Reno - before and after pics

[Sultan of Swing]

Hi All

I love reading other peoples posts on renos and seeing the ‘before and after’ shots so thought I’d contribute the same.

For the past couple of months a friend and I have been doing a reno on a unit. It had been on the market for a 3 – 4 months for 125k. I noticed it in early April and wondered why it was so cheap as it seemed like a steal.

I called the agent who was happy to show me through. When I got there he said, ‘Hold your nose when you go in!’ It STANK!! The unmistakable smell of urine, great! Well, I mentioned it to my better half and as we’d just bought a block of flats a month earlier, decided to let it go.

A friend of mine is also property mad and loves to get into a good reno. A few weeks later we got to talking about this unit again. I called the agent to see if it was still for sale.

To cut a long story short we ended up buying it between us and our spouses for 108.5k.

Each couple owned 50% as tenants in common. As my wife works part time we had our half divided up 49% in my wife’s name and 1% in my name. I could have had all 50% in wifey’s name but by having my name on the title gave me rights I needed be able to do things such as arrange finance, insurance, conveyancing etc.

As it was vacant and the seller in Sydney, I had a clause put in the contract as part of our offer to get keys to it and allow us full access from the time it became unconditional. This gave us 4 weeks before settlement to tidy gardens, get everything measured up we needed, and start painting. We had most of the external painting done by the time it settled and a trailer load of garden rubbish removed.

To be continued….

(now to work out how to add photos… )

 

[Sultan of Swing]

On the day of settlement (Thursday 17th June) we’d gutted the bathroom and kitchen and started the delightful job of pulling out urine soaked carpets out of the living room. I made about 4 trips to the tip on the Thursday and Friday. We also gutted the built in robes, the linen cupboard and replaced all the internal doors. By Friday night we’d had the new roller door with remote control opener installed already.

My partner is a plumber and does mainly bathrooms for a living so that saved us a few dollars.

We’d had the kitchen measured up earlier along with the new sliding doors and shelving for the wardrobes etc so it was just a matter of giving them the go ahead once settlement took place. The new floor coverings had also been ordered.

More to come…

 

[Sultan of Swing]

We spent a few Saturdays there and if I had a quiet day at work I’d go and do some more. All up we spent about 2 full weeks worth each.

The bathroom was tiny and had a bath, separate shoer and vanity in it. We decided to ditch the bath, pull the wall out between the bathroom and toilet and make it one big bathroom. The result was awesome. We striped it back to studs and ceiling joists and totally replastered it. We hung the sheets ourselves and just got a plasterer in to stop it up. This also meant on less door in the place.

 

[Sultan of Swing]

The finished product….

 

[Sultan of Swing]

Now for that smell….

If you don’t read any other post in this thread, read this one, you may learn something! We sure did!

We hoped that by scaping all the carpet off the floorboards – it was a rubber backed carpet glued down really well – that we’d be able to soak it in bleach and get rid of the smell.

I spent about 6 hours on the first Saturday with a 2-inch chisel and a scraper on my hands and knees. The more I got off the more stains I found. By the end of the day I had it all off. We poured about 10 litres of bleach on it and let it soak.

On Monday the smell was near gone. We thought we had it.

A few days later it rained. Where the stains were there were now wet patches on the floor and the smell was back. We looked for leaks but there were none. We started to think we’d bought a real lemon with more problems than we’d anticipated.

After a few days and much discussion we decided to have a look under the floor expecting to find a swamp. This meant cutting a hole in the floor boards. We were happy to find that it was as dry as could be underneath.

Once again, to cut a long story short we took out all the floorboards and replaced it with those chipboard sheets of flooring. It took us about 5 man hours and NO MORE SMELL!!!

What we believe was happening is, the salts in the urine we drawing the moisture out of the air when it rained and resoaking the floor boards every time it rained.

We later found out from a neighbour that a previous tenant had an old Labrador dog that they used to lock in the living room when ever they went out as the body corporate said ‘No Pets’ so they didn’t want to leave it outside.

These are pics or the offending room.

 

[Sultan of Swing]

You’ll notice in these pics that we also took out the sliding door and pelmet between the kitchen and living room and made the opening wider.

The third pic shows the hallway and new doors on the linen cupboard.

 

[ozi]

Hi SoS,

Thanks for sharing your reno with us. That is an great transformation.

Do you mind sharing how much you spent on the reno and what the current re-sale value would be? Do you plan on holding it or will you be selling for a quick profit?

Well done.

Regards,
Ozi

 

[Sultan of Swing]

I was getting to the numbers but got sidetracked.

As stated earlier we paid 108.5k, with stamp duty etc it came to 112.5k.

We spent 22k on the reno and 3 weeks after settlement my partner was approached bye a guy who wanted the unit for his elderly mother. We agreed to sell for 172k and the sale settled this past week. After costs, interest and everything else we came out with a 34k profit, just over 17k each couple.

The purchase settled on the 15th June and the sale settled on the 23rd August, one day short of owning it for 10 weeks. I know that compared to some of the deals I've read about on here it’s not much however we're absolutely wrapped with it. As said earlier, we each worked about 10 days on it, mainly on Saturdays. Things couldn’t have gone more smoothly with the only hiccup being the living room floor.

