All Topics / Help Needed! / How much would it cost turn this old house around…

Viewing 16 posts - 1 through 16 (of 16 total)
  • Profile photo of homersydhomersyd
    Participant
    @homersyd
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 31

    Hi all,

    I know this may sound like a dumb question – I know most ppl would tell me “depends on quality of material etc”. However I’m just looking at a ball park figure to work out if it’s worth it to purchase this old house (in Sydney). I have absolutely no idea how much reno will cost…

    I have only gotten one picture (off domain website) so far on the old house (i will see if I can get more pics off the old house later this week), I have more pics for the final product that I had in mind.

    Old house:
    14cbn0w.jpg

    New house:
    2vtnupt.jpg

    35lbu6s.jpg

    5md4hz.jpg

    vrfuqf.jpg

    2zhfhie.jpg

    1zfjsr8.jpg

    Thanks in advance!

    Profile photo of Jacqui MiddletonJacqui Middleton
    Participant
    @jacm
    Join Date: 2009
    Post Count: 2,539

    can't see the pictures..

    Jacqui Middleton | Middleton Buyers Advocates
    http://www.middletonbuyersadvocates.com.au
    Email Me | Phone Me

    VIC Buyers' Agents for investors, home buyers & SMSFs.

    Profile photo of Jacqui MiddletonJacqui Middleton
    Participant
    @jacm
    Join Date: 2009
    Post Count: 2,539

    can't see the pictures..

    Jacqui Middleton | Middleton Buyers Advocates
    http://www.middletonbuyersadvocates.com.au
    Email Me | Phone Me

    VIC Buyers' Agents for investors, home buyers & SMSFs.

    Profile photo of homersydhomersyd
    Participant
    @homersyd
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 31

    mmm…not sure why I…but i can see them. when I get home tonight i will try posting them again

    Profile photo of TaylorChangTaylorChang
    Participant
    @scha9799
    Join Date: 2009
    Post Count: 234

    I guess at least 100k

    anyone ?

    TaylorChang | Finance Broker
    Email Me | Phone Me

    Home loan | Commercial loan | 0414 691 517

    Profile photo of Housing fanaticHousing fanatic
    Member
    @housing-fanatic
    Join Date: 2011
    Post Count: 8

    As you mentioned in the original post its dependant on what price you can get materials for etc. It also depends on how handy you are with tools. If you are keen to try, most things you can do by yourself ( Being in a trade and judging the intelligence of some trades ANYONE can do it). Stuff like decking is relatively simple, kitchens and cabinetry can be purchased from bunnings and ikea and is DIY. The NEW house above has bulkheads and recesses in the gyprock can be pricy as it means re plastering. House also has full floating timber floors throughout, miele appliances ( correct if wrong) new sliding doors and windows, doors, tiles, fixtures, painted roof etc etc. Basically it depends on how extensively you want to renovate.

    To save money polish existing floorboards ( if possible), do the landscaping/ yard work yourself, paint yourself, Paint sliding doors and window frames (again if possible), paint old doors but put new handles on them, Paint concrete to give it a new appearance. Give the impression that you have spent alot of money when it may not be the case.

    Judging by the house in the top photo you can do alot of work yourself just depends on how much spare time you have and how willing you are to do it. Building report is a must if your planning to buy and watch out for nasties like asbestos can be expensive to remove and dispose of. Being an electrician if you where to install downlight like the NEW house 9 times out of 10 it will be mandatory to do a switchboard upgrade, same goes for power upgrades. ( There is a split system installed so may have already been done). Basically watch out for hidden costs and roll up your sleeves and get dirty to avoid paying too much. hope that helps

    Cheers Paul

    Profile photo of sapphire101sapphire101
    Participant
    @sapphire101
    Join Date: 2006
    Post Count: 203

    No one can tell you what this renovation will cost. A good renovation needs the costs to be worked out as exactly as possible otherwise you will blow your budget. Lucky for you this won't happen because you don't have a budget. :-)

    You need to go into the property with a seriously accurate checklist and note everything down that needs doing. (Exterior, Interior, Landscape back and front). You then need to go to Bunnings and cost all the material. You also need to contact tradesmen to get costings on their work. You also need to work out your costs – build and pest inspection, (maybe separate electrical & plumbing inspection to be sure),purchase, stamp duty, lawyer, interest on loan for time of renovation and sale ( if you're selling). Add a contingency fund for unexpected costs.

    See renovations here for some help.

    Once you have a budget of all costs you can decide whether this project is worth it. As a general rule the actual renovation cost should be about 10% of the purchase price. Once you add up all the other costs ( some listed above), this blows out to around 33% if the renovation only costs 10%.

