Hooray finished at last!

[sparky23]

Finally after what seems like weeks of hard labour we have finished off the outside landscaping for the duplex at Haywards Bay! I now have huge muscles after helping hubby move 30 tons of soil, lay 1600 pavers, put down 150 sqm turf and 9 cubic metres bark chips, not to mention the tons of sand and metal dust. Oh and the 200 plants and trees I planted! We are very happy with the results even though we felt that there were more delays than we would have liked, costs came in around $650,000 and we should come out with $800,000.

The finished articles can be seen at: http://www.open2view.com.au/search/...ms]=0&search[price_from]=0&search[price_to]=0

 

[kph]

Congrats Sparky.
Bet you are glad to see the back of it.
Have to ask the rude question..... was it worth it ?
I mean $800k return on a cost of $650k
And can you replicate that again in the curent market.

kp

 

[kissfan]

Nice job Sparky.

You deserve any rewards you get with the amount of toiling you have done.

Out of curiousity, there appears to be a fair bit of vacant land around your property (could be wrong, sometimes pics are misleading), are there plans for other houses to be built there soon?

Regards
Marty

 

[sparky23]

Hi guys

Yes definetly worth it!

Will be happy enough to pick up $150,000 assuming they sell of course in this strange economical climate, but I think NSW and this location in particular will make these easier to sell than WA - also those water and rural views are not location shots they are actual across the road shots which will never be built out. Black swans are living on there and lots of frogs according to all the croaking I was listening to when we were working across there! I think if we can make 20% that will be acceptable and as we put in 20% deposit there will be $250,000 to come back to us. We should make more on the next one as the townhouses will be a bit bigger, further along the same road and even closer to the wetland views. Definetly won't be happy to see the back of it as we were looking at $800 per week rent against the $550,000 loan which wouldn't have been too bad, sadly just taking out the equity isn't enough since our circumstances changed. I feel because we did put so much work into it it is harder to part with, when I was working full time with previous projects poor old hubby was handling most of the landscaping himself but this time I have done the bulk of the work.

The other thing going for this relatively new estate is that there will be no more than 450 homesites and they are developing boardwalks and so forth around Lake Illawarra, even a little beach, combined with 5 mins to regional airport, 10 mins from Wollongong CBD and around 1 1/4 hours drive to Sydney making it commutable all adds up to make it worth consideration. There are still some land releases to go so if anyone wants to check the estate out this is the link to the website: http://www.haywardsbay.com.au/ The new housing world display village is on-site and there are quite a few established houses now. Shops and a petrol station are coming soon too.

Sales campaign and first home open will be next week so everything is crossed!

 

[asdf]

Congrats Sparky! Sure must feel like a tonne off your shoulders. Good luck with the Sales campaign. Still no bites out west I take it?

 

[kph]

Fingers crossed with the sales.

I guess if you can turnover one or more of these development a year then it beats working right ?

I agree with your sentiments re the WA market.
Right now it seems the only end of the market that is still kicking is the FHB end due to the stamp duty relief and the Govt shared equity scheme.

Otherwise its regionals and commercial atm.
Balance of resi seems pretty much like a dead duck

Kevin

 

[Tizzy]

Excellent outcome Sparks! Those views will get the buyers in.

 

[Rockstar]

We are very happy with the results even though we felt that there were more delays than we would have liked, costs came in around $650,000 and we should come out with $800,000.

Hi Sparky,

How did you account for the project. Was it done with or without gst? ie: was it for business or was it for investment with relation to tax?
How long did the project take?

Regards, Ian

 

[sparky23]

Hi guys

No luck with WA still, we had 2 sales, one for Yanchep and 1 for Rockingham but sadly neither purchasers could get finance so we are back to square one.

Without gst, it was meant to have been kept as an investment not sold, build time 208 days and a 12 month settlement for the land so whilst plans were drawn up and approved we saved on interest which was helpful. I would be happy to build one a year and take out the equity rather than sell but if things continue not to sell all of our equity will be eaten up. Has anyone in WA seen any change over the last week or so since the possibility of interest rates coming back down?

 

[kph]

No change in WA
The FHB market is going well by all accounts due to stamp duty relief and shared equity scheme.
Spoke to NicheLiving who reckon they are flat out selling.
Middle market (400k to 500k) is dead, and the top end has also stalled.
Lots of nervousness out there.
South West is dead.
Lots of agencies closing.
Just waiting for some developers and builders to start falling over next.
Unless they can hang on till the market gets a kick start later this year (fingers crossed!)

 

[sparky23]

Oh Poop!!!

 

[Enfield82]

No change in WA
Lots of nervousness out there.

You are so right there kph. I have had my villa in Mandurah on the market since Jan this year. We had 3 agents inspect and give appraisals ranging from 290 to 340k based on the last sale in the complex at 330k in 06. We listed at 320k as it seemed about the middle of the range and below the boom time price of the last sale. We have had no offers for 7 months and have gradually dropped the price 5k per month until we are now sitting at 280k.

1st offer came through last week for 180K that was from a prop. investment company that appear to be searching the market looking for desperate sellers. We counter offered at 250k which we thought was a screaming bargain but they walked away. We have now placed it up for rental in preparation for taking it off the market when the contract expires and intend waiting for a better time to sell but can't seem to get a tennant while there is a for sale sign on the front lawn.

On the upside we have been looking at some very affordable houses for our future plans that are much cheaper than when we began looking a year ago But any offer will be based on sale of the villa as we don't want to risk getting stung with bridging finance. It's really is a hard time to be selling here in WA.

 

[Rockstar]

We listed at 320k

We counter offered at 250k which we thought was a screaming bargain

Wow that's a big drop in expectations there! What would the place rent out for? Maybe you could take it off the market, get a long term tenant signed up and then sell it off to an investor.
I am doing this at the moment with my duplex.

 

[Enfield82]

Hi Rockstar. Yeah we thought if we have waited this long for an offer we would be realistic on the asking price just so we can get on with our lives and plans for the future. But it seems like we would have to just about give it away to sell at the moment which we are not prepared to do. The agents seem to think the area overshot with the expectations of the train line. Now they say it seems like a knee jerk reaction the other way and also at the moment there is so much choice that buyers can pick up a older house on a larger block for similar money with more potential for value adding than a strata villa. I liked it for the low maintenance which let me have more time for the great Mandurah lifestyle.

The prop. manager set the rent at 230 pw and we have a few weeks to go before the contract expires with the 2nd selling agent we tried. The property manager says that we will have a better chance of getting a tenant once the for sale sign is removed. Then we are hoping for a 12 month tenancy then try to sell again when things have returned to normal.

Good luck with your duplex.

 

[sparky23]

Hi Enfield

We have a townhouse in Mandurah aswell and haven't even tried to sell that one as we got lots of equity out when the market was booming and if we sold now we would have a shortfall of $30,000 or more so we are trying to hold on. We were renting for $275 per week and just got some new tenants in to take over the last lease but will be increasing to $295 per week when the lease expires in a month or two, are you sure that $230 is the best you can do for rent? Ours is only in First Avenue so its not as though its right in town - whereabouts is yours?

I think when all the white noise goes away the prices will come good again after all its a great place to live and invest - nothing changed there did it?