Victoria

Renovation Rescue – Day 8

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Now that things are on the home stretch and I have a maximum of 6 days left before I have to go back to the delights of my full time job, I’m starting to get a bit nervous about the amount of stuff I have left to do. Probably not so much that there is a lot, more so that what is remaining is fairly time consuming and not necessarily things that I have done before. Whilst I feel pretty confident with a paintbrush, screwdriver or garden shovel in my hand this week will test my skills with some fun activities planned for the remainder of the kitchen and bathroom!

Today though saw two exciting things happen in the property. First was the removal of the hideous brown veneer bench extension that sat between the kitchen and the lounge and secondly, the first of the new floor coverings was delivered and installed…a momentous occasion! From the day I saw the pictures of this place for sale on the internet I immediately disliked the bench extension. Not only was it dated, it looked out of place with the rest of the kitchen being both a different colour and a different height to the other benches (it felt like more of a breakfast table). The other thing was that I felt it made the place feel smaller (it’s small enough as it is) and anything to make it feel larger and more spacious I think is a good thing. So out it came in about 5 minutes. I was so thrilled once it was gone and you can see from the photos below that it instantly made a great difference in the space.

A quick clean of the floor (which was soon rendered pointless anyhow) and Errol the vinyl installer arrived ready to go. Initially it was discussed that when installing the vinyl they would simply go over the top of the old stuff but upon further inspection it was decided that it should go. Most of it was loose-layed anyhow so it was removed pretty easily. The preparation seemed to take the longest amount of time here and Errol was pretty busy for a good hour or two making sure the surface was prepped and ready to lay the new vinyl. The selection of the vinyl is something that I don’t think I’ll be certain about until I see the place completed at the end of this week. Initially I was eager to go for a wood look but was convinced otherwise by the flooring supplier to go for something that would not as clearly show any damage over the years, this design I was told is easier to repair if you have to and not be noticed rather than something with a distinct pattern in it. I took the advice and whilst I’m 90% happy with the end result I’m keeping the other 10% up my sleeve until the end of this week. The great thing was that there was also a lot of large off-cuts so I’ll be putting them to use later in the week. I’ve got to admit though, it mad a HUGE difference in the kitchen and once I paint around the kick-boards under the cupboards that’s pretty much all of the hideous brown skirting gone…hooray!

Tomorrow will be the last day we need to look at the stained floorboards.

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Renovation Rescue – Day 7

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It’s finally the half way point!

After one busy week I’m really pleased with the progress that has been made and the renovation is pretty much going to plan and is on schedule. Considering that it’s been 7 full days of 8am starts and 5pm finishes (just like being at work really) I thought that to keep myself motivated and to top up my energy I needed to take a short break. Finishing up early at 3pm yesterday I got in the car and headed back to Melbourne for a night in my own bed and a glass or two of wine. Waking up refreshed it was a good opportunity to do some shopping in the big smoke prior to heading back to the property so off I went to Ikea. After and hour or two out I walked with armfuls of purchases including curtain rods, roller blinds, towel rails and some other great (and inexpensive) bits and pieces. The other thing I did prior to heading back to the reno was to raid our garden at home in preparation for planting out the gardens beds at the property.

It’s great to have a well maintained garden but in a rental property you have to be fortunate to get a tenant that is eager to look after a garden, so if you can include greenery but also low maintenance then it’s win-win. We have a garden full of agapanthus at our home that I was eager to get rid of and they were still very healthy…problem solved. These would be perfect to split up and plant out in the garden beds at the property. They’ll fill out the garden beds, keep the weeds down, survive dry environments and require minimal care. Within a short time not only did I have my Ikea purchases but also a car full of plants and along the freeway I went back to the property!

Although it was only a short break away I felt refreshed and was eager to get back to the work. Once back it was time to dig up the smaller of the garden beds and get some of the plants in. Instantly the outside of the place looked much better. Although wilted at the moment, I’m sure the plants will take off after a good drink of water and fill out well. I can’t wait to also plant out the larger garden bed (maybe in a few days time). As you’ll see in the pictures I also installed some sheer blinds in the new veranda window, thanks Ikea, they are just what I was after! 

Tomorrow I’ll be removing something from the property that I’ve hated from day one…

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Renovation Rescue – Day 6

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Day 6 of the renovation was shaping up to be a big one from the beginning. I overlooked mentioning yesterday that I decided to put the carpet up for sale online and actually had a bite. Unfortunately I had only pulled up the carpet in the bedroom so still had the lounge carpet to tear up. As an interlude before I continue, it reminded me of this video…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJGksvSzXzs

At 8:30 am I had a call from the purchaser and I still hadn’t torn it up so within about 3 minutes it was pulled up, rolled up and out the front of the house just as the man was walking down the driveway…phew! $20 and 10 minutes later he was driving off with a truck full of 30 year old carpet, there’s obviously a buyer for everything out there.

Today’s other major activity was to have the front windows on the veranda replaced. Although a somewhat unusual arrangement (and probably not original) this glassed in area creates a nice entrance to the house and somewhat of a small sun room at the front. It’s also consistent with all of the other units in the block. Unfortunately although the glass was ok the frame had seen better days and was ready to fall out (check out the photos to see how bad it was). A new window had been measured and ordered a few weeks prior so it was timed to be installed whilst all of the works were being completed. Fortunately the installers were right into it and in no time the old window was out. I gave them a hand to put the new window in (like I know what I’m doing) and they finished it off nicely with some neat flashing around the framework. Whilst I was initially unsure about having this replaced (I thought we’d just get rid of it completely) I’m glad that we did as it looks really good and gives the impression of an additional space attached to the unit. It’s also good as the winters here get pretty cold. I still have a few finishing touches to do here which I’ll complete over the next week and will finish it off nicely.

