Adding Value to red brick home

[Imagine]

Hi Guys,

After Saturdays brekky I decided it might be time for another reno. The last time was almost 4 years ago and before I joined this forum.
The reason I want to do the reno is because I have just had the place revalued 4 weeks ago and the ANZ bank valuer came back with $395k. I bought the property Jun 2003 for $375k. I want a better result from the valuation to pull out more equity for my next prop purchases
The prop was original 70's reno delight red brick veneer with wrap around windows, 3 brm, 1 bathroom, 2 toilet, internal laundry, single carport, large shed taking up most backyard, no grass in backyard just concrete, a big shed and a big swimming pool surrounded by sides by bamboo. Have done the following so far (note all this was done before this current valuation):

Ripped up carpets replace with polished floor boards;
An extension of a living room 8m x 4m was done in the 80's had beautiful shag pile carpets, replaced with matching cyprus pine timber flooring;
Painted 4 years ago;
put in builtin robes to 3 brs
Replaced old large shed with small shed and put in child friendly area - pine bark with a swing set, got a fence put in around perimeter of child play area;
put in a huge deck 12m x 3.5m got my brother to do it so it only cost me material which was $3.5k;
got rid of all bamboo and went to flower power and spoke with a landscaping consultant who drew up a plan for the garden - cost only $95 and got a sketch with all the plants that would suite my yard. It has turned up quite good. My husband did the hard work himself. we only paid for plants and soil and kennards hire for the hoe;
This year we reno the toilet and laundry putting in a shower in the laundry;
replaced old 70's front door with modern new door this year;
front porch had old cement landing with crack, quite unattractive we got a tiler in to tile over that;

After all that the bank only comes up with $395k.

I would like to do the following things to add value:

New drive way;
replace single carport with double carport, get bricklayer to add front brick wall and instal single auto garage door;
rendor the red brick.

I have some before and after pics but don't know how to attach them as they are all big MB not KB, a suggestion how to convert these files from my digital camera to attach to this thread would also be greatly appreciated as would Your feedback on what would you renovate in this case, I do not want to over capitalise this reno. I have spoken to a real estate agent that has sold quite well in my area and he suggested the above works. If you were in my shoes would you do these renos? I know quite a few tradies so I have a fair idea of what things will cost. I will post the costs once I get my quotes back in writing.

I want to spend no more than $16k now.
Just roughly $5k for the rendor + paint (which I am not sure of the cost yet)+ painting (my husband will do it himself);
$5k for the double carport, includes the front brick wall at $850.00, about $1000 for remote single garage door;
Spoke with a client of mine who got a stenciled driveway done for $5k but told me that the guy could have done it for $4k (that seems like an absurd price but I've know her for 2 years shes recently got her house reno, got quite competive prices on tiling and kitchen etc.

Thanks for you time, hope to catch up with you guys again soon.

Patricia

 

[Able]

Maybe consider an option of just painting the brick. There are some premium properties in my area (middle North Shore) that have painted brick and would be worth around the $2m range. I have seen some very good cosmetic renos that involve repainting an older house in modern neutral colours.

Regards
Alistair

 

[JFisher]

Hi Patricia
For quite a few years in Mildura the red brick was 'in'. A common feature to accompany a red brick house was the rendered trim around all windows and a rendered band around the base. You could do this just across the facade of the building to save even more money. Of course there was some homes with the red brick that rendered the front. I will get some photo's and attach them to the site for you to get some ideas.

We recently had our conite home valued for the first time in 13 years. The valuer told us that the general street appeal of the home is taken into consideration as well as the usual walkthrough and inspection of fittings. So if there are any gardens/paths/verandahs that could be prettied up, or added, that will add character that may also be something to look into.

 

[Imagine]

Maybe consider an option of just painting the brick. There are some premium properties in my area (middle North Shore) that have painted brick and would be worth around the $2m range. I have seen some very good cosmetic renos that involve repainting an older house in modern neutral colours.

Regards
Alistair

Thanks Alistair the majority of the properties in my area are doing rendering so I do not want to be accused of cutting corners as much as I would love to save some money. I went along to Dulux and spoke with a guy and in the end it was cheaper to render than to paint using dulux to achieve a similar result. I have not actually looked into other brand names. If you can suggest some others that are a proven good product that would be appreciated. I am also following Karma so I do not want to do a bad job and have to pay for that later by using an inferior product.

thanks again for you input much appreciated

 

[Imagine]

Hi Patricia
For quite a few years in Mildura the red brick was 'in'. A common feature to accompany a red brick house was the rendered trim around all windows and a rendered band around the base. You could do this just across the facade of the building to save even more money. Of course there was some homes with the red brick that rendered the front. I will get some photo's and attach them to the site for you to get some ideas.

We recently had our conite home valued for the first time in 13 years. The valuer told us that the general street appeal of the home is taken into consideration as well as the usual walkthrough and inspection of fittings. So if there are any gardens/paths/verandahs that could be prettied up, or added, that will add character that may also be something to look into.

Thanks for your reply JFisher we have prettied up the back yard but the front has 30 year old paths and driveway which has been lifted by a tree my neightbour owned and we paid to get rid of. So I will probably have to rip up and start again. It would be hard for you guys until I can post some photos then you can see what I mean.

thanks again

 

[lizzie]

we've moved into a fairly "flash" area (mil+ homes with ocean views), where there is a lot of knockdown and rebuild going on. i have noticed that a number of the very expensive looking homes that are going in have the bricks bagged and then painted, rather than renders. i don't assume these guys are cutting the corners but rather leading fashion, and they look really good, especially with a painted or oiled timber fence and soft planting.

 

[Aimjoy]

Imagine,

If you purchased in 2003 - that was the peak of the market in SYD. Since then, depending on where you are, the market has come off about 5% pa - so a loss of 10% on your purchase price just in market movement alone. Your reno at least recovered some of that + a bit - so you should not be too unhappy - but I'm in the same boat as you in that respect also. I spent $40K on a reno to have the property go up by $45K in value...which was a bit dissapointing.

Also in my expierence, and I've done a few stencilled driveways for convenience more than a value-add, but $5K on a driveway will not (at least where I live) translate into a $10K increase in value (or $5K increase for that matter).

Remember that for each reno $1 that you spend you should be looking for $1.50 or $2 increase in value - or its not worth doing.

Just MHO.

Aimy

 

[sailor]

Remember that for each reno $1 that you spend you should be looking for $1.50 or $2 increase in value - or its not worth doing.

Just MHO.

Aimy

Thanks for these figures...I've been wondering what a good benchmark might be.