Home with granny flat

[Propertunity]

What about electricity - i'm assuming most houses and g flats would be on the same meter. Does the owner usually pay this and include approximate electricity costs in the rents?

Yes, you can do that....or if the property lends itself you can put in a sep. meter for about $1,500 (I think thats what I used to pay).

Rather than bore everyone we discussed all this ad infinitum over on this thread:
http://www.somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54591

 

[Karonjulie]

Granny Flat

Hey everyone,

Hope all is going well.

Looking to buy my 2nd IP in the next 3 or so months and have just started looking around. I am looking for a house with a granny flat to maximise income. Is there anywhere that I can search specificaly for houses for sale with granny flats?

Thanks in advance!

Hi

We are selling a property with a granny flat if you are interested?

 

[stinadaze]

Ahhh, a man (I presume) after my own heart

You can do a keyword search on listings on domain.com.au but you have to engage the map seach first. (realestate.com.au is useless for this kind of searching)

Keywords like: granny, in-law accommodation, teenage retreat, studio, dual

BUT be warned, many of the bigger REAs do not like putting these words into their adverts so you have little choise but to do the hard slog or hire a BA to do it for you .

Congrats on looking for #2

about to start looking for IP 2 but I must be going blind cause i cannot find this option!!! help

can anyone please shed some light!!

thanks

 

[Propertunity]

.... I must be going blind cause i cannot find this option!!!

Yeah, it disappears on me from time to time too - I find it easier to save it as a search once I find it and then modify the search from time to time leaving the same keywords in place.

You need to do the map search first....and only then will the 'keyword' field appear on the 2nd screen.

 

[bene313]

Many (read 'most') are not council approved and they do not want to be in a position where they said 'granny flat' when in reality it is approved as a 'rumpus room' or something else altogether.

AFAIK - Title insurance covers your costs of rectifiying unapproved structures on the property (existing at the time of settlement of which you were unaware of) if you happen to come under council scrutiny.

Just make sure you were unaware of the 'unapproved' status of the flat at the time of purchase.

 

[sydsider]

Is it possible to turn an illegal granny flat into a legal one? e.g. engaging a private certifier? I remember reading somewhere on the forum where this was done.

 

[Propertunity]

Is it possible to turn an illegal granny flat into a legal one? e.g. engaging a private certifier? I remember reading somewhere on the forum where this was done.

I am reliably informed that some private certifiers will not retrospectively certify an existing structure......but some will, as can be seen from virgo's post below.

However, be careful, as there is no guarantee that what is there as a structure would comply with set backs, floor m2 areas etc.

 

[virgo]

Unauthorised granny flat

Hiya

Hi Alan, did just that!

A few months ago i bought an IP in Greystanes with an unathorised granny flat which has been rented out by the ex owner for ages; the minute i bought it, neighbour complained to council; i promptly engaged a private certifier to look into this; he recommended some modifications re a fire wall for set back to side fence requirements....cost in in total about 5K but is now bringing in 230 per week in rent....and now i have a house plus an authorised granny flat should i want to sell in the future....how good is that??

 

[Propertunity]

Hi Alan, did just that!.... i promptly engaged a private certifier to look into this; ....and now i have a house plus an authorised granny flat should i want to sell in the future....how good is that??

That is really good Jen .

I will go back to my previous post and say that I was "un-reliably informed"......and this was by a private certifier himself . Maybe he was just being lazy that day.

 

[virgo]

Granny Flat

No worries Alan; you have to let me win sometimes!

 

[Propertunity]

No worries Alan; you have to let me win sometimes!

Is this the part where I say "I have trained you well" .....?

 

[virgo]

Granny Flats

Hiya Alan

You win!

BTW, know anyone who can do a reasonable granny flat in my backyard? Had a quote for a 2 bedder 69K plus GST 60 sqm?


jenn

 

[Propertunity]

BTW, know anyone who can do a reasonable granny flat in my backyard? Had a quote for a 2 bedder 69K plus GST 60 sqm?
jenn

That price does not seem to dissimilar from these guys:
http://www.grannyflatscentralcoast.com.au/ who are $67K inc GST for a 1brm.

Not a bad price Jenn. When are you starting construction?

 

[virgo]

granny flat

Hi Alan

The website looks good; will give Greg a call...have you personally used him or know anyone who has ??

Thinking of building end of this year..rental estimates 330-350 pw in my area.

thanks and i owe you one (or two??)

 

[neK]

Why wait? Do it now!

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Hiya

Hi Alan, did just that!

A few months ago i bought an IP in Greystanes with an unathorised granny flat which has been rented out by the ex owner for ages; the minute i bought it, neighbour complained to council; i promptly engaged a private certifier to look into this; he recommended some modifications re a fire wall for set back to side fence requirements....cost in in total about 5K but is now bringing in 230 per week in rent....and now i have a house plus an authorised granny flat should i want to sell in the future....how good is that??

Its a risk though isn't it when buying? Did you look into this when putting your offer in? Whether it was authorised or not? Glad it worked out well for you

What is your cashflow like? Sounds exciting

I'm thinking of buying a house with an existing granny flat rather than constructing a new flat. Might have to buy outside of WA though because of the law here. Would need to employ a buyers agent if buying interstate.

 

[Propertunity]

Might have to buy outside of WA though because of the law here.

It's probably not a bad idea buying out of state anyway to spread your risk around.

NSW has some of the best granny flat legislation going at the moment. Who knows for how much longer? We're probably up for a change of state goverment in NSW in March next year. (I am not expecting a change in attitude to granny flats - at least I hope not).

 

[virgo]

Granny Flat

Its a risk though isn't it when buying? Did you look into this when putting your offer in? Whether it was authorised or not? Glad it worked out well for you

What is your cashflow like? Sounds exciting

I'm thinking of buying a house with an existing granny flat rather than constructing a new flat. Might have to buy outside of WA though because of the law here. Would need to employ a buyers agent if buying interstate.

Hiya

I did check with the council before i bought it; their records were destroyed by fire many years ago; and they could not tell whether it was authorised or not!

My best advice to you if you are thinking along those lines is to contact a private certifier and for a small fee get them to come out and check whether it is likely to be approved under the new NSW granny flat rules...there has to be certain height requirements and boundary setbacks ...

As to my cash flow, i bought at 385K, cost about 5K to tidy up the granny flat and main house rented for 390; granny flat at 250...is that good?

 

[Propertunity]

As to my cash flow, i bought at 385K, cost about 5K to tidy up the granny flat and main house rented for 390; granny flat at 250...is that good?

8.5% yield - not too shabby there Virgo.

 

[james55]

Hiya

I did check with the council before i bought it; their records were destroyed by fire many years ago; and they could not tell whether it was authorised or not!

My best advice to you if you are thinking along those lines is to contact a private certifier and for a small fee get them to come out and check whether it is likely to be approved under the new NSW granny flat rules...there has to be certain height requirements and boundary setbacks ...

As to my cash flow, i bought at 385K, cost about 5K to tidy up the granny flat and main house rented for 390; granny flat at 250...is that good?

Hi Virgo,

I've just bought a similar property in Greystanes with a granny flat that is most likely unapproved. I haven't checked with the council yet as we've only had 5 days cooling off.

Do you know if they lost all records or only some in that fire?

Also which private certifier did you use? If you've he details that would really help.

I was thinking of purchasing title insurance from First Title who said that they will cover the costs of fixing/rebuilding the granny flat for council approval if we get an order from council. I've been quoted $509 for the known risk. It seems too good to be true though so I don't know if there will be any problems when you need to put through a claim?