Interstate Renovation

How do people deal with the issue of renovating interstate properties?

The logistics of undertaking interstate renovations seems much more difficult and time consuming than if you can reno in an area close to home..

Do people actually bother with renovating their interstate IP's or just buy IP's that don't need renovation?

Has anyone had any experience with this?

I want to buy interstate as there is not much value in Sydney. However, I would prefer to buy an old dump for a good price that can be renovated.. I just see the issue of doing an interstate reno a bit daunting. Maybe I'm just lazy.

 

I've had property managers facilitate some renovations for me. It's not a deal breaker.

 

@teg499

I have done one in Brisbane.

Got PM to arrange key access.

Painter painted the place
Carpet guy laid carpet
Plumber changed down pipes,fix few issues
Kitchen guy changed doors
Blinds was fitted by no bull blinds.
Cleaners came is last and cleaned out place

Everyone did their job...PM checked all work carried out and I laid invoices as agreed.

Wasn't a big deal..took less then 7 days for full reno.

 

Thnx guys. I guess if you have a good PM then interstate Reno's can work.

@Be Developer

Did the PM only check the work after all tradies finished and the Reno was complete, or after each individual tradie finished their job?

I'm guessing you could use a PM for a quick reno but it really isn't a PM's Job to oversee a reno.. You would probably need to make a trip to the interstate IP and supervise/oversee the work if it's a more bigger Reno job, and you want to be more hands on in doing some of the work yourself, getting quotes, choosing tradies and overseeing the quality of the work.

 

Hi teg
Interesting, I just posted a thread on this and my experience, just do a search.

PMs can be very useful

MTR

 

I'm doing one at the moment in Perth and home is Melbourne. I got all the PMs contacts booked them all in, but I have come over to organise the trades and put together the flat packs!! I have been renovating for a while so that helps too as I know how long things take. We have had a few small hick-ups but it will be finished on time. You need to have a schedule of works and be ready to be persistant with people being on time and your tight time frames. I wouldn' trust a PM to check the work, I don't think that a PM would have the same standard as some one writting the cheques

 

@teg499

Mine was cosmetic reno.. So wasn't so hard.

PM checked work once the reno was finished and trade send me photos of job completed before I paid invoice.

As @MTR said, you can employee qualified building inspector to provide you complete report.

If it is major reno, fly there...make list of work need to be done... Get relevant trades quote and book them in required order.

I guess for me I have two hard working employees. "Trust" and "Skill"

You expect ppl to do right thing by you when you are paying money to agreed terms and time.

And have enough skills to check their work or have skills to hold them accountable!

 

Not interstate but abit remote.

Used the app Hipages to get a couple of tradies for various work- kitchen, painters, blinds, fencing, tiler, cladding and window in the local area and received at least three quotes for each job.

The tradies accessed the property by going to the managing office to pick up the key. Compared the quotes and picked accordingly by reputation/ reviews and quote prices.

Asked my property manager to check on progress and also requested for the tradies to send pictures of work progress.

The only issue I have is that its based on trust and that some of the tradies could be taking short cuts to get the job done ie kitchen guy.

 

After investing $X00k interstate I prefer to let my properties to become slums undertaking essential maintenance only.

With rising propery values I can rely on capital gains to improve my borrowing power and strong demand for low end product to get a % increase each year.

 

Where in Perth?
I am from Perth and currently developing in Melb, and have also completed renovations in Syd and Qld.

MTR

 

I know we could have swapped!! I saw your other post. Although you have some big projects, mine is just a re-vamp of an old flat in Mt Lawley a $10K job. We are such fans of Perth, the weather has been fantastic not looking forward to returning to the freezing cold. This is our first interstate reno, it has been a bit challenging, especially having to just accept what is in stock on the shelves although the choices haven't been as limiting as I thought.

 

I buy near new but when the time comes for a cosmetic renovation such as complete paint out, new floor coverings & window treatments I use my PM's to project manage the works.

 

We did a major one in Brisbane - from Sydney - basically a three pack that was near derelict.

Travelled up there just about every weekend to check and coordinate.

We had a thread on SS for it.

http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94336&highlight=Brisbane+North+Reno

 

Haha, I live in Mt Lawley.

I am more than happy to check it out for you. Drop me a pm if you are interested, not looking for compensation, just happy to help.

MTR

 

I have done a number of interstate renos. Some phone project management and insisting on photos prior to payment can work well. Personally if doing a more major reno I will go to the home for a week, do heaps of pre planning, have numerous trades ready to go simultaneously, and get it all done really quickly. It takes planning but you can do it. I have done 25k renos over the phone that took me 8 weeks and in person same thing done in 9 days. Leveraging your PM is also good, but remember many of them arent that super motivated to do renos, they have a maintenance mindset.

 

I have managed a number of interstate renos. I organised a key lock, Project managed by phone, used managing agents and locals for little errands and had photos sent prior to payment or PM checking work prior to payment. i thoroughly scoped the projects prior with very specific instructions, floor plans and pictures to ensure there were no misunderstandings.

Hiring the right tradespeople made it a very easy process, I was extremely lucky with my trades, had they have been different the process may not have gone so well. If you have a great PM, their trades are often excellent contacts they are always very happy to share.

Good luck (btw if it's just a cosmetic Reno......super easy!)

 

What do you in think a place like that is now worth?

 

I do guerrilla cosmetic light renos in between tenants in Sydney. I want to tackle interstate ones myself at some point. I.e. I'll know in advance when tenants are to vacate and prior to the next tenant moving in, I might arrange an intentional one or two week vacancy. During this time id take time off my day job, fly up with my air mattress, sleeping back, pillow and suitcase, hire a car, hit up bunnings on day #1 or #2, and away I go.

Certainly wouldn't recommend this for everyone! But seeing as I now have great light cosmetic reno experience, I can use these skills to save money whilst on site myself, and then just call in pro's for jobs I cannot do, myself.

 

Thanks for asking

I'd go with $1M - but I'm not sure what comparables there are.

The property pays for itself and we still expect the market to grow up there - so it is probably another 5 years before we are really interested in what it is worth.

The unimproved land value on the rates was $760K which is a lot more than what we paid overall.

That property embodies our approach to property - it was a almost derelict and was being used as a drug den as we found out later (no inspection before auction day) - but is was in a good suburb. Through some hard work for a short period of time we now have something that just ticks along.

 

OK....what about when you sell....down cycle...the issue I have with these high value properties is when you have 500k in capital gains....you take a big hit? N'est pas?