Challenge - Take this fixer upper & make it into a gem for sale.
The living room renovation was one of my favourite rooms. The VJ panels brought an elegance to the space, matching the pattern with the entry door. The plantation shutters signal that no costs were sparred in creating a welcoming and vibrant space. Our carpenters from Flintoff Constructions did a great job trimming the panels to fit smoothly around the windows & fireplace. It creates a welcoming, bright and homely feel.
The electricals were upgraded by our electrician Lachlan at
Earth Tech Electrical. We had downlights installed throughout the property and general outlet upgrades for the new owners convenience next to beds and desk spaces.
In each bedroom we matched the themes with the living room and added built-in wardrobes with golden handles, along with a desk space in the master bedroom.
The kitchen had a simple uplift since its original renovation 8 years prior. Updates included re-tiling by Jackson from Olarie Tiling along the kitchen walls, creating a new space for the dishwasher, new appliances, new handles and a new bench-top.
The bathroom continued the gold, VJ paneling and tile theme from the kitchen with a beautiful stand-alone shower and emphasis on simple elegance. Our plumber Loche from Inner Geelong Plumbing was great at finding solutions to drainage problems and working with the other trades to make everything come together smoothly.
The laundry was the most difficult and risky of the whole process. There was asbestos in the walls in the laundry and toilet, so we had to be very careful. We followed every rule in the book to protect ourselves and dispose of any asbestos safely and legally that was dislodged. We also had to build in a new subfloor in preparation for the tiler to complete their works.
Once these steps were complete, it was a big relief! We could then build the sink, have the plumber complete his works, install the bench tops and carpenters could install the VJ panels ready for painting!
Outdoors was given a facelift with a lot of fresh paint, new windows put in place by the team at Windows By Geoff Case, lighting added and dozens of new plants.
RESULTS
The agents were originally seeing the property pre-renovation being sold at around the $550,000 mark. Once the renovations were complete for $70,000 and many all nighters on our end, we were able to sell the property for $755,000 .
LESSONS LEARNED
The main lesson I learnt from this renovation was that while the figures were solid considering the renovation only took 4 months... if we were to do this strategy repeatedly we would need to spend much more on trades rather than doing all the painting, gardening, demolition and cabinetry building and more ourselves. It is a great strategy if you don't have kids and/or are full of energy! However, if you do, and are time poor it can add a lot of stress as there are always unexpected hurdles to overcome. Hats off to all those property-flippers out there!
Next Moves
Redirecting the profits from this deal into a value add commercial property or an ugly duckling with great potential.
