How to pick good trades?
Finding the person to do the best job can be challenging. For successful renovation you need to start collecting good trades to be part of your team. You may know some already and that’s fantastic! However the vast majority of first time renovators won’t. You need to learn how to judge the trades and their quality of work.
On our renovation journey we’ve found some absolutely fantastic tradespeople (and a few not so good).
Here are some things we’ve learned:
Ask for referrals
Ask friends, family and neighbours if they know any good trades
Are they local?
Often it’s a lot easier to get quotes from locals as they can drop by between jobs to give you the quote and also carry out the work.
Can you talk to them easily and ask them questions?
Some trades like to keep all their knowledge a secret while others… Continue Reading…
How to get the bank to pay for your renovation?
This is the method that we use and it works well for us. However before using this method you should speak with your financial adviser, accountant, etc to completely understand how it works and suit your needs.
Here is how it works. You have a house, and have some equities in it. You go and see the bank and ask them can you borrow the money to the maximum LVR. This could be 80% to 95%. Yes I know, you need to pay mortgage insurance if you go above 80%, but work it out with your accountant, this may give you the additional funding you need to finish the task.
Let’s say, the house is worth $500k and you have a loan of $350k already. Your equity is $150k. If you borrow 80%, you can get $50k out, if… Continue Reading…
The cold hard facts about renovating and how to beat them
You’ve probably heard people telling you how much profit they’ve made from renovating and others who say it’s been a complete disaster.
Who’s right? Well, both can be right.
From our experience, renovating can be a steep learning experience (otherwise known as a minor disaster) and a huge success. If we hadn’t made some mistakes along the way we wouldn’t have learned and moved on to success.
However, there are a few hard facts that you need to know before you embark on your renovating project. These are things we’ve learned through experience and we’re still learning.
Purchase under market value
You may have heard the phrase “the profit is in the purchase” and this is so true! You need to know the market so well that you’ll know a bargain when you see it and specifically when it’s under market… Continue Reading…
Selecting and installing smoke alarms?
Smoke Alarm
The warning provided by smoke alarms has been responsible for saving thousands of lives and homes throughout the world. All of my properties have smoke alarm(s) installed and regularly tested.
So, how do they work?
There are two types of smoke alarms, these being ionisation and photo-electric, and each detect smoke differently.
Ionisation alarms use a small amount of radioactive material to ionise air in the sensing chamber. Under normal operation, the ionised air chamber becomes conductive. When smoke exists and enters into the chamber, the sensing chamber becomes less conductive and triggers the alarm.
Photo-electric smoke alarms use a light emitting diode and a light sensitive sensor in the sensing chamber. When smoke exists, the smoke particles block the light and trigger the alarm.
And which one should I use?
I did some research and according to the… Continue Reading…
How to have a brighter, lighter and more appealing home?
Adding more light not only makes a property look bigger, it makes the house more appealing and feel homey. Natural light is best but if you’re on a tight budget with limited time frame there are some simple solutions to create a lighter atmosphere. Start with the basics to see if these are enough and if not, you can work on the more complex ideas at the bottom of this article.
- Take down any curtains, raise blinds and open the doors to see how much natural light you have to work with and make an assessment.
- What colour and material is the flooring? Lighter coloured flooring in any material will make your property looks brighter. Lighter coloured wood or floating floorboards will reflect the most light.
- Are the ceilings dull and faded? Repaint with ceiling white for immediate brightness.
- Are the walls… Continue Reading…
