Subdivision in Adelaide

[L Plates]

Hi, we're new to these forums (and to renovating), but hoping to gain some knowledge from more experienced investors.

Firstly, we need to erect fencing around a house/block we are subdividing. It is in a lower socio economic area South of Adelaide, so not sure if new Colorbond is warranted, whether seconds would be OK, or whether painted galvanised iron would be suitable? I guess we want it to look good, but don't want to overcapitalise. Does anyone know of a good economical supplier/installer?

Secondly, we plan to build a small 3 bedroom villa on the subdivided 300 square metre block. Once again, we are concerned about overcapitalisation, but don't know whether we need two bathrooms, or just one larger one, perhaps a two way (although personally I don't like them for some reason). Also, do people prefer a separate toilet, or is the toilet in the bathroom acceptable?

Sorry for all the questions, but any help would be appreciated.

 

[Propertunity]

Painted galvanised iron will peel and look tacky. Personally I would not use it on a new development.

On the new villa if you don't have room / budget for 2 x bathrooms at least do one bathroom + a 2nd sep. WC off the laundry perhaps. People can cope with one bathroom if they have 2 x WCs.

 

[Xenia]

I would suggest an appraisal or valuation on the proposed development so that you know what it would be worth versus what you are spending.

 

[bcoombs]

Development

You need to really look at the end product and what you are trying to achieve.I always work from the top down. So look at what is selling in the area and for how much and how long. How many bedrooms? is it family or rental or DINK client base. Often you maybe better going for a cheaper, high volume builder with the extra features for the same money. So an extra bathroom may not be that much extra, but add a lot more value. Or you end up selling a lot quicker.

 

[Gools]

LP, you really need to provide a bit more information. You're asking people to tell you what to do but not giving us enough information to make a proper informed judgement. Suburb would be useful and also what you plan on doing with the new house....

Anyway, you can get 1.8m high good neighbour fencing installed for less than $65/m. How much do you have to do? 3 sides or just the one between the new and existing block?

We used Charlies Fencing just recently. He did really nice work and was really flexible in terms of timing which is important for a new build like our current one. charliesfencing (at) bigpond.com
We needed him to fit in around the concreters. Instead of the whole job being done in one go, he was more than happy to split the job up over three visits for us. How good is that!! He took the old fence down so we could get to the side of the house to lay the storm water pipe. Then he came back and put the posts in for the concrete. Then came back after that to finish off. Made it much easier for us to get the other work done. 10 out of 10 as far as we were concerned.

People don't really like the 2 way bathrooms either. Just depends on the area and what you plan to do with it, sell or rent, as to what you should do. If you plan to sell it then you don't want to put people off, not for a few thousand dollars. Separate toilet I think is much better.

Really, the things you are worrying about are pretty small in terms of percentage of the total spend. As Brett has said, you might need to do some leg work and see what property types are going for how much and keep an ear out at some open inspections etc.

Have you started to price up the project yet? Advertised prices are no where near the total cost of building. Take the base price and add 50%.

Gools