A break down of reno cost…. All approximates

Kitchen including the sink and rangehood $5,500

2 built in wardrobes and linen cupboard $2,000

Bathroom including toilet and vanity etc $4,000

Roller door and opener $1,100

Carpets and vinyl $3,300

Paint $600

Electrical work includes all new power points (including some extras), light switches, batten holders, heater, Tastic bathroom light and wiring in the stove $2,100

New slim line venetians $1,100

New stove $1,000

Replacing the flooring that was the major turn off for most buyers cost a little under $200.

The rest was taken up in labour (plaster, carpenter to hang new doors, tiler) and new doors and a myriad of bits and pieces.

I think that about covers it.

 

[duncan_m]

We spent 22k on the reno and 3 weeks after settlement my partner was approached bye a guy who wanted the unit for his elderly mother. We agreed to sell for 172k and the sale settled this past week. After costs, interest and everything else we came out with a 34k profit, just over 17k each couple.

Sterling effort! well done SOS.

 

[geoffw]

Well done SOS.

Your turn in Smart Investor Magazine?

 

[Justkate]

WOW...I love the lounge room! Its amazing what a coat of paint and new carpet can achieve, also like how you followed the color scheme into the kitchen and got rid of the blue cupboards. Its looks nice, breezy and so much more modern and much more appealing than the before shots.

Well done, fantastic job and you made a profit too!

Kate

 

[Jacque]

That is just awesome, SOS- Well done!
I watched an episode of Property Ladder recently with a similar floor problem to what you've encountered. After taking up the carpet and bleaching, the urine smell was able to be removed with some type of neutraliser spray that the host recommended. There's always a solution somewhere for smells!

The place turned out a treat, and kudos to you and your partner for taking the initiative and doing so well out of it, especially in a market which isn't moving much.

Interesting that you didn't include a bath in the revamped bathroom- I guess in the end it didn't matter as you sold it for a profit regardless

I eagerly await the pics of your next project

 

[Sultan of Swing]

Interesting that you didn't include a bath in the revamped bathroom- I guess in the end it didn't matter as you sold it for a profit regardless

Thanks all for your kind comments.

We debated about the bath quite a bit and decided to leave it out. Our reasoning was:-

1 The unit market in our area is 90% + for retired, older people who generally don't seem to want to use baths and have trouble getting in and out of them.

2 It would have made the bathroom feel a bit cramped again.

3 It saved us a few dollars.

Cheers

 

[Tizzy]

Love your reno!! Its really perfect for the main market which is elderly residents with limited capital. What a great success story SOS. The bathroom is big enough for a wheelchair which is a bonus. If anyone else reading is considering doing similar renos for the elderly, try and make sure you don't have to step over raised bits to get into the shower. I love that you used vinyl and not tiles too. Thats another plus with the elderly. Easy to keep clean and warm underfoot.

By the way, I totally share your pain re the stinky part of the job. Back in the 80's my father in law demolished an old Federation building that had been used as a nursing home and the urine in the floorboards was pretty well impossible to remove. I spent several days lifting those boards {{Phew}}

 

[JIT]

Questions...

SOS, thanks for contributing your experience to the forum.

Some questions:

1. Can you tell us the wording on the clause you used to get access to the property prior to settlement for quoting, measuring, and to commence renovation work prior to settlement?

I thought that if you were to actually start doing the work on the property before settlement, there are other legal implications, and it was not so simple as putting a clause in the contract???

I had tried to do this on a property I purchased, but the agent and my solicitor said it was best to leave access only for quoting/measuring purposes.

2. If you took into account the ´opportunity cost´of your own labour, would the exercise have been worthwhile? Eg, $17000 for 10 days work, is $1700 per day, per couple involved. The ´cost of labour´, say $50/hr for 10 hours work per day, so $500 per day. Profit of $1200/days work, so $12000 total.

Are you able to work out the ´return on investment´that you made from this investment, ?10%/15%/20% etc...? (with/without taking into account the potential cost of our labour).

Regards,

GSJ

 

[ozi]

After costs, interest and everything else we came out with a 34k profit, just over 17k each couple.

$17k is better than $0k That is not a bad return for such a quick reno. I'm sure the experience gained would equate to more that $17k worth, so I'd be happy with that

Regards,
Ozi

 

[rj]

2. If you took into account the ´opportunity cost´of your own labour, would the exercise have been worthwhile? Eg, $17000 for 10 days work, is $1700 per day, per couple involved. The ´cost of labour´, say $50/hr for 10 hours work per day, so $500 per day. Profit of $1200/days work, so $12000 total.

its a labour of love!

Nice work SOS, I like your style!

RJ

 

[skater]

What a great success! Congratulations!!

 

[simonjulie]

What we believe was happening is, the salts in the urine we drawing the moisture out of the air when it rained and resoaking the floor boards every time it rained.

We later found out from a neighbour that a previous tenant had an old Labrador dog that they used to lock in the living room when ever they went out as the body corporate said ‘No Pets’ so they didn’t want to leave it outside.

QUOTE]
Great job SOS
In regard to ground in smell like your example. I have in the past had similar problems with erradicating urine smells. The best and cheapest solution I found is to, after cleaning the infected area, seal it in by painting it with watever left over paint I had available at the time. It seems to work really well on both timber and concrete floors. That means that you would then have to put a floor covering afterwards.
Regards
Simon

 

[ani]

Looks great SOS

Well done