Adding two rooms and a bath - Brisbane

Discussion in 'Renovation & Home Improvement' started by milobear, 21st Oct, 2020.

Join Australia's most dynamic and respected property investment community
Tags:
  1. milobear

    milobear Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    13th Aug, 2015
    Posts:
    145
    Location:
    Sydney
    Hi there,

    I'm considering in adding two rooms and a bath downstairs to increase the rental income of my high set property. I have the option of converting the garage to the extra rooms and leaving the rumpus, or convert the rumpus to two rooms as it already have the windows and would be similar sizes to the rooms upstairs. I would be using the existing laundry room for a toilet/bathroom. Potentially could add a kitchenette, but not sure if I am overcapitalising at this point.

    I have attached the floorplan and would like some ideas on what is the best way I could do this at the most cost effective way.

    It's currently leased for $360, I have a lowset 4 bedder 1 bath in the same suburb which is rented out for $450. To keep it conservative I'm hoping to achieve somewhere between $450-500.

    Haven't done anything like this before, so would also like an indication of costs. This would allow me to work out whether it is worth considering.

    Thanks

    7adbcdb5-09bb-4bbb-b512-507297b00310.jpg
     
    milobear, 21st Oct, 2020
    #1
  2. jaybean

    jaybean Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    20th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    4,752
    Location:
    Here!
    Dual occ or just to make the property more attractive in general to single occ?
     
    jaybean, 21st Oct, 2020
    #2
  3. milobear

    milobear Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    13th Aug, 2015
    Posts:
    145
    Location:
    Sydney
    It's in BCC, so I don't think I can do dual occ. So I'd say more attractive to single occ with bigger families.
     
    milobear, 21st Oct, 2020
    #3
  4. Closet

    Closet Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    23rd Oct, 2017
    Posts:
    584
    Location:
    Australia
    Quotes can be pretty variable and depends on the trades needed but roughly

    $16-20k for the laundry conversion and $10 - 15k for the rumpus split if it can be reused and you are just putting up partition / stud wall.

    Private certifier $2k
    Draftsman - $750
    QBCC insurance - $250ish

    Check with an agent but depending on the area and the quality of the property you could easily make $60k after costs factored in.

    Definitely make sure is council approved by a private certifier as its not insurable otherwise...and get a form 16 / qbcc contract to vouch for adherence to building standards etc
     
    Closet, 21st Oct, 2020
    #4
    bamp likes this.
  5. milobear

    milobear Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    13th Aug, 2015
    Posts:
    145
    Location:
    Sydney
    Thanks for that. When you say make 60k, are you refering to increasing the property value by 98k (assuming costs around 38k).
     
    milobear, 21st Oct, 2020
    #5
  6. Angel

    Angel Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    19th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    5,816
    Location:
    Paradise, Brisbane
    Before you can legally advertise the rooms downstairs as bedrooms, they must meet minimum height 2400mm. This height will affect the real increase in value. Value will also depend on suburb.

    Ideally you would build a carport over the front driveway and have bedrooms and a rumpus downstairs with the new bathroom.
     
    Angel, 22nd Oct, 2020
    #6
    Pingu1988 and wylie like this.
  7. milobear

    milobear Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    13th Aug, 2015
    Posts:
    145
    Location:
    Sydney
    Thanks Angel, I believe they are not minimum height as I've seen similar houses on the same street that has advertised them as "Rooms" rather than bedrooms. I will of course get it measured, but I have always assumed they are not legal height.

    I have found a nearby house which sold not too long ago with almost identical floorplan (Below) which didn't advertise the rooms below as extra bedrooms, so I assume it will be the same and not legal height.

    floorplan1 (1).png
     
    milobear, 22nd Oct, 2020
    #7
  8. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    14,017
    Location:
    Brisbane
    You would be turning a three bedroom house with a second living area into a five bedroom house with no second living area and no lock up car accommodation. I think it could backfire.

    Assuming you wish to keep sitting tenants whilst you make this decision, and won't want agents traipsing through the place, why not send them the plan you've posted here and ask their opinion. They need to know the street and suburb (suburb would help for us too) and photos of the level of spec of the house.

    We added a fourth bedroom to a Queenslander by converting the long ago enclosed front verandah to a bedroom, cutting a new front door and advertised it as "four bedrooms". We still didn't get any more rent because people coming to see a four bedroom house expect a second bathroom and second living area, and we had neither. Even the huge deck didn't sway things.

    It didn't cost us much, and our original third bedroom was so tiny that really, we had a two bedroom house with a box room (as they call these tiny rooms in England). So we actually ended up with three decent bedrooms and a study/store room.

    It all comes down to the suburb too. Our son bought a house without legal head height with two bedrooms downstairs. It was like a dungeon. They couldn't be called bedrooms, but any tenant with kids would have used these as bedrooms. Being two inches short of legal doesn't mean they won't be used as bedrooms but for resale it is a bit issue.

    So when they sold, it had to be advertised as three bedrooms, not five. They turned a sow's ear into a silk purse, had a second living area and full bathroom downstairs as well, with separate entrance and they got good money for it, because they renovated it so beautifully that those "store rooms" were seen as the bedrooms they were (but can't be called bedrooms). It looked like something off "The Block" and added value. But it is still a "three bedroom house".

    It all comes down to who will be renting, quality of finish of the whole house. But losing a second living area in what is a small house might be shooting yourself in the foot, when you lose that second separate living area and the car spaces.

    Local agents, who aren't sniffing a listing immediately, should be the best guide. I'd send it to a couple of agents and see what they say. Photos of the house would help too for the agents.
     
    wylie, 22nd Oct, 2020
    #8
  9. Closet

    Closet Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    23rd Oct, 2017
    Posts:
    584
    Location:
    Australia
    For the ops info there is always an uninformed position from agents and pms in qld that these below legal height built in rumpus rooms are fine to use if you don't call them bed rooms. But unless they've been privately certified you expose yourself to significant personal liability if a tenant injures themelves in those areas. Apparently the first thing some insurers doupon receiving a claim is to run the council building and approval check...
     
    Closet, 22nd Oct, 2020
    #9
  10. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    14,017
    Location:
    Brisbane
    I'm not sure what you're really saying. Nobody is calling them bedrooms, but with two "store rooms" or "offices" or whatever you call them, that are 2 inches lower than "legal" you cannot stop a tenant from sleeping in one.

    If a tenant puts a bed in such a room, who can stop them?

    The same way, I cannot stop a tenant from sliding a smoke alarm from its base, rendering it useless.

    I can't stop my tenant from sleeping on a mattress in a hallway either.

    In the case of our son's house, the separate entry allowed someone to use those two rooms as a home office and a store room. The new owners probably use them as bedrooms. But they were not advertised as bedrooms, and never can be.
     
    wylie, 22nd Oct, 2020
    #10
    Marg4000 likes this.