Beginners Reno Advice

S

sonic

Hey guys,

I'm considering doing a really basic reno for a unit I just bought, I have no idea about renos and was wondering if I could get some advice...

Its a tiny one bedroom 34sqm and I'm thinking about putting in a new kitch and bathroom. Its got wooden floorboards and I was thinking about polishing them.

Does anyone know of some good beginers reno resources on the internet or better yet a good book on renos I can buy? I have a look around for a bit and I haven't been any to find anything with good material.

I've also talked to some people who have done renos, they think I can prob get it all done under $15K, does this sound reasonable?

The difficulty I"m probably going to have is getting reliable tradespeople. For the people who have done this before are there any words of wisdom when it comes to arranging this? I'm based in Sydney the unit is in the eastern suburbs does anyone know good tradespeople who would do jobs out there that they could recommend?

Thanks in advance!
 
Hi Sonic
What do you want to do with it? Keep it? sell It?
I am not sure about your side of town but generally rents are pretty strong at ATM. Do you really want to do a full reno when you probably can get away with a "slap nad tickle"? I would only do what is required to get a good rent. If you did this you would not need to use trades folk.
Simon
 
Hey Simon

Whats a NAD tickle ??????? :O) Is its a Simon and Julie Special reno technique.......

Are you going to tell us at the SIG talk ?

ta
rolf
 
simonjulie said:
Hi Sonic
What do you want to do with it? Keep it? sell It?
I am not sure about your side of town but generally rents are pretty strong at ATM. Do you really want to do a full reno when you probably can get away with a "slap nad tickle"? I would only do what is required to get a good rent. If you did this you would not need to use trades folk.
Simon
Click to expand...

I'm renovating with the goal to improve the rent. CUrrently its rentingfor $150 a week I can prob get $180 if get a new tenant.

However I"ve been watching the rents and one in the same building renovated for $240 VERY quickly when it was put on the market. I figure if I can get $50 a week rental increase thats $2500 p.a. extra rental. If I spend $15K on reno the rent is higher than the reno interest anyway and I can depreciate the reno.

But the big goal is to try and increase equity I bought about $20K below market (I got an RPdata report in that building and two sold last year on higher levels for $20K more) so I"m hoping I can get more equity when I do a reval after renovating.

I think it was a pretty good reno though morethan a "slap nad tickle" :p
 
simonjulie said:
Hi Sonic
34 square metres is not very big. Will have trouble refinancing under 50square metres?
Simon
Click to expand...

I only buy small units since i"m in Sydney and thats all I can afford! I have no trouble getting finance with Colonial as they don't care about below 41sqm as long as you have 20% deposit.

If I already have the loan with Colonial, I'm assuming after reno and getting a new valuation with the SAME bank i.e. Colonial I should have no probs as long as the valuation comes in OK.

Or is this a bad assumption to make and revals are harder even with the same bank for small units even if I already have a loan with them? :)

Tim
 
Hi Tim
Sorry, I did not mean to alarm you. I am just curious about that size property and finance as in the past there were some concerns by major lenders in that regard.
Rolf will know:)
Simon
 
simonjulie said:
Hi Tim
Sorry, I did not mean to alarm you. I am just curious about that size property and finance as in the past there were some concerns by major lenders in that regard.
Rolf will know:)
Simon
Click to expand...

No worries thanks for the heads up. I found out a while ago when I got rejected from most banks with financing units below 41sqm.

For those interested I found from experience that Colonial generally don't even look at the unit aslong as you have 20%. St george can lend you up to 90% but with mortgage insurance...
 
For a cheap kitchen, my father does this, but I plan to do the same for my unit when it becomes vacant. Measure up the kitchen and take photos etc, you can then take it to a cabinet maker and they build everything and deliver onsite, and it just needs to be unboxed and put together. It is VERY cheap compared to what you would pay someone to do it, he did a full kitchen in a 2 bedroom unit for around 2K (from memory)

My dad is a teacher by trade, so he isn't an expert or anything.

