Reno rule of thumbs

[Blueberry]

I was watching the free Cherie Barber DVD and she mentioned that she had a rule of thumb to not spend more then 2% of the value of house on the kitchen (I think it was those figures anyway).

So I've read a few Reno books now, and read a few rule of thumbs about the total value of Reno. Generally 10% of value of house, or 10% of median value in suburb. (after buying x amount under market or under median)

I was wondering if anyone here had any rule if thumbs they worked by. Either for specific areas or generally. Or did you just buy low value properties and wing it.

 

[BayView]

Rule of thumb - it always takes twice as long and 50% more than you think.

 

[JennD]

I was watching the free Cherie Barber DVD and she mentioned that she had a rule of thumb to not spend more then 2% of the value of house on the kitchen (I think it was those figures anyway).

So I've read a few Reno books now, and read a few rule of thumbs about the total value of Reno. Generally 10% of value of house, or 10% of median value in suburb. (after buying x amount under market or under median)

I was wondering if anyone here had any rule if thumbs they worked by. Either for specific areas or generally. Or did you just buy low value properties and wing it.

From memory, she says around 2pc on the bathroom as well - can anyone confirm?

 

[Of The Vultures]

BayView that is scarily accurate, at least when it comes to the cost! We didn't take twice as long as planned, but it certainly did cost 50% more than I thought

I don't remember the bathroom figure Cherie advises, but the overall rule of thumb she uses is that you need to be able to sell the property for 1.42 times the purchase price. This is possibly a bit generous as we'd still make a decent profit if our sell price is 1.32 times the purchase. But she uses tradies for everything, we didn't.

 

[Angel]

Cherie also calls a 200 m2 under roof extension on the back of a heritage building a "reno" .

 

[Truly Exotic]

Make sure your property is worth more then it was before the Reno

 

[travelbug]

I think % of value is often not realistic.

You need to look at value for money. If you spend $10,000 and the value goes up by $30,000 does it matter what % that is of the purchase price?

You should get $2-3 return for every $1 you spend. Also factor in whether you did work yourself or paid tradies to do it. Also factor in the increased yield.