Woodridge - renos to add value & rent (newbie)

I have an IP in Woodridge bought a couple of years ago for 250K, has been renting for around 310/week since buying it. It's a highset, 3-bed 1.5bath 2 cars. Kitchen is probably 4-5 yrs old, but bathroom is original (circa 1985).

Now, the time has come as tenant is leaving in about 3 weeks. I'm thinking to do a quick renos on the bathroom to freshen up the property, with the goal of more rent and hopefully better valuation.

Got a quick quote today, I'm looking at $16K for a new bath tub, tiling, water proofing, new toilet, sink etc. Basic ones, nothing fancy.

How much rent do you think this would add per week, and what sort of extra valuation should i be expecting once bathroom is updated?

Look forward to hear some of your thoughts & comments.

 

If I were you, I would ask your managing agent. They would have a good idea of what rental could be achieved with a refurbished bathroom.

 

1.16k ouch...
2. Is there option to create a 4th bedroom rather than redo the bathroom?
That would be better spent and create a better rental return..
Then maybe just change the vanity and give it a lick of paint..

 

PS - do you want one of my contacts there to give you another quote if you do decide to go ahead with the reno?

 

There's not many 3 bdrms houses renting for much above $330pw. An extra $20 is $1,000 per year. 4 years to get your money back on a $4k Reno, ignoring the small amount that can be claimed from CW depreciation.

I think it looks pretty unattractive to spend much more than $5k on a Reno.. That said I would think you could do a basic bathroom reno appropriate for the rental market in WR for around 5k

 

Yea that seems very high. I'd only spend maximum of $8k if you can otherwise you are over capitalizing for the area. If there is no major re plumbing and electical issues i reckon you could be ok.

 

I would if I could, still waiting for her callback

That will be great - will PM you shortly.

Thanks guys, I appreciate your 2cents!!

 

So a bit of an update, previous tenant left. Prospective tenants are not keen due to a hole in the bath tub.

The cheap option of patching and spraying is being considered but spoke to a few tradies and they are hesitant to do it.

The expensive option is replacing the bath tub with a new one but not as straight forward. Challenge is due to current old tub and new ones have different sizes i was told. Replacing the bath tub will require re-tiling, plumbing, dealing with asbestos etc.

Some photos of the conditions attached here.

Should i bite the bullet and spend 16K plus GST? Really appreciate if you have any other alternative ideas.

 

Why don't you just rip it out and get a tiler to tile the floor with a hob for just shower?

If it was me and I would do that then tile over exhausting tiles, floor and wall, replace the vanity and paint

 

Why do a half job and tile of existing tiles? Especially tiles in that condition... Just asking for trouble in 5 years time.

In my opinion, demo that bathroom, pull up tiles in toilet and replace the tiles and toilet while tiling the bathroom.

Bathroom shouldn't cost more than 4-6k max to do..

But pull the plaster sheets off the walls and start again. Guaranteed there is damp under the existing sheets, showr base and bath so you may need to cut out rotten floorboards and put yellow tongue board down.

I promised there will be more significant issues than just cosmetic ones in that room. So avoid the headaches and do it properly..

 

An alternate to replacing the tub is to get an acrylic sleeve from Innerbath... costs about $900. You could then just remove tiles and sheeting around the shower area then resheet, waterproof and tile, or use the waterproof panels from Bunnings instead if you are DIY handy.

No way that bathroom should cost $16k.

 

That bathtub will be a real problem,depending on how long the hole has been like that ,everything will have to replaced,but with the quoted price materials wise would not be that high,labor cost with all the different trades would be the high part,if anyone fell over in that tub it would be a big problem also..imho..

 

Based on that photo i would also go with just ripping the tub out and putting a shower screen instead, and replacing the tiles. Some new tiles/repaint would make that bathroom look very decent, specially replacing those floor tiles would go a long way in giving those areas a much more modern look.

 

Just to close the loop on this one, the current managing agent suggested an acrylic bath top from a company called innerbath (also mentioned by DaveM above).

Cost is $900 plus GST.
The end-result is as per photos, not a bad outcome.

Tenant has already moved in, so everything else is on-hold for the time being...

Thanks again for your inputs!