Renovation spend - rule of thumb

Discussion in 'Renovation & Home Improvement' started by neK, 23rd Aug, 2016.

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  1. Gingin

    Gingin Well-Known Member

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    I bought a RAK toilet a few years back for a rental place. Nice unit about $250. Took the plumber loads of cursing and effort to accomodate . Heavy as anything also. Really tight dimensions.

    Bought a caroma today for $500.thought not worth the grief
     
  2. Coastal

    Coastal Well-Known Member

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    I have just rebuilt a bathroom for 5k ...that is stripping everything to bare bones and new everything.
     
  3. Chabs

    Chabs Well-Known Member

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    Caroma is a well known brand so the toilets are going to be good, and finding replacement parts for the toilet seat in the future is pretty much guaranteed. Tho you will be paying for the name, as Caroma charges a good 40% surcharge on equivalent quality/build toilets. E.g. a $500 caroma toilet can be found for approx $360, you just need to know where to look. Defs not bunnings (masters is worth a shot), try googling for your local bathroom store.. If you need more help, I know Sydney well.

    Vizzini is a low tier budget brand exclusive to a store in sydney as they created the brand. Not sure if worth it, reno boys already went into liquidation they are currently on the 2nd run with a very similar name. Personally I would not touch anything labelled vizzini with a 10 foot pole, but I can see why some would like it. Just a heads up there's other equiv cheap brands that have a better history.

    Sounds like an entry level RAK toilet, RAK has some great toilets but they're usually not at that price point.

    At the $250 price point you get entry level back to wall toilets w/ soft close or you get a regular CC toilet and some change (approx $80 change).
     
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  4. Gingin

    Gingin Well-Known Member

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    Doing better than me. I got tagged 2 k for drainage renew and 3 k to remove asbestos! Another 15k for this bathroom and laundry to get it home....minimum!
     
  5. Coastal

    Coastal Well-Known Member

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    Hi this was 20 year old bathroom with no asbestos.

    Basically had to strip the bathroom, the flooring was rotted so replaced the floor bit of the shower and a little flooring outside the shower area, re-line the walls that were removed - the shower and and tub area, frame up the tub area, new tap/mixer for shower, tub and vanity, new door handles for vanity, new bench top for vanity, plumber changed the taps to one mixer in shower and tube areas and new $200 tub from bunnings I think, waterproofed and tiled. Tiler did the shower bed/screed thingy. Also got a $600 shower screen

    So all up it was over 5k sorry, $5700 or so. The major expense was labour I think, Carpenter $1500, Plumber $1000 or so and Tiler $900 plus a bit extra for waterproofing and show bed or so. It all adds up.

    I used $20 Porcelain tiles for the floor and $20 Porcelain tiles for the walls. It was done cheap due to contacts I had in the area.

    However in my new project I can't find a licensed tiler in Brisbane. I have put up jobs on Hi Pages and service seeking however the people that have quoted are not licensed by QBCC. They know there stuff, but are not licensed. To lay the tiles will be about $1000, I have been getting prices at $55 per sqm, however I don't want to lose the 7 year warranty by the QBCC and waterproofing warranty.
     
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  6. neK

    neK Well-Known Member

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    Far out this renovation keeps blowing costs day by day :(

    Damn hot water system is no longer functioning.... but it did last 14 years (tiny electric instant running on 3 phase).

    Had complaints from tenants about not being able to wash dishes and have showers at the same time (told them to do only one thing at a time :p), so swapping it back to a 315L electric tank.

    Another $1700 added to the costs :(
     
  7. neK

    neK Well-Known Member

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    Quick update: After a few delays, the renovation was finished (took 8 weeks instead of 4 weeks) :(
    In the process the person doing the renovations scratched the crap out of my floor boards, so i had to get those fully repolished (he agreed to pay half the costs).

    Haven't calculated exactly how much i spent, but definitely way over budget - probably double.

    Anyway, its been rented out - rent has increased by $140 per week :)
     
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  8. EN710

    EN710 Well-Known Member

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    :) Worth it
     
  9. devank

    devank Well-Known Member

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    (cost x 5℅ x 25 years) - ($140 x 45 weeks x 8 years of primum rent)
    Is the above positive?
    Not including higher depreciation or lower NG.
     
    Last edited: 5th Dec, 2016
  10. neK

    neK Well-Known Member

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    Property was always positively geared (due to Granny Flat)
    Now its just more positive with some depreciation added to the mix.

    The existing house was LONG overdue for a reno. Quite frankly i was surprised people wanted to rent it. Must have been the cheap rent.
     
  11. neK

    neK Well-Known Member

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    However, this little experiment over the years and concluded one simple thing for me:

    Do a full renovation upfront - it will save your hassle ongoing as well as putting more money your pocket.
     
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  12. bob shovel

    bob shovel Well-Known Member

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    Wow that blew out a bit and headaches with it.
    I'm guessing you won't be using that guy again? Were the scratched floors from just being sloppy and lazy?

    When you say upfront, do you mean at time of purchase?
     
  13. neK

    neK Well-Known Member

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    The random Chinese mainlanders workers he hired were the sloppy ones. Because my house is made of concrete, when they were removing walls, there were a lot of small rocks etc. The workers didn't pay much attention (even though there was mats for them to walk on), and scratched the absolute crap out of the floors.

    I definitely won't be using him ever again - I did call him back post Reno to install a light switch (because I was told he was a liceneced electrician), couldn't even install a light switch without it tripping the circuit breaker. I ended up taking it apart and rewired it myself (sloppy crimping).
     
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  14. neK

    neK Well-Known Member

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    Yep. This was my only non renovated property, my other properties I gutted and renovated from settlement date and those have been hassle free and got above market rent with decent tenants.

    This place was severely under market (mainly because it was in a terrible condition, though my pm considered it "ok" in comparison to some of the dumps he managed) - the other indication that it under market was because the granny flat rented for more than the house over the last 6 years.

    Looking back, had I renovated it earlier, I would have got more rent, better tenants, and better valuation for an equity extract.... but I was being a tightass :p
     
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  15. bob shovel

    bob shovel Well-Known Member

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    French for landlord ;) lol

    I wonder how many people do check if trades are actually licenced or word of mouth enough

    I think PM's see some stuff :eek: i remember painting and tidying up a property them went to an auction a few doors down of an almost identical house and the agents said it was in good condition and would rent straight away. I was heart broken i paid so much attention to detail and the tiny marks on the walls:( it was pretty worn out
     
  16. neK

    neK Well-Known Member

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    @bob shovel
    I reckon word of mouth.
    But with this guy, i had seen his work previously on my sisters place.
    Wasn't too shabby.
    This time around, absolute shocker.
    I realised because he just calls random helpers.
    If his son had some sense, he would pick up a trade and work full time with him and then establish a group of regular trades.
     

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