Hoping for some advice here and after reading the thread on granny flats its got me thinking.
We bought a house a few months ago that is on a corner block and is within the councils "urban core zoning" which basically allows a much higher density than other zones. The block is I think around the 650 sqm mark - too small to be subdivided into 2 blocks, but we found out if we build on it and provide the neccessary outdoor space and Off street parking, it can be seperated into 2 titles. But it would be very tight to do this. As it is this zoning, it could possibly have 3 to maybe 4 town houses on it in the future, but the house is a bit too good to rip down and I dont have the money to develop to that extent yet.
When we bought it, it had a standard 3 bed 60 year old house on it and at the rear, an old seoperate garage, extended and converted into a granny flat with a power meter at the box in the front house. The conversion was applied for with a DA in about 2000 but never got the inspections or signed off and it would have lapsed by now. When we bought it, the owner was trying to get the council to revive the old DA application so he could get it passed but gave up when he accepted our offer. Apparently the council agreed in principle as long as the new requirements were met such as water tanks etc.
The work done to it is a bit dodgy and would need some rectifying to bring it up to scratch. This would probably cost about 12K without any council fees etc. If rented out in a good condition it would turn our portfolio from 3 IP's (neutral to slightly positive with depreciation) to 4 IP's and about 7K positive cash flow. Should rent for around $250 p/w. Trouble with this is I'm a bit scared if the council came anywhere near it, it may be classed as unauthorised development. I was thinking maybe I could get a building certifier to look at it to see if it would be passed by council and maybe a town planner?
Other options we have thought of is tearing this down and starting from scratch. Quotes to demolish are around 10k and a comparable size building would cost about 65k for all materials (labour + council fees extra). That would put us back to a neutal geared position.
Our intentions are to keep the whole property but I was thinking that if the two buildings were strata titled, it would increase the value and give us more equity for another purchase. But would paying out to get it strata titled necessarily make it worth more considering we have no intention to sell.
At the moment we can't afford to build a new building but I need to start going down whichever path I choose for this property.
We haven't made any hard and fast decisions on this building as I need to get info on all our options and make an informed decision.
So these are our options.
1. leave it as is and not do anything.
2. Try to get it approved and passed by the relevant authorities as a granny flat.
3. Demolish and build new.
Comments? Ideas?
We bought a house a few months ago that is on a corner block and is within the councils "urban core zoning" which basically allows a much higher density than other zones. The block is I think around the 650 sqm mark - too small to be subdivided into 2 blocks, but we found out if we build on it and provide the neccessary outdoor space and Off street parking, it can be seperated into 2 titles. But it would be very tight to do this. As it is this zoning, it could possibly have 3 to maybe 4 town houses on it in the future, but the house is a bit too good to rip down and I dont have the money to develop to that extent yet.
When we bought it, it had a standard 3 bed 60 year old house on it and at the rear, an old seoperate garage, extended and converted into a granny flat with a power meter at the box in the front house. The conversion was applied for with a DA in about 2000 but never got the inspections or signed off and it would have lapsed by now. When we bought it, the owner was trying to get the council to revive the old DA application so he could get it passed but gave up when he accepted our offer. Apparently the council agreed in principle as long as the new requirements were met such as water tanks etc.
The work done to it is a bit dodgy and would need some rectifying to bring it up to scratch. This would probably cost about 12K without any council fees etc. If rented out in a good condition it would turn our portfolio from 3 IP's (neutral to slightly positive with depreciation) to 4 IP's and about 7K positive cash flow. Should rent for around $250 p/w. Trouble with this is I'm a bit scared if the council came anywhere near it, it may be classed as unauthorised development. I was thinking maybe I could get a building certifier to look at it to see if it would be passed by council and maybe a town planner?
Other options we have thought of is tearing this down and starting from scratch. Quotes to demolish are around 10k and a comparable size building would cost about 65k for all materials (labour + council fees extra). That would put us back to a neutal geared position.
Our intentions are to keep the whole property but I was thinking that if the two buildings were strata titled, it would increase the value and give us more equity for another purchase. But would paying out to get it strata titled necessarily make it worth more considering we have no intention to sell.
At the moment we can't afford to build a new building but I need to start going down whichever path I choose for this property.
We haven't made any hard and fast decisions on this building as I need to get info on all our options and make an informed decision.
So these are our options.
1. leave it as is and not do anything.
2. Try to get it approved and passed by the relevant authorities as a granny flat.
3. Demolish and build new.
Comments? Ideas?