Adding value to house

Hey all

I recently bought a house in Canberra in the rather central suburb of Aranda which is expected to do quite well over the next decade relative to other areas.

Anyway, I am looking at ways to improve the value (gain equity) of the house over the next couple of years while I live in it before moving back to Sydney when I guess I will rent it out.

It is a flat roofed, four bedroom (all with built ins) house with two bathrooms all are on the smaller side of things on floor boards. The house is located on the building line at the front, is square to the block and has a decent, usable back yard.

It has a single (very high) carport, single lounge room, decent sized kitchen in good condition but dated and a meals/dining area

Things I am looking at doing include:

1. Renovating both bathrooms
2. Building a two car garage (brick) and widening the frontage with new driveway
3. Renoavting the kitchen, incorporating the laundry into one large space
4. Pulling up the cork flooring in the kicthen and carpet in the living areas and bedroom and polishing/sanding the wooden floors
5. Replacing majority of glass with double glazed glass as some is quite thin and dangerous to small children
6. Landscaping the front

There are a few other bits and pieces such as reloacting internal stud walls, new plastering, new and rear doors.

I understand there is a significant amount of money involved in these items but I can do quite a lot of this myself, have family members experienced in most areas and will spread the work over 2 years or so.

I guess I would like to hear from those who have done these sort of renos, what it cost them in time and materials/labour. Where the biggest benefits were. Problems encountered, pitfalls, issues with tradesmen, lessons learned etc

Thanks for your time

cheers

James

Please dont take offence - you're asking the age old question with the answer being- how long is a piece of string?

Lots of variables, finishes, quality & pricing.

If you have 2 years, why not live in it for 6 months, get quotes, check out options and go from there. If it was a buy, reno sell or rent type project I'd have different answers

Yeh, thats quite a big ask. But on the upside Aranda is a great suburb I reckon, and will be a standout performer in a town of very good performers.

Try and knock over some of the simple things first.

Get a good plan together. Budget, Costs, Design etc

I tend to think outside stuff is good, because it gets potential buyers down the track interested.

Then work on the bigger construction type stuff. Walls removed, gyprocking, wiring, plumbing.

Then the big ticket items. Kitchens, Bathrooms, WIR's etc

Finish off with the money shot - painting and timber floors. Notwithstanding my area of expertise I would consider paying a decent painter to do the job - of all the places I have been I think Canberra has the highest rate of disproportion between ambition and ability when it comes to DYI'ers. And the one area that really stands out to me is the final painting.

Cheers and Best of Luck

costs etc

I'm no veteren reno'r, and I guess I can only give my experience (limited!) to your costs, but here goes, and hope it helps a little.

COMMENTS

1. Renovating both bathrooms
(keep it simple, buy cheap fittings on ebay, have professionally installed (if only straight replacement $6-$8K each - incl tiling)

2. Building a two car garage (brick) and widening the frontage with new driveway
(depends on cost to you as to whether worth it - also what does the other houses in your area have - don't know cost - guess only $10K)

3. Renoavting the kitchen, incorporating the laundry into one large space
(we did an IKEA kitchen for $5K - plus my chippy time to fit $500. Great kitchen, plus appliances of course.)

4. Pulling up the cork flooring in the kicthen and carpet in the living areas and bedroom and polishing/sanding the wooden floors
(low cost I'm sure, just a crappy job to do - but will look much much better)

5. Replacing majority of glass with double glazed glass as some is quite thin and dangerous to small children
(up to you, no value added tho)

6. Landscaping the front
(Def, and the back too if I were you, a $2K deck always adds good value)


There are a few other bits and pieces such as reloacting internal stud walls, new plastering, new and rear doors.
(These are all EXPENSIVE things, you list them as little matters, depends on your quotes)

I understand there is a significant amount of money involved in these items but I can do quite a lot of this myself, have family members experienced in most areas and will spread the work over 2 years or so.
(This helps, but a crappy way to live IMO)

GOOD LUCK!!