Renovation book

I'm always into collecting good educational resources re property investing. Picked up this good book on renovating ( also covers many topics related to developing) others may enjoy. Alot of interesting tips too. Certainly a good read and learnt plenty . Available on Amazon.

 

Thanks I'll grab a copy

 

Enjoy, it's not a bad resource to have. It also has some templates of order of work for renovations. Ideal book for a short plane trip. Don't forget the peanuts. I always trouble them for my peanuts... and coke top up

 

Thanks, I’ll definitely grab a copy. What would be your thoughts around a young person looking to get into this full time. I’m 24, have an okay base portfolio and a solid combined income with my fiancé. Don’t have heaps of equity now but in the next couple years we’ll have a good amount to start. What would be the process you’d suggest, firstly to see whether it’s for me and secondly to not make big mistakes that would set me back years. There’s only so much reading of forums and books like this that can be done, now it’s knowing whether to start with simple cosmetic stuff or to get into it in a bigger way straight up. I’m finding plenty of people like me wondering what steps to take, all the information available can be overwhelming.

Have loved reading your posts over the last year and would greatly appreciate your thoughts. My goal is to do chunk deals to pay down the debt on my base portfolio, I’m aiming for approx $2M net equity plus a debt free PPOR, I want to achieve this is my 40’s. I know that I will, just don’t know the process yet.

 

Looks interesting. I checked out the blurb on Amazon but it's not entirely clear who the target audience is. Is it useful for DIY renos too, or more aimed at people outsourcing and managing tradies?

 

HI @Hayden94,

Looking to do renos full time would most likely still require you to have some kind of employment for serviceability or your partner having very good serviceability. I divide renos into 3 main categories; cosmetic, minor and structural. The biggest challenge with renovations is being able to cover the buy and sell costs as well as the renovation costs and come out with a decent profit. There is so much to cover about this strategy its impossible to do in a post. Assuming you have the money, risk tolerance and serviceability for it, renos really require you to identify value gaps in good OO suburbs. Identify areas where old vs newly renoed has a good margin in sale price difference. I generally find these will fall within the minor and structural renos, not so much the cosmetic. Also renovating in a state which is on the rise always helps.

I like your idea of creating chunks of equity to pay down your asset base in order to realize the CF from it one day, as your base continues to grow. It is similar to what I did. I knew its a waste of time for me to try and get a few bucks a week here and there. So I focused on creating chunks of equity to pay down my base, however also continue to grow it, just with less debt.

If your very serious about using renovations as your strategy, I'd be wanting to become an expert in this area and lean as much as you can about identifying value areas. I'd probably want to focus on one of the reno areas, maybe minor or structural, and learn everything you can about it, and how to add more perceived value for less dollars. Probably also want to target good OO areas, as what you're after is the emotional buyers.

 

It basically gives an overview of many topics relating to renovating. Its definitely not a step by step DIY manual.

 

Thanks Sackie, yes it really seems like everything has to be almost perfect to make decent margin on the cosmetic stuff. It also feels too risky to get into development work straight up with no experience. I’m cautious of having a fixed strategy, I like the freedom of having a base portfolio that debt free would give me the income I’m after. Then deals after that are either buy reno/build sell or buy reno/build hold, depending on the situation.

I took a lot from your reply. OO area, with solid old vs newly renod margin, in a rising Syd/Melb/Bris market. Structural reno where a bedroom/bathroom/outdoor area/carport etc can be added. Maybe a bordering suburb that will have a spillover also. For profit margin to be 10-20%, I can really see the value in buying well. Really does feel like a lot of the money is made when you buy. I’ll be living in Brisbane soon, so I’m also open to the idea of a PPOR reno.

 

@Hayden94
Hi,
We started by doing this to increase equity. It's a good way to borrow again for the next project too. We did a full house Reno in 5 weeks then rented them. By doing the reno, all houses were CF neutral to positive from day 1. Rinse, repeat!
Love a good Reno!

 

I like this approach too.

Mate if you like pm me an address and I'll copy some materials on Reno for you and mail it out.

A PPOR reno in Brisbane could be a fantastic opportunity to get a nice place to live in after reno and extract some equity post reno.

 

@Hayden94 this might be on interest to you in terms of DD for possible value suburbs.

 

Cheers, nice to see the change in medians from the inner city out to the 10km belt. I’m more familiar with that 7-10km belt to the North so this may be a good place to start. Inner city walk ups vs houses further out for the same price is something I’m considering also. I usually thought houses but I like what Codie is doing atm.

 

I'd you can make it appeal to the emotional OO I think could be a great idea. Add more bang than buck. Target the demographic who can't afford the sexy house but can the sexy unit. Must make sure area is great though and watch out for supply.