First Reno - be gentle with me!

Hi,

Our reno is finally coming to an end. We've been held up a lot with the floors being polishished because of the fear of asbestos (which came back clear). The final coat finally went on today and from all reports they came up really well.

We have a cleaner going through in the morning and a guy tidying the garden today. There's an open house (for rent) tomorrow at 12:00. The only problem is that there are a few finishing off bits to be done which wont be done until after tomorrow - lay some vinyl in a back room, install a laundry bench top and door handle, hang a curtain, all of which were delayed because we couldn't walk on the floor. I'm really frustrated that people may be going through before it's totally finished which got me thinking...

I know people say to advertise before completion so there's a better chance of getting someone in as soon as it's finished, but do you mind having people come through before it's done? We've had it up for a week, but the online photos don't do it justice because there's very limited pics due to a delay in doing floorboards. (I know I'm a bit OCD:D) My fear is that now the listing is a week old and people won't click on it because it's lost the punch that a new listing gets - obviously we'll change the main photo.

We had a guy ready to come in on Tuesday but we had to put him off because he couldn't walk on the floors - I don't want to delay him again. I think next time I'll just wait until it's totally finished and then advertise.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

BTW - I'll upload before and after pics and costings on the weekend!
 
Finally, here's the before and after shots as promised...

Dining before: http://somersoft.com/forums/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=5103&title=dining-before&cat=500

dining after: http://somersoft.com/forums/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=5100&title=dining-after&cat=500

Lounge before: http://somersoft.com/forums/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=5072&title=wagga-before&cat=500

Lounge after: http://somersoft.com/forums/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=5097&title=lounge-after&cat=500

Kitchen before: http://somersoft.com/forums/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=5073&title=wagga-before&cat=500

Kitchen after...with lights not working :( http://somersoft.com/forums/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=5101&title=kitchen-after1&cat=500

Bathroom before: http://somersoft.com/forums/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=5104&title=bathroom-before&cat=500

Bathroom after: http://somersoft.com/forums/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=5098&title=bathroom-after&cat=500

Bed 2 before: http://somersoft.com/forums/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=5102&title=bed-2-before&cat=500

Bed 2 after: http://somersoft.com/forums/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=5099&title=bed-2-after&cat=500.

First inspection today and had 2 prospective groups of tenants through so that's encouraging. Will wait and see what the feedback is.

The rough numbers look like this:
Purchase price $220000
Buy costs: $7500
Reno & holding costs: $25000
Total Costs: approx $252500

Asking rent @ $350 per week / total cost = 7.2% yield
The new value (based on real-estate appraisals only, not formal valuations) is $300,000 - $315,000 giving an equitygain of somewhere around $47000-$62000 if accurate (excluding sale costs/ CTG etc.) These were done before floorboards and finishing touches were added, so I will be getting another RE appraisal done this week now that everything is complete.

Overall, I'm very happy with it as my first reno. Might have a breather now before I get into my next one :)
 
All Good

You should be able to link the photos once placed in the gallery to this thread

i.e.

Before

dining_before.jpg


and

After

dining_after.jpg
 
Hey the floor looks great really lifts the place, and congrats on a great result overall.

Just wondering if you are concerned with the floors being damaged by the tenant? I haven't had much luck with my timber floors, despite having clauses written into contracts etc they still get trashed.
 
Awesome job, well done!! Finishes look excellent.

Have you learnt a heap with this one? And did you learn where you can save money next time?

As for inspections/photos prior to finishing work, i think it depends on what work is left, if it'minor like a curtain in laundry not bad but if it's something substantial in a living area it may turn people off from the photos. Also depends on vacancy rates to i guess.
We had photos taken prior to the kitchen flashback tiles going on and a window replaced, for us looking at the ad online it really let it down, being a new kitchen with patchy wall and crap window. If you can talk to the real estate and photographer you could hide things or get photos redone asap after work is done.
 
Thanks guys,

Redwing, that's what I was trying to achieve... how'd you do that?? :eek:

The floors are cypress pine and I think it's just a clear polish (quite a few coats) and Jimlenno yes, I'm terrified that they'll be damaged, but I still think it was worth doing because it made such an impact. Hopefully they wont be too badly marked and if they get scuffed as time goes on we'll put another coat on them later.

Bob, What did I learn?? Where do I start! I learnt every stretch of the hume highway pretty well, and that getting home at 3:30am and getting up at 6 for work isn't the brightest of ideas!:eek::eek:

Seriously, It was a huge learning curve, the biggest thing was probably just how long it took to do all the little bits, and how many extra things there are to do in a 60 year old house... Straightening walls, patching and matching plaster, removing asbestos, rooms that aren't square and just how long it takes to paint the fiddly (but beautiful) cornices! The other thing was how much I spent on incidentials like no-more gaps, paint rollers, as well as fuel and food from travelling up and back so much - I added nearly 10000km on the car over the 10 week period so it got me thinking how much more it would cost to pay someone to do the painting and bits instead of going out and back so much. Next time I will consider just going for a few weeks rather than travelling back and forth, although that wasn't possible this time round. That brings me to the the other thing I mentioned a few weeks back, which was how hard it is to be away from the kids - from someone who has the luxury of not being away much, I found that tougher than I thought I would, but hopefully it will be worth it in the long run.
 
Tranquilo,
Just received the invoice, it stated 1 coat rapid seal, 1 coat gloss polurathane, 1 semi polurethane.... whatever that means!:rolleyes:
 
I just thought I'd mention that we have a tenant signed up for $350/week on a 12 month lease, starting Thursday. She was the first one through on the first open, but the agent said she sold her house for her and it was spotless, so hopefully she looks after ours, too! That works out at 7.2% so, while not a huge yield, I'm happy with that for (hopefully) the right tenant!
 
Kitchen pantry door

Hi Allgood,

Just wondering why the pantry in the kitchen is facing an unconventional way? It looks as though you have to walk around to open the pantry door.
 
Sorry Tristan, just going through old threads and realised I hadn't answered you. The only reason is that it was already there and not in bad nick. I thought about either removing and replacing it or adding another one somewhere but in the end this was the easier option! Also the bulkhead and the way the kitchen finished at that corner made it a little tricky.

Probably bloody annoying when the tenant's cooking up a storm!:D
 
Fantastic outcome Allgood.

You have done a wonderful job, focussed on the important things and also not cut corners. I think you will reap the rewards for some time. Have a well earned cuppa and a rest!
 
Good work Allgood. Will be doing something similar myself soon. Amazed how much you got done in such a short period of time. Certainly looks quality.

Can't help thinking that I like the polyurethane finish better than the tung oil. Used poly in the flat that I renovated and it still looks great 8 years later - even with 4 years of tenants.
 
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