    Add 33% to the purchase price. Can you sell the property for more than this amount? If so then it may be worth taking on.
    If not, find out what you can sell the fully renovated house for in today's market. It'll be less than the first figure and then deduct 25%. The new figure is the most you can pay for the joint.

    eg: Asking price $500k + 33% = Lowest sell price $665k. If you will only get $620k on sale, deduct 25% and you have your highest offer at $465k  ($465 + 33% = $618,450)

    If the renovation needs to be higher than 10% – say 15% or 20%, then you will add 5% or 10% respectively, to the 33 and 25 percentages to get your prices.

    Hope that helps

    Ian
    http://www.theblockblog.com
    Free Property Investment Information, Tools & Resources for Investors with a Sense of Humour.

    Profile photo of CatalystCatalyst
    Participant
    @catalyst
    Join Date: 2008
    Post Count: 1,404

    Hi,
    it really depends on the house itself. Is it structurally sound? There are so many variables that no-one knows.

    eg does the house need rewiring? Is the roof OK? Do the windows need replacing? Are the floorboards usable or need replacing? Do walls need moving/replacing?
    This could vary by many thousands.

    This is all before reno costs. A basic reno after that is not that expensive assuming you know where to source materials and are willing to use a bit of elbow grease.

    You really need to have a good idea of costs BEFORE you consider something like this.
    You need to do a cost analysis including all costs (including holding costs, buying costs etc) to work out whether it is financially viable.
    You can't just guess and "hope" to make money. .

    Profile photo of Mick CMick C
    Participant
    @shape
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 1,099

    It’s like me posting a picture of my car and asking you how much is it worth; without telling you the make, model, year, km etc..

    Regards
    Michael

    Mick C | Shape Home Loans
    http://www.shapehomeloans.com.au/
    Email Me | Phone Me

    Same Banks. Better Rates. Served With a Passion.

    Profile photo of homersydhomersyd
    Participant
    @homersyd
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 31
    Housing fanatic wrote:
    As you mentioned in the original post its dependant on what price you can get materials for etc. It also depends on how handy you are with tools. If you are keen to try, most things you can do by yourself ( Being in a trade and judging the intelligence of some trades ANYONE can do it). Stuff like decking is relatively simple, kitchens and cabinetry can be purchased from bunnings and ikea and is DIY. The NEW house above has bulkheads and recesses in the gyprock can be pricy as it means re plastering. House also has full floating timber floors throughout, miele appliances ( correct if wrong) new sliding doors and windows, doors, tiles, fixtures, painted roof etc etc. Basically it depends on how extensively you want to renovate.

    To save money polish existing floorboards ( if possible), do the landscaping/ yard work yourself, paint yourself, Paint sliding doors and window frames (again if possible), paint old doors but put new handles on them, Paint concrete to give it a new appearance. Give the impression that you have spent alot of money when it may not be the case.

    Judging by the house in the top photo you can do alot of work yourself just depends on how much spare time you have and how willing you are to do it. Building report is a must if your planning to buy and watch out for nasties like asbestos can be expensive to remove and dispose of. Being an electrician if you where to install downlight like the NEW house 9 times out of 10 it will be mandatory to do a switchboard upgrade, same goes for power upgrades. ( There is a split system installed so may have already been done). Basically watch out for hidden costs and roll up your sleeves and get dirty to avoid paying too much. hope that helps

    Cheers Paul

    Thanks for the reply @Housing fanatic, I should’ve mentioned in the OP that I know absolutely nothing about renos (never even used a drill in my life). So I was actually thinking to get someone in to do it all for me (not sure how cost effective this is tho…).

    You said the NEW house has bulkheads and recesses in the gyprock? Is this really serious/costly to fix?

    The reason I post the old and new house is because I’m looking at those two properties, the new house costs about 150k more than the old – so I was trying to see if I can get the old house to look like the new under the 150k price difference.

    Profile photo of homersydhomersyd
    Participant
    @homersyd
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 31
    sapphire101 wrote:
    No one can tell you what this renovation will cost. A good renovation needs the costs to be worked out as exactly as possible otherwise you will blow your budget. Lucky for you this won't happen because you don't have a budget. :-)

    You need to go into the property with a seriously accurate checklist and note everything down that needs doing. (Exterior, Interior, Landscape back and front). You then need to go to Bunnings and cost all the material. You also need to contact tradesmen to get costings on their work. You also need to work out your costs – build and pest inspection, (maybe separate electrical & plumbing inspection to be sure),purchase, stamp duty, lawyer, interest on loan for time of renovation and sale ( if you're selling). Add a contingency fund for unexpected costs.

    See renovations here for some help.

