[yoyo galaxyMember@yoyo-galaxyJoin Date: 2009Post Count: 79]

June 12, 2011 - 4:48 am

hi everyone, i just wanna come here and recommend the kitchen maker we used for the recent renovation in Sydney. their name is the good kitchen and bathroom, with one showroom in villawoord another one in punchbowl, they are also expanding to brisbane. they provide polyurethane finished kitchen cabinets and ceaser stone benchtop at super competitive price. they also organized delivery and installation, both product and service were delivered on time as promised in a very professional way.

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June 12, 2011 - 2:40 am

hi michael, how much does the DA normally cost? and do we need a council DA too? are they different?
hi holly, when you mentioned 'they can make you demolish anything they haven't approved', do you mean they can even make unreasonable decisions like force me to demolish the new kitchen and put the old kitchen back in? then i will have to go through their approval process (which may take months), then finally get the approval, then demolish the old kitchen again, then install the new kitchen again? and if we planned to live in the unit, our family would have to live there with half painted wall, leaking toilets and no kitchen? if the decision is unreasonable, can i appeal it to fair trading?

can someone help me to clarify exactly what work require their approval?
— change a ceiling light ( i'll touch the wires for 5 second)
— install curtain rail to the wall (i'll need to drill 4 holes on the wall)
— change a leaking toilet (i'll need to drill 2 holes on the wall)
— change carpet (it will create some noise)
— tiling (it will create some noise)
— have a pet fish (bylaw says no pet allowed)

The more research I do the more confused I become, it seems strata/executive committee rule the whole building and i have no right at all? what if the strata/executive committee abuse their power?

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May 26, 2011 - 1:54 am

The electrician disconnected the stove and the switchboard, removed the switchboard cabinet. I made one small mistake though.
After removing the old stove, there's a thick and ugly electric cable sticking out of the wall, the electrician told me there are two ways to hide it: 1, he'll rip off part of the wall and hide it in the wall and shift it to the position of the new stove. 2. leave it there wait until the new cabinet is installed, then run it inside of the cabinet along the corner.
I chose option 2, thinking it is easier. But this morning I just noticed the new kitchen will be smaller than the old kitchen, so the ugly cable will just stick out of the edge of new cabinet!
Called kitchen maker, they can't change the order unless I wait another 2 weeks. So now it's time to call the electrician again to get him  come in again just to shift the cable. 

There are so many little things to consider when doing reno!

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May 23, 2011 - 1:25 am

Thanks a lot everyone for the suggestions! 
We have removed the kitchen this weekend with some friends' help(saved $200!!). only have the switchboard cabinet and the wall tiles very close to the switchboard left (As i rip off the wall tiles, I can see the power cable right behind the tiles, so i decided to leave the tiles there in case i break the cables in the wall). I'll have the electrician come in tomorrow morning to work on the switchboard and disconnect the existing stove. Then we'll work out what to do with the carbinet and tiles, think i can always get the kitchen installer to remove them for me on the day of installation, it won't take them more than long to do it.
Council cleaning is after 1 month and they collect old cabinets, so i'll just dump the old kitchen that way. Saved another $250 here!
I agree it was a great idea to wear masks and goggles, we didn't wear any and that was a bad decision!

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April 27, 2011 - 6:30 am

Hello there, any good tradies wanna recommend themselves? I thought we have many tradies on this website?
Anyone have done reno in Sydney got tradies to recommend?

It's a bit disappointing that haven't got any reply except from Jamie…….

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April 25, 2011 - 11:15 am

Thanks Jamie, yes we'll need to check the condition of the carcass to decide if resurfacing will work. Has anyone used Granite Transformation? Can they change the layout of the kitchen, tile the splashback tiles and floor tiles? Anyone know how's their price different from getting a brand new kitchen?

