asbestos cladding - a bad investement??

[daniel cunningh]

Hey all,

Just in the process of trying to acquire my 3rd IP. I've had cold feet for ages about whether i should keep going down this path but i figure if overall they are cashflow neutral roughly then its hard to lose.

My question is this: I have a budget of 300K. The area in which i'm looking has 3 bedroom brick houses for about 280k (run down need new floor coverings, paint job, kitchen etc) but for a decent brick house in good nick and not requiring much work they are roughly 320-330K.

I've inspected a 3 bedroom asbestos clad house which i can pick up for 270k. The owner wants to rent back for $400.00/week and it has the potential to convert an area to a fourth bedroom. It is in good condition requiring no work.

My questions are

1/ am i better off spending more and getting brick?

2/ will the asbestos reduce potential for resale

3/ how much is it roughly to remove and reclad in weatherboard? is this even feasible?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Dan

 

[daniel cunningh]

sorry guys i know this is in the wrong section but not sure how to move it??

 

[Propertunity]

1/ am i better off spending more and getting brick?

It depends......and then if you buy brick, is it worth getting this rendered? Where do you stop?

2/ will the asbestos reduce potential for resale

Only a little, as some other purchasers have the same questions/doubts in their mind as you do. There is a differential now between fibro and brick homes - expect that to continue into the future until both structures are depreciated away and only the land component has any value. Then they'll be worth about the same.

Bear in mind that they were using asbestos (fibro) in houses up until approx 1990. That means you have to only buy homes less than 20 years old if you want to avoid it altogether.

3/ how much is it roughly to remove and reclad in weatherboard? is this even feasible?

It can be done - but why would you bother?

 

[Sez]

My understanding is if the asbestos isn't damaged then there isn't a safety issue? (someone please correct me if I'm wrong!) I would assume you would be getting a building inspection done to ensure everything is in good nick before going ahead with the purchase and typically a 4 bedroom house fetches more rent as long as you have left enough living space. . Sorry, I'm afraid I can't add much more than that!!

 

[daniel cunningh]

i just moved this post to the correct area in the 'property investment - other' section. Thanks for the replies guys and yes i will be getting a building inspection

 

[DaveM]

One advantage of brick is the lower external maintenance. Your $10k difference in purchase price will more than be paid back over time by not having the exterior painting costs over time.

 

[marg4000]

One advantage of brick is the lower external maintenance. Your $10k difference in purchase price will more than be paid back over time by not having the exterior painting costs over time.

Not sure this is still current thinking.

Every man and his dog is busily rendering and painting external brickwork.

How long before "face brick" is touted as a new trend?
Marg

 

[Cloudedhouse]

Not sure this is still current thinking.

Every man and his dog is busily rendering and painting external brickwork.

How long before "face brick" is touted as a new trend?
Marg

Hopefully not long Marg4000, otherwise my houses will be really uncool. (The other houses may even pick on them )

I refused to go down that rendering and painting path... after all the idea is to get good at this IP thing and work less... not more.

 

[vaughan]

I cannot understand why somebody would take a maintenance free face brick surface and convert it to one that needs maintenance every 5 to 10 years by painting it...

 

[Aaron_C]

Not sure this is still current thinking.

Every man and his dog is busily rendering and painting external brickwork.

How long before "face brick" is touted as a new trend?
Marg

The old Victorian terrace houses are mainly rendered and they're still very popular...so I don't think face brick will ever be 'in' over a prolonged period of time.

 

[Ed Barton]

isn't face brick the latest social media craze?

 

[Aaron_C]

isn't face brick the latest social media craze?

These days I see lots of townhouses with facebrick on the bottom, rendered on the top (To save money). Looks terrible in my opinion...

 

[Pa1nter]

Nothing wrong with fibre cladding in my opinion,unless you want to do renovations.

 

[vaughan]

Old Victorian terraces were rendered because they were not cavity brick walls and the render/paint is needed to stop moisture from moving laterally from the outside wall to the interior. The bricks were never meant to be seen and are often soft, so those places that have removed the render are not historically correct and are damaging their building at the same time.

The render was often scored to simulate large blocks, to hide the humble bricks beneath.

 

[petalop]

I wouldn't go to the expense of remoiving and recladding, when there is another option available for less than it would cost to do that work. If this is a long hold investment then tenants aren't going to be as fussy about whether the place is rendered or not. If you are planning to resell, then the asbestos may not only cost you money (it is cheaper in the first polace after all), but it may also take longer to sell as people ar likely to be asking the same questions you are. When in doubt, don't.

 

[.toe]

No probs with fibro cladding so long as it's in good condition and you wont have to remove any of it for a long while (during renos etc). One way to be double sure is to buy on blocks that are suitable for development, that way there may be an out with profit regardless of the cost of removal.

 

[wylie]

isn't face brick the latest social media craze?

I got it....