    Once you have a budget of all costs you can decide whether this project is worth it. As a general rule the actual renovation cost should be about 10% of the purchase price. Once you add up all the other costs ( some listed above), this blows out to around 33% if the renovation only costs 10%.

    Add 33% to the purchase price. Can you sell the property for more than this amount? If so then it may be worth taking on.
    If not, find out what you can sell the fully renovated house for in today's market. It'll be less than the first figure and then deduct 25%. The new figure is the most you can pay for the joint.

    eg: Asking price $500k + 33% = Lowest sell price $665k. If you will only get $620k on sale, deduct 25% and you have your highest offer at $465k  ($465 + 33% = $618,450)

    If the renovation needs to be higher than 10% – say 15% or 20%, then you will add 5% or 10% respectively, to the 33 and 25 percentages to get your prices.

    Hope that helps

    Ian
    http://www.theblockblog.com
    Free Property Investment Information, Tools & Resources for Investors with a Sense of Humour.

    Thanks @sapphire101, it’s good to learn about the logic of calculating the offer price on a property that needs reno, thanks a lot! :)

    Profile photo of homersydhomersyd
    Participant
    @homersyd
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 31
    Shape wrote:
    It’s like me posting a picture of my car and asking you how much is it worth; without telling you the make, model, year, km etc..

    Regards
    Michael

    Thanks @shape, I know it’s a bit like what u said, I actually tried to find at some “before & after” reno examples on the web (with costs), but to no available, I have absolutely no clue on reno costs and not handy at all…

    Profile photo of homersydhomersyd
    Participant
    @homersyd
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 31
    Catalyst wrote:
    Hi,
    it really depends on the house itself. Is it structurally sound? There are so many variables that no-one knows.

    eg does the house need rewiring? Is the roof OK? Do the windows need replacing? Are the floorboards usable or need replacing? Do walls need moving/replacing?
    This could vary by many thousands.

    This is all before reno costs. A basic reno after that is not that expensive assuming you know where to source materials and are willing to use a bit of elbow grease.

    You really need to have a good idea of costs BEFORE you consider something like this.
    You need to do a cost analysis including all costs (including holding costs, buying costs etc) to work out whether it is financially viable.
    You can't just guess and "hope" to make money. .

    Thanks @catalyst, you see this is the problem. I have no idea how to check for the things u mentioned:

    eg does the house need rewiring? Is the roof OK? Do the windows need replacing? Are the floorboards usable or need replacing? Do walls need moving/replacing?

    I mean is this what the building inspectors will tell me? Or do I have to get another “expert” to do this?

    Profile photo of Mick CMick C
    Participant
    @shape
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 1,099

    You know you can arrange with the agent to have some of your builders/ tradesmen ( find them in the yellow pages) come out and quote for the job- before you sign the contract. That way you have a fixed quote for that EXACT job.

    Regards
    Michael

    Mick C | Shape Home Loans
    http://www.shapehomeloans.com.au/
    Email Me | Phone Me

    Same Banks. Better Rates. Served With a Passion.

    Profile photo of sapphire101sapphire101
    Participant
    @sapphire101
    Join Date: 2006
    Post Count: 203

    Before you put in an offer you need to know what you are up for in costs.
    This means spending some money on inspections as well as costing up all materials, labour, time etc. Dont scrimp on the building inspection either. Hire a reputable company and specify your areas of concern to them in person. Also accompany the inspector on the job and takes notes of everything he is saying. This may help you decipher the final report with much more confidence. The inspector may be able to give you ball park figures of costs to correct problems and if a competent inspection, then you should receive a separate sheet with all these figures written down.

    If you feel you need more detailed analysis, then engage an electrician and a plumber to go through the house specifically for those areas.

    Ian
    http://www.theblockblog.com
    Free Property Investment Information, Tools & Resources for Investors with a Sense of Humour.

    Profile photo of homersydhomersyd
    Participant
    @homersyd
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 31
    Shape wrote:
    You know you can arrange with the agent to have some of your builders/ tradesmen ( find them in the yellow pages) come out and quote for the job- before you sign the contract. That way you have a fixed quote for that EXACT job.

    Regards
    Michael

    This is a good idea, thanks. Didnt think about that…now this may sound dumb (again…) but:
    1. When you find them on yellow pages/internet, what’s the keyword do I look for? ie. Do I simply “google” builders/tradesmen? Are “builders” simply like project managers who have an overall knowledge about renos and manages the “tradesmen” who are the ones doing the actual work?
    2. Do they charge to provide a quote?

    Thanks

Viewing 16 posts - 1 through 16 (of 16 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic. If you don't have an account, you can register here.