The place he uses is in Caringbah in the industrial estate. So if you're willing to make a trip out here I will pass on the details.

Regards,

Luke
 
FrankGrimes said:
For a cheap kitchen, my father does this, but I plan to do the same for my unit when it becomes vacant. Measure up the kitchen and take photos etc, you can then take it to a cabinet maker and they build everything and deliver onsite, and it just needs to be unboxed and put together. It is VERY cheap compared to what you would pay someone to do it, he did a full kitchen in a 2 bedroom unit for around 2K (from memory)

My dad is a teacher by trade, so he isn't an expert or anything.

The place he uses is in Caringbah in the industrial estate. So if you're willing to make a trip out here I will pass on the details.

Regards,

Luke
Click to expand...

Hi Luke thanks for the tip very useful for someone like me I'm VERY uncoordinated. Could I ask you to PM me the person he used to build it? Thanks...
 
Ok they're called Barry's Kitchens and their number is 9525 6555, don't know their address though. They are located near Caringbah McDonalds/Coles, not near the industrial area. Dad also said the cabinets come fully assembled, it's just a matter of making sure the floor is level and screwing them into the wall. They also do all the measuring if you are not confident doing so.

His Kitchen for his unit in Wollongong cost $2200 inc Delivery. He said the hardest thing is the sink, you need to cut a hole in the bench and get a plumber to hook it all up. But said it will only cost about $200 or so for the plumber. Sinks are decent and cheap at Bunnings.

Regards

Luke
 
Not to sure if this is near you, or what there work is like, but I found there website somewhere before and saved the link, was going to ask them for a price to ship a kitchen to Perth to compare against prices here, they seem very reasonably priced.
 
Ah, Todd, Paradise Kitchens. We have used them a few times now with good results. Will use them again on the next reno.

For a small kitchen for a unit/small house you will pay between $1500-$2000 which includes granite bench-top. The units are already assembled you just pick them up, or you can arrange for them to be delivered. The bench-top will need to be installed by a contractor & the last we did cost about $400. They also have sinks/taps/stoves/rangehoods etc all at reasonable prices. We have used antique white doors with speckled grey bench-tops & they look fantastic.:D
 
skater said:
Ah, Todd, Paradise Kitchens.
Click to expand...
I bought one of their ceramic bowl vanity units a couple of years ago and it looks and works fabulously. Very happy with it. I managed to purchase it, along with all other bathroom fittings for the total price that I would normally pay for an acryllic bowl vanity from a hardware. Am certainly going to get them to price kitchen in next IP reno.
 
Bathroom reno

I'm looking at a unit reno myself which will need a complete new bathroom as well as Kitchen. Can any one give me an idea of ball park costs of renewing the bathroom in a unit. It presently has Bath - sink- toilet, Seperate shower needs replaicing and whole bathroom retiled and waterproofed. Any recommendations on suppliers or tradies for this?

http://www.somersoft.com/forums/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1618&limit=recent

Thanks
Greg
 
Last edited:
Cripes all mighty $1500 - $2000 is there a Paradise Kitchens or similar in Melbourne. does anyone know of a similar kitchen maker in Melbourne (ie have it built off site & del & my guy install????)
 
celica said:
Cripes all mighty $1500 - $2000 is there a Paradise Kitchens or similar in Melbourne. does anyone know of a similar kitchen maker in Melbourne (ie have it built off site & del & my guy install????)
Click to expand...

I'd love to know too! Can anyone in Melbourne recommend a similar kitchen maker??

Thanks!

Cheers,
Jen
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Recommend me reno sparky/builder in GC
Replies
0
Views
761
Devgcl
D
jodes92
Reno cost advice?
Replies
2
Views
1K
bob shovel
bob shovel
M
Engineer: star rating MUST increase during reno - true?
Replies
2
Views
751
mcarthur
M
T
average price for these reno
Replies
6
Views
2K
Rhinsor
R
T
The Next Project Reno
2 3
Replies
42
Views
8K
Tim86
T
Back
Top