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April 22, 2011 - 12:02 pm

Hi Cattaby,

Great idea to post this topic, I am also currently looking for tradies for my first reno project. Does anyone know some good tradies work in Sydney? We will need tiler, painter, plumber, kitchen installer(i am not even sure if this is the right name for them, bascially need someone who can make and install kitchen cabinetry, install kitchen wall tiles and change the kitchen tap from the wall to sink) and a handyman to change lights.
We are pretty tight on the budget, so don't mind having someone just starting up but fully qualified and experienced.

We'll settle in 2 weeks, so looking to get some quotes now, if you have any recommendations, please let me know!

Thanks a lot in advance!

btw, do I need a plumber to install the vanity and mirror in the bathroom? currently the vanity is 3 holes, we'll change it to 1 hole.

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April 19, 2011 - 1:30 am

Hi Jacqui,

Firstly congratulations on your first project, I am also doing my first project and think you may be able to help me with some questions.
Just wondering how much did it cost you to  get the wall removed? Also did you get an engineering certificate to show it is non-structural? How long did that take and how much was the certificate?

Thanks a lot! We will settle on the unit early next month, and we are feeling that time is flying fast, we probably can't start the actual work as soon as we settle. A bit stressed, but fingers crossed we can finish the reno on time!

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December 15, 2010 - 5:53 am

Hi Jacqui,

Well done! numbers and the reno result both look very impressive!
Where did you find this house? from domain or realestate.com.au? and would it be possible to have a complete list of the jobs that you did and their cost? I am trying to work out budget for my first reno and think a list of your cost would be a good reference guide for me.

Thanks! and congratulations again!

viv

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November 10, 2010 - 10:12 am

Thanks a lot Illuminati! I agree it is true that before signing they were all proactive and nice, then they change face as soon as I sign the contract paper. this is definitely a learning experience for me and i'll be more careful next time.
Dwolfe, you are right, they are just too lazy to amend the ad, it probably only take them 2 minutes to login the website, change a number and add half a sentence, but they won't do it unless I keep calling them 5 times a day.
I'll definitely never deal with this agent again, they don't deserve their commission at all!

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November 10, 2010 - 9:30 am

Thanks for the tips Scott! in my agreement, the agent will pay for the marketing fees, they will deduct it from their commission after sale.They didn't mentioned in details where they will market it.
I thought at least they should change the asking price and amend the ad according to my request? I've no idea why they won't do it.

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November 10, 2010 - 5:08 am

They only put the ad up in domain.com.au, I requested them to put the ad up in realestate.com.au, they ignored my request and just told me the two websites are the same. I also asked them to include the current rent in the ad to attract investors, but they ignored my request again and refuse to include it in the ad.
Before I signed the contract with them, they said that they can guarantee to sell the unit at 600k+, I told them I think 600k is too ambitious, I am happy to sell it at just under 600k, as long as I receive 580k in hand after commission, I am happy. Again, they ignored my request and listed the property for 620k. I am very unhappy about it because all I want is a quick sell at fair price, no one will want to inspect it at such a high listing price.
Now they had the unit open for inspection a couple of weeks, they now tell me they over-estimated the price, they can only sell it at 550k, so after the commission, I will only receive 520k. In the mean time, they still haven't changed the asking price in the ad.
A same unit in my building was just sold 580k several days ago by another agent, it is smaller than my unit and it's on a lower floor with lots of noise.

If I wait for the 10 weeks contract with them to expire, can I assign another agent to sell it?

Thanks.

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November 10, 2010 - 3:57 am

actually lots of asian people do that in their house. and lots of overseas students share accommodations that way.
for example, renting out a 3 bedroom unit gives you 450pw, but by renting each room you can get 600pw ($200 per room X 3 rooms). The only pro is you do get more rent, better yield on your property.
cons are:
1. Only a few agents are happy to manage the property for you. This means it's likely you have to manage the tenants yourself. If you get troublesome tenants, it will give you LOTS of headache and stress.
2. if you want to be honest with insurance company, all major insurance companies won't insure your property.
3. Tenants don't know each other, they don't feel home in your property either, so no one will look after the property. Get ready to see your property trashed after couple of days. Yes, after couple of days, not weeks or months. 

