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5 considerations when buying property to renovate

April 18, 2016 Leave a Comment

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Whether you’re a homeowner looking for a renovator’s delight to make your own or an investor looking to turn a profit, there are always ways to spot a good deal from a bad deal.

Image: Lifestyle.com.au
Image: Lifestyle.com.au

Buying a property to renovate? You first need to educate yourself on what creates value in a property. Here are five ways to avoid paying too much.

Educate yourself

Whether you’re buying a flat in the inner city or a shack in the bush, you need to know the market it’s in so you can put each property sale in context. Spend some time researching the market before making an offer.

  • Spend time in the market. Go to open inspections to get a feel for the price range of different types of property and follow up on the eventual sales price. Compare those sales to other sales in the area to contextualise.
  • Practise at auctions. Go to a few and sign up but don’t bid. Get a feel for how it works. When you’re ready to buy, you’ll be a lot calmer and will make better decisions.
  • Visit outside of inspection times. Inspections tend to show properties at their best. If you’re keen on a place, visit the neighbourhood at different times of day to confirm whether it’s a good buy.

Look for bargains

Keep an eye out for good times to buy. Here are a few indicators that give buyers a hint of a bargain:

  • Stock levels are high. Property is a supply and demand market so if there are a lot of properties on the market, it’s a good time to be a buyer.
  • The property has been on the market a while. If the property hasn’t sold after five weeks, it gives you a good bargaining position as the seller is more likely to drop the price in negotiations.
  • The property has been passed in at auction. If the property went to auction but was passed in, it indicates the sellers had unmet high expectations, which is a good time to step in with an offer.
  • The agent comes from a different area. If you’re looking at a property but the real estate agents come from elsewhere, s/he may not know the market as well as you do. See if there’s a bargain on the cards.

Make your money when you buy

If you have your reno goggles on, take them off for a moment. A lot of investor-renovators think they will make their money through home improvements, but for the most part renovations don’t make the biggest difference to profit considering the time and money it takes to complete them.

A renovation can mean the difference between selling a place and not selling a place and it can make a place attractive to more buyers, which increases your chances of a good sale, but you make most of your money when you buy well, so don’t bank on the renovation bringing in the big bucks.

Befriend agents

Introduce yourself to real estate agents in the area and let them know you are serious about buying. Once you’ve established a good relationship they’re likely to give you a heads up when there’s something suitable on the market and bring you into negotiations with the seller. They may even provide indirect support in negotiations with rival agents if you decide to purchase a property outside their stock.

Hire a third party to negotiate

Many renovators get carried away with the potential of a property and don’t always see it as it is. If you lead with your heart or your vision, you can end up paying more for a property than you should. If this sounds like you, consider hiring a third party, such as a buyer’s agent, to be your ‘head’ when you negotiate.

When you’re buying a property to renovate, it pays to do your homework. Don’t overestimate what a renovation can do for a property because the best value judgement comes from buying well in the first place.

—Mark Foy is one of our resident experts and a director of Belle Property Surry Hills in Sydney.

Read all Mark’s articles. Got a question for Mark?

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Is there a more decadent and delicious soup than F Is there a more decadent and delicious soup than French onion?

I think not!

Grab the recipe on the blog this morning via link in bio.
Get to know me! I haven't done one of these in YE Get to know me!

I haven't done one of these in YEARS so there's possibly thousands of you who don't know my back story. Here's a few things you may not know about me!

✔️ I'm English 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and I moved here (just for one year) back in 2008😆 

✔️ I can't end the day without a bath, even if I get home really late or on a really hot day. It's a mental health thing and my happy place. 🛁 

✔️ Before becoming a blogger and running my own small business, I was a journalist from the age of 18. My favourite news gathering times were as a newspaper crime reporter (bit different to interiors!) 📓 

✔️ I once worked at New Scotland Yard in London 🚔 

✔️I had an interview at Oxford (didn't get in!) but chose not to go to uni at all after being offered a job on the local paper #universityoflife 😁

✔️ My mum died when I was 3, I have an excellent dad and one sister (younger) in the UK ❤️ 🇬🇧 

✔️ At school, my favourite subject was French 🇫🇷 and I was head girl 🤓🤓

✔️ I'm addicted to ☕️ , long hot baths and💄 (been wearing it since I was about 14!)

✔️ I'm not a phonecall person and will never ever pick up an unknown number. Ever. They can leave a message 😁

✔️ My favourite cuisine is Japanese 🍣 🍜 and Damian and I honeymooned in Tokyo and Venice 

✔️ I have zero design qualifications. I just started blogging about my passion, which is trying to persuade everyone to #heartyourhome That was 11 years ago...

