Help me decide what to renovate at my IP!

Hi guys, so it is likely that my tenant is moving out soon (lease expires end of May, but he may break lease sooner) and the dwelling is in serious need of a freshen up (as in I would have to seriously reduce the rent to get someone in in its current state).

The question is 'where do I stop' and am I actually better off biting the bullet and doing a full (cosmetic) Reno now?

A bit about the property:

*3x1 in NE Bayswater, WA. Front duplex;
*Mid 60s double brick and tile, mostly original condition inside and out, with new landscaping from duplex development;
*Currently rented for $395 (previously $450) but fair market is probably $300-$330 in its current state;
*Plan is for long-term hold and rent;
*Currently refinancing to draw equity out so any improvement as result of Reno would be purely for increased yield in short to medium term;
*I will project manage the reno only - as I am pretty time poor, maybe the odd easy DIY task mum.
>Photos to follow

So onto the place: There is definitely A LOT of room for improvement here but some tasks will be easier and/or give a better return per $ spend than others. Due to lack of time/knowledge/enthusiasm(!) I was planning on just doing the 'low-hanging fruit' right now, but if it makes more sense to do everything right now then that is what I will do!

Items for consideration as I see them:
Basic/low-hanging fruit:
*Repaint (inc removing 100 sh!tty hooks/fittings from walls);
*Re-carpet;
*New window coverings;
*New light fittings;
*New door and cupboard handles;
*New front door;
*Potentially serious plumbing to unblock second shower (conventional methods won't fix it).

Full-Monty/Complete Reno:
*Completely redo kitchen, bathroom and toilet/laundry;
*Reinstall all window fittings/mechanisms;
*New built in robes to master and second bedroom;
*External Render and repaint roof tiles;
*Anything else?

Or... Somewhere in between

So where would you spend your money and how far would you go with this first reno? I'd love anyone's ideas on what might get the biggest bang for buck and/or whether there is significant cost/time savings to doing certain things at the same time.

Cheers!

 

Photos:

 

And some more (if you're still reading!):

Pretty hard to get a feel for the place from a few disjointed photos I know, but hopefully that gives a fair idea of what I'm working with.

 

Eh I reckon you could get away with just doing the first half on that basic list and see how it goes after that.

I wouldn't ever do a full blown reno on a rental unless there was a really good specific reason or strategy to it.

 

What does a local property manager suggest? I'd say unblock the second shower. I assume the front tree is no longer hiding the front appearance? And move those bins from there.
Now, as for me as a tenant... I'd like a better kitchen. And a paint job would make it more inviting. Paint all those dark door trims and the dark railings to a white or cream colour. I don't think there's a good photo in regards to carpet, but maybe replace it if you think it needs go.
Door handles - replace what doesn't work.

 

Yep, unblocking the shower is a definite before I retenant (but has been fine up until now as the existing tenant never used that shower). I have been putting this off as it is potentially a serious task (four trips by two different plumbers hasent solved the issue).

Those photos are mere days old so yes that tree is still there.

There is a lovely spot for the buns around the side - but the tenants have never used it!

 

I tend to agree, but this is a big task and I'm not sure I will get the return on my time/money. Very interested to hear people's thoughts on this. I will (at the very least) repaint the 'raw' wood behind the cupboards and cupboard door handels which will freshen it up a bit, possibly re-hinge if it looks simple (cupboards are still crap quality tho). Another maybe is painting over the dated vinyl bench. Everything else (replace entire lower cupboards/bench, replace stove/oven and sink, replace metal window frame) is all verging on 'total kitchen reno' territory.

 

Yep - that's the plan.

Carpet is very dirty. Seems an obvious one, especially if I have freshly painted walls.

 

The door handles actually all work perfectly fine, they just look cheap and dated (see photo below). I figured this would be a cheap/easy fix (though I actually have no idea how easy it is) and best done at the same time as repainting? What do you think?

 

I had a very similar house that I renovated a year or so ago - it came up a million bucks.

• We repainted it, including all the dark wood trims white - the impact of this was massive.
• Do the wood on the kitchen cabinets too.
• White tile paint in bathroom and kitchen
• New flooring throughout - ours was way worse than your though. Your tiles look fine in the pics
• New light fittings and handles
• A few extra cabinets in laundry might help in yours too
• New tub in laundry - yours looks fine though ours was a weird fibreglass thing
• New bathroom fittings and kitchen taps
• Replaced some roofing with laser light to increase natural light- this also made a huge difference. Might be an option for you too if yours is dark?
• New blinds throughout

We didn't replace the kitchen or bathroom and weve got excellent tenants in who love the place now.

 

I agree with your strategy. I think BIRs are a good investment though. Tenants really like them. They are almost a given.

 

Also I kinda like those blue tiles - I know they're old and dated but I love the colour haha! Paint the walls white and they may not look so awful

 

I am 100% sold on repainting the dark wood doors/architraves/skirting a light colour (possibly high gloss version of new wall colour). What do you think about repainting the wood balustrade, 'fire place' and that wooden cupboard door (all in living room and the first thing you see when you enter the house)? My thoughts are twofold - part of me thinks they should definitely be repainted now, either same colour as the doors/architraves, or a slightly darker colour to emphasise them. The other part of me thinks that under a full modernisation/renovation of the place they would probably be completely removed and therefore am I wasting my money spending any time on them in the interim (FYI If don't do a full reno now it will be at least 5yr before I do). I would have thought (again, no real knowledge of this) that being quite fiddly and with good gloss varnish on them already, they may be quite time consuming/expensive to repaint?

Really glad you brought that up @Jess Peletier as it is one of the big things I have been on the fence about!

 

Another great point I had been weighing up as a 'maybe'. How easy is it to just paint a few tiles and not make it look messy and obvious that that's what has been done (or did you mean paint the whole lot)?

I haven't considered repainting ALL the tiles in the bathroom but that may be a very good idea - almost everything needs updating in the bathroom though so I am not sure whether there is any point doing any one (or two) things. I will post a bit more on the bathroom soon.

Yeah I was planning on keeping the main tiles to living room, dining and kitchen, as they don't look too bad/dated (photo below) and it seems like unescesary spend. I think they have been redone since the house was built.

 

As with the main bathroom, the laundry is so dated I'm really not sure if there is any point doing any one or two tasks (apart from treating and repainting the mould covered walls/roof).

Which is I guess what got me considering the full reno to these rooms in the first place! Wow these things can escalate quickly!

Funnily enough the one other thing I was almost definitely doing was ripping out the horrible cabinet mirror in the laundry/bath, and replacing with a cheap mirror (prior to full reno). I guess i should consider replacing this with more cabinets though if you you are suggesting 'more' cabinets than what is already there! (though there is a bit of general storage in the main bathroom, which will get a lot more use once I fix the shower).

 

The 'hilariously dated' main bathroom (photos attached):

What do you think? Worth replacing a few things or will it just look ridiculous/be a lost cause unless I do the whole lot?

 

Any idea what it would cost to build/replace one in an existing cavity? I could probably get away with just replacing the doors in the master bedroom with sliding mirrors, but the second bedroom would need something from scratch.

 

Paint them all a gloss white. I'd go lighter rather than darker.

 

Those tiles look fine to me - i'd look at maybe painting the feature strip white (or the whole lot if they're actually worse in real life than in the photos) and replacing the vanity towel rail, shower screen and light fittings. Getting rid of the gold will go a long way in there.