do the floors and walls/painting etc and check the work they have done…You could pull a sickie on thursdsay and friday and get a 4 day weekend   

Hi Nue

You'll need to do careful planning to ensure tradies are arriving in the correct order. You need to understand how long each tradie requires to do their bit, and whether there needs to be a gap in time in between each tradie.  For instance, after the tiler puts tiles on the floor, you cannot have people walking on them until they have set.

You can give a couple of sets of keys to  your Property Manager so that tradies can collect keys from there and return them when done.  Best to have a couple of sets in case one tradie is a bit slow in returning a set.

Make sure you have ordered all your stock well in advance so you don't have a situation where a tradie turns up and the items he needs to install for you are not there (you can have the items collected from the store by the tradie, generally).

You could look at having a couple of long weekends at the site.

All this said, have you sat down and worked out the petrol cost of you being there (as well as the cost of taking days off work)?  You might find it is better to pay someone.  DWolfe from these forums (https://www.propertyinvesting.com/user/dwolfe) co-ordinates renovations.  She has been posting photos on her facebook page of the reno in progress  https://www.facebook.com/Homestagers.com.au

I've had a fair few clients who purchase interstate – then take a month off after settlement, fly to the property and live in it while they renovate. It's not something for everyone – but it does work for some.

Cheers

Jamie

A couple of options:

* As the guys have said take some time off work, but preplan this so you can hit the ground running

* Ask some of the local agents who they use for this type of work. You might find that some agents use registered builders for their handyman/small reno work. See what you can negotiate. They could be your eyes and ears while you are away.

Also if you are going to rent or sell the property it might be a good idea to engage the services of the real estate agent/property manager now (sign the paperwork and lock it in) so you can make the odd phone call to them when you aren't on site.

Cheers

Oscar

Hi Nue1,

I sent you a PM

Thanks Jacqui – I've been renovating for clients now so haven't had time to jump on here for ages!!!

See how you go with the property manager, you might find thy don't need or have time for the obligation of being your project manager. You might be able to talk one of your tradies into overseeing the renovation for you at a price.

Cheers

D