✔️ My favourite tipple is a good GnT or🍷 

✔️ Cheesy as it sounds, 💁‍♀️being a mum is my absolute biggest joy in life 🧒👦

✔️ I will never give up my old school paper diary! Has to be A5 and week to view 📖 

✔️ My official surname isn't Bishop. I kept my maiden name for work after I got married but changed it for everything else. Often confuse myself!

✔️ I didn't get my Ps until I was 37 and I'm still a terrible parker 😯 🅿️

Hope you feel like you know me a bit better 😘

📸 @vanlowvanlow
Blue, green or lilac? 🎨 @nood_co coloured con Blue, green or lilac? 🎨 

@nood_co coloured concrete basins is a great Aussie business success story. Although co founder Matt Di Costa first found fame as one half of Matt and Kim on The Block, he hasn't relied on this to build his brand.

“We are very honoured to have been a part of The Block, and all they have done for us. I am, however, a believer in letting the product take centre stage,” he says.

Read our interview with Matt via link in bio now.

🙏Share your favourite colour basin in the comments!

#colouredconcrete #noodco #colouredbasin #blockheads #the block #bathroomtrends2022

Pic 1 by @naibudesign_ and 2 by @twostyleinteriors
I'd love to see more colour in Aussie interiors! I'd love to see more colour in Aussie  interiors! 🎨 

At the end of the day though, it's a matter of personal taste. I love pops of colour but it's not for everyone. 

We couldn't resist featuring this Canadian house tour today. The amazing Kelly Green  hutch (swipe) was an upcycled $200 find 🤗

Head over to the blog via link in bio to see the rest including one of the best playrooms we've seen in ages!

Project by @in.house.design
📸 @philcrozier
Create an unexpected city oasis with an emphasis o Create an unexpected city oasis with an emphasis on light and nature.

That was the brief for the conversion of a corner shop and a warehouse bakery into a luxury family home in Sydney's Newtown. And how about the library?!

Take the tour of this very special @annacarindesign project on the blog now, via link in bio.

Pic: @justinalexanderphoto
The things that excite me as a 40 year old 🤭 N The things that excite me as a 40 year old 🤭

None of us enjoy laundry (OK, there are a few of you out there who do. Weird!) but we have to do it. And often. So if your laundry bin can be as good looking, functional and space saving as this, then why wouldn't you?!

I've lost track of how many baskets I've thrown out because they've gone soggy or mouldy. They look pretty, sure, but they're not fit for purpose and they're often messy and overflowing.

Here's what I love about his @brabantia_australia one:

✔️ ventilation holes
✔️ no need to remove the lid for small items plus it hides your dirty laundry from view
✔️ easily removable and washable inner laundry bag that velcros back on 
✔️ corrosion resistant so fine in bathroom or laundry 
✔️ Brabantia make things as sustainably as possible
✔️ compact, sleek, European design
✔️ 10 year warranty
✔️ tall and skinny so takes up less floor in my tiny laundry

The Rolls Royce of laundry bins? I think so 👌🏻

TOLD you this was going to be exciting!

Now I need to know, do you have your laundry basket in the bathroom, the laundry, every bedroom? We used to have one in each bedroom but moved to the laundry-only situation which I much prefer (one for colours and one for whites). My boys know to put their used clothes in the bin in the laundry each night and they're 7 and 3!  #raisingfuturehusbands

#gifted
"Living rooms are important spaces where our publi "Living rooms are important spaces where our public and private lives intersect."

So says stylist @nataliewalton in her gorgeous new book Style, the Art of Creating a Beautiful Home.

"They are where we gather to welcome guests and entertain. But they are also where we decompress and relax at the end of the day. Increasingly, they are open-plan spaces and need to work within a greater scheme. Bringing all the elements together cohesively requires care and consideration. And, if you want a space that lives up to its true potential, make it personal and create with conviction."

Read an extract, the chapter on elevating your living room, on the blog today via link in bio.

Published by @thamesandhudsonau Pix by @chriswarnes 

#livingroomdesigns #nataliewalton #coffeetablebooks #designbooks #interiorsbooks #livingroominteriors #elevateyourspace
Kids and husband messing with my vignettes again🤨

PS. The coaster was RIGHT THERE 🤪
#weatherforit 🥶 Need a new blanket? Look no fu #weatherforit 🥶

Need a new blanket? Look no further than these gorgeous South African blankets from @baobabcollective, sustainably sourced, ethically crafted and imported by a Southern Highlands couple.

On the blog now via link in bio.
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About Jen Bishop

Jen Bishop is our owner and publisher and an experienced journalist and editor. Interiors Addict has been her full-time job for more than 8 years. She is married to Damian and mum to Sebastian and Charlie.

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