Finally, it was a really pleasant surprise to get a visit from my long-time friend Ryan who is a much more accomplished renovator than I am (check out he’s work here…yes, I’ve pinched his blogging idea). I greatly appreciated his encouragement and I cannot wait for him to see the finished product next week. The picture of us below shows us highlighting the mystery stains all over the internal brick wall…we have some theories but it may forever remain a mystery.

Tomorrow it’s time to finally put my green thumb to work!

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Renovation Rescue – Day 5

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One thing that I think can really date a place and make it look old and tired are the light fittings. This place had a far from delightful selection including the kitchen fluorescent light that I think looked more suited to a garage, a range of batten fixtures that were starting to disintegrate when you took the globes out and a ceiling fan in the lounge that you could possibly date by cutting it in half and counting the layers of dirt that had built up each year. The other thing that you will notice in older places is that they are not designed for the 21st century lifestyle that constantly needs somewhere to plug in and recharge. The two individual power outlets in the lounge I think will struggle once you need to plug in the phone, laptop, tv, dvd player, PlayStation, lamp, heater, vacuum cleaner, personal foot spa etc, etc. So additional power points are a necessity. A knock on the front door at 8:30 am and in walks my new best friend for the day, Grant the electrician. Within about 10 minutes he had converted the majority of single power points to double outlets instantly improving the ability to power-up once you walk in the front door. Then up the ladder he goes to replace the kitchen fluorescent with a more modern and less intrusive kitchen light. 10 minutes later he’s removed the ceiling fan and is working on removing the wall control for it which is approximately the size of a small European car. A few replacement batten fixtures and he’s finished. Although batten fixtures themselves are not design features, I do like them in an investment property as they give you the flexibility to add whatever addition you like as far as light shades and fixtures go. There is an increasing amount of DIY fitting for batten fixtures and it gives you the option to easily update the look in the future as tastes change.

Whilst this was all going on and my offer to hold the ladder steady for the electrician was politely turned down, I got on with removing the tiles from the kitchen splash-back in preparation for a great new look next week. Fortunately the tiles were either put on in a hurry by a very lazy tiler or age had just worked its magic, as most of them came off easily with some gentle encouragement of just a few choice words. Tiles removed and electrician farewelled, I had a mirror awaiting installation in the bedroom that I purchased the other day. Now one thing I’ve started to notice is that in older places things often shift over the years and things are not always as square as they once were. I noticed this when taking the measurements to place the mirror in the correct position in the bedroom. Once I realised it wasn’t meant to go on the ceiling I installed it above the dresser and I think it looks a great improvement on the original (and smaller one) that was there.

At the end of some days I like to get a taste of what I have planned for the following day. Bedroom almost finished, tomorrow I need to start washing the walls and ceiling in the lounge so I thought I’d do a test patch. With the former owner being a pipe smoker I knew it would be noticeable but wow, I ‘m considering tomorrow bringing along the high pressure hose and just going nuts…if only the floor had drainage holes.

In tomorrow’s exciting installment we’ll see if I can get some poor sod to part with their hard earned money in order to buy 20 square metres of 30 year old carpet!

 

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Renovation Rescue Project – Let’s start!

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So after quite an absence from the blog I’m making a return in a big way for the next few weeks. The last month or two has been busy with the purchase of another property which is ripe for a cosmetic renovation. The one bedroom unit is very basic but has not been lived in for a number of years. Financially it was a great buy and ticks all of the boxes as a promising investment with potentially a good return from rental income as well as being able to manufacture some capital growth with a make-over. I’ll leave the numbers until we’ve completed the renovation and hopefully you’ll see that it’s been worth the effort.

The property is situated within walking distance to supermarkets, pharmacies and take-away food shops as well as very good schools and public transport. It’s situated in a small complex with 3 other units which are well maintained and also have long-term tenants in place. With a bit of hard work I’m confident that this property will scrub up well and prove itself to be a great home. Whilst many investors like to be ‘hands off’ and couldn’t think of anything worse than having to get in and do work themselves (and that’s perfectly ok), I’m really excited about this project as I enjoy seeing what can be achieved with not much money but a good amount of effort!

Let’s take a look through the property at settlement.

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Tune in tomorrow to see what happens when my green thumb get’s a bit out of control!

Invest in some political history.

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art-gillard-620x349mainIn early August I published a post about our former Prime Minister Julia Gillard snapping up some new multi-million dollar digs in South Australia. Not surprisingly a few months later we hear that the PM’s former house in suburban Altona is now on the market. Our first female PM purchased her modest Altona home for $140,000 and now it’s expected to sell in excess of $600,000. Not surprisingly the internet listing has had a huge amount of hits with thousands logging on to have a look. The first open for inspections are occurring this weekend with the Auction scheduled for Saturday December 14th. So dust off your empty fruit bowl and get the cheque book ready, Julia and Tim’s love nest could be yours if the price is right!

You can also view the DOMAIN Video by clicking here.

Rental affordability

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An interesting article was posted today in The Age regarding information that was recently made available by the Department of Human Services in Victoria looking at rental housing affordability. The article highlights that the figures indicate that rental affordability in what have been traditionally cheaper areas has decreased, particularly over the last 5 years or so. It is interesting to see that rental affordability is stated as constituting no more than 30 per cent of a weekly welfare payment. A few comments are raised regarding the difference between affordability in metropolitan and regional areas as well as some of the perceived influences over why this affordability is decreasing. I’d recommend having a read over the article to have a look at some of the comments people are making, I can’t say I agree with them all but always interesting to hear perspectives other than your own. If you would like to see the rental affordability for other areas in Victoria click on the image below to go to the interactive table where you can select individual municipalities.

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