What would you do to this IP? Osborne Park, WA

Hi everyone! I'm a long time lurker, first time poster.

I've been speaking to @Jess Peletier about converting our two-bedroom duplex half in Osborne Park, WA to an IP and buying elsewhere. We're also exploring the idea of renovating to suit our current needs and staying here for another couple of years.

I would love your input on what might be worth doing in order to maximise the bank's valuation and maximise rent/minimise vacancies. I've talked to a couple of local PMs already but am looking for more input. The rental market is dire around here currently so anything we could do just to get people in the property sooner rather than later may be worth it.

Current specs:
2x1 with 2 parking spaces
Open plan lounge/dining/kitchen
Large yard
R/C aircon to lounge
Ceiling fans in both bedrooms
Renovated bathroom with shower over small bath
2 garden sheds
Large master bed with BIRs
Good sized second bedroom
Easy care, waterwise garden with retic (not yet mature)

Pics here, I couldn't work out how to embed them: https://www.propertychat.com.au/community/media/albums/osborne-park.96/

No matter what path we take we're planning to:

• Finish off interior painting (Dulux Natural White with Vivid White gloss trim)
• Replace cracked sections of asbestos fence with super 6
• Spread cracked pea gravel under clothesline
• Lop neighbour's gumtree where it's overhanging our yard and dropping leaves and branches everywhere

Both PMs recommended that we also:

• Run gas to the kitchen and replace the stove (property has gas, kitchen doesn't as yet)
• Look at doing something to modernise the kitchen
• Do something to improve street appeal

Possibilites:

• Replace kitchen with IKEA or Bunnings flatpack OR
• Keep current kitchen base cabinets and spray them white, replace sink/tapware, replace benchtops and add wall cabinets
• Replace floors in lounge/dining/kitchen, hallway and bedroom (probably with vinyl planks)
• Build cheap cabinetry and replace sink and tapware in laundry
• Replace front door with one that lets in light
• Replace back screen door with proper security door
• Cover over back paved area (shade sail?)
• Revive back lawn and verge lawn
• Replace balustrade on rear external stair (current rail is rusted through and on the wrong side of the stairs)
• Add balustrade (or maybe even small timber deck?) on front external stairs
• Zhuzh up front garden bed
• Replace letterbox
• Add fence or small garden bed across front of property (from letterbox to fence). Replace grass behind it with cracked pea gravel
• Replace rusted gutters (maybe see if neighbour wants to do hers too? For some reason we only have gutters on our side)
• Add BIR to bed 2
• Replace vertical blinds with something more modern (current blinds are in good nick but dated)

So, what would you do to maximise the bank's valuation? What would you do in order to rent it out now? What would you do now in order to rent it out in a couple of years? Any great ideas that I've missed?

Thanks!
Si

 

Is there any particular reason you need to maximise the valuation and the rental?

Because normally I'd just accept the whatever the bank and market says on both before necessarily going out of my way to try and renovate and improve them.

 

Valuation - we're just barely serviceable so any little bit might help (correct me if I'm wrong, I'm new to this!)

Rental - more concerned about getting someone in than higher rent, similar properties have been sitting vacant for ~60 days at this point. Also, one of the PMs suggested that many LLs are taking advantage of vacancies and low building costs to renovate, so we don't want to be left behind if the newly renovated stuff comes on the market.

 

The biggest thing is bang for buck. In the kitchen I'd paint the cabinets white and maybe replace the handles if they're dated, replace the cooker (with gas if it's not outrageous) and redo the laundry with some extra storage. If the bench is in good nick I'd leave it. I'd try and zhuzh the grass back to life and possibly use timber to define the yard from washing line. Unless the floors are awful I'd leave them too.

Fans in bedrooms are nice for tenants if it gets very hot but if you cope without them there's a fair chance tenants will be okay too.

Keep it minimal - think about what's going to add to appeal - for eg replacing the back door may not be enough bang for buck to make it worth while. As long as it locks it's probably fine

 

Whats the go with the guttering, yours has it but looks like the neighbour doesn't?

If you wanna make all the fences look tidier plus save some $'s, unless laying on the ground don't replace any, if leaning badly use some star pickets to straighten.
Then - I bought a roll of >THIS< ($3.35plm) and covered all my crappy perimeter fencing, looks great (imo), if you want it up higher for privacy buy some treated pine posts or logs, run some gal clothes line across the top, attach cloth with small zip ties and staples.

Keep in mind this stuff has its downsides, ends up where you don't want it, hurts feat etc etc.
Check gumtree for some more of those slabs, if no luck soils has soak well lids which are larger for ~$7, better val than 600mm.

Apart from that one hanging low near the shed I wouldn't bother, from experience regardless how much its cut back leaves will still end up at your back door step, in the gutters etc via the wind, its a losing battle.
Mulch the lot with some cheap leaf mulch, like >THIS< which will catch/retain some of the leaves from blowing around, add some cheap native plants that wont get outta hand.

E.g; >PIC< (I've put plants in since, if worried about lower exposure buy wider cloth)

I'd do similar with that patch next to the driveway, no point worrying about grass when tenants aren't gunna look after it, visitors etc use it as a carpark.

I'd put one of >THESE< in the laundry.

 

Thanks for that Jess. The back screen door does technically lock but it's bent at the bottom and not actually secure, it wouldn't do anything to stop anyone trying to get in (or a toddler trying to get out, which is part of the problem for us!). I think that might be something to wait and see if a tenant requests it?

Do you think the lack of undercover outdoor area would put people off? Every other comparable place I've looked at seems to have some backyard shade.

 

Great ideas, thank you! I especially love the mulch idea, and will have a close look at the shadecloth idea. How did you anchor the posts?

 

Who even knows, I assume she took hers down rather than replace it. It's been like that as long as we've had the place

 

I would:

- fence off front garden and get the grass alive again
- put in a cheapish flat panel laundry bench/cupboard and trough
- paint the kitchen
- is the floor cork? Might be able to leave as is
- paint the walls
- move the shed (s) to under the tree so any leaves dropped don't kill plants
- put in more grass at the rear

 

The kitchen/dining section are cork-look vinyl tiles (I think) and there's cream loop pile carpet in the lounge and bedrooms. The carpet has some permanent stains but nothing too serious. Overall the floors aren't terrible. Probably no point doing them unless we end up replacing the whole kitchen, which is looking unlikely!

I like your idea about the sheds WM, thank you. Will have to check if there's enough space around the clothesline.

 

I just think 2 sheds is over kill and the position they are in now is kind of awkward so it made sense to me to move them to the problem area then the nice tree isn't an issue.

 

IMO relocating the sheds plus the slabs their sitting on is just extra work/time (levelling etc) with no major benefit.

However "if" you wanted to go to the trouble, like west says you could move them down the back fence, perhaps space them apart, add shade cloth between for a shady spot to sit/play etc (maybe sandpit), which also adds privacy from rear neighbours.

Or relocate only one of them, sell the other one via gumtree (= a little extra reno play money or beers), use its slabs around the clothesline.