I've lots of relatives and friends rent out properties by room to maximize rental return. So i've seen both sides of the storey. Some of them choose not to check out their property for months to avoid the stress and unhappiness when they see the trashed property. If you do decide to take this path, make sure you are ready to handle the stress, and the troublesome tenants, focus on the extra rent that you are collecting each week, then you'll be fine.

cheers

viv

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November 1, 2010 - 2:55 am

Hi May,

Before making this sell or hold on decision, I think it would help to do a thorough calculation to analyse your financial situation.
Firstly, it seems your house is heavily negatively geared. How much money do you have to put out of pocket each week to support the loan? If say you have to pay 300pw out of pocket to support it, each year you have to pay roughly 15k. So if you hold on to the property for 2 years, that's 30k cash out. It means the property value have to increase by at least 30k for you to break even. How certain are you about the capital  gain in the next 2  years? is it likely to increase more than 30k?
If the answer is no, then selling it now is a better idea, as you will be able to get rid of some bad debt and start all over again.
cheers.

viv

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October 14, 2010 - 5:02 am

The quote i got is 1.5% + advertisement fee ($800 roughly) or 2.5% including advertisement fee.
Commission is only payable once the property is sold. If the owner changes their mind and withdraw the property from the market, there's no fees payable, except the advertisement fee.

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October 14, 2010 - 5:01 am

I was told by my accountant that this CGT 6 years exemption only applies when you have less than 2 properties under your name and you only claim 1 PPOR at any point of time. If you have more than 2 properties under your name or claim 2 properties both as PPOR then you can't get this CGT exemption.

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September 9, 2010 - 11:33 pm

Hi, to answer your question:
1) Residential
2) In terms of borrowing, banks evaluate it the same as any regular residential property. It doesn't give you more borrowing capacity due to secure tenants.

Some negative sides of DHA leased property:
1) You, as the owner, do not have any control of the property, means you can not carry out any renovation work or other improvement work while DHA leasing it.
2) It is very difficult to negotiate increase of rent during the lease. if you have a long lease with them, it is likely that your rent will not be up to the market level after couple of years.
3) DHA charge commission of 15%-17% to manage your property, it is much higher than the normal real estate agent's 5.5%.
4) If you sell it within the lease period, you can only sell it to investors, which limit the number of potential buyers, so will have an impact on the price too

hope it helps.

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August 24, 2010 - 12:46 am

Hi everyone, thanks for the reply.

So my understanding is: if the unit is refinanced and money is used to buy another IP, then the interest payment can be used to offset rental income, as the purpose is not to pay down debt in the new home, Is that correct?

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July 22, 2010 - 11:59 pm

Thanks a lot for the tips Shelletho, I will keep an eye on the auctions, sounds interesting and a good way to save money!

Broccoli2, thanks for the info, one of the builders I contacted quoted told me my budget has to be increased to 17k to 20k, which is way over my original budget. your builder's price sounds really good. unfortunately I am in Sydney.

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July 19, 2010 - 3:33 am

Hi everyone,

I am back from the material shopping last weekend. Previously we had a budget of 10k including quality materials and labor, now I was told by the showroom guy that If i want the fittings with the quality that I want, my budget has to rise to at least 15-17k.

Also got quote from 2 tradies, surprisingly they gave me similar price — 6K + GST. including rip off old tiles, waterproofing, re-tiling, putting the new fittings in.

Here are some prices of the fittings:
– vanity : 500 (standard) -3000 (marble or stone benchtop with basin on top)
– Toilet: 300-800
– shower screen: 800 (framed) – 1500 (standard frameless) – 2500 (customised frameless)
– bathtub: 600-1000

I will check out more show rooms later. It surprises how much more a frameless shower screen cost compare with a framed one, and how much more a model basin set up (with the basin siting on top of benchtop instead of sinking in the benchtop) cost.

Does this sound like a reasonable quote/price to everyone? adding them up, It is way above my initial budget of 10k.

Could anyone share the quote or price of their project please?Just wondering if i am getting ripped off because I am new in renovation.

thanks a lot