Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Mar 20, 2014 4:15 pm Im stuck and not sure if we buy land and build in a new estate or if we renovate an existing property in an established suburb. Is my theory right that if we build and spend say 600k in total then the property is only worth 600k but if we renovate and spend the same amount then potentially the property could be worth more? can you guys help me write a pro and con list for both options. we are in queensland and looking at Rochedale to build or Holland Park/ Tarragindi to renovate. Re: cant decide to build or renovate 2Mar 21, 2014 9:15 am You have to do your sums and your homework. Some houses are easy to renovate and extend just by virtue of their existing layout. A small house on a large rear North facing backyard is probably the easiest. Knock off the rear wall add another two bedrooms and a large lounge out onto a timber deck and you'd spend $150,000 doing it but add $300,000+ to its value. That's what one of my clients did a couple of years ago. Going up a floor and picking up good views is another. Others are a lot more difficult and have nothing working in their favour so a KDR is much more realistic. Get a local real estate agent to value your existing house now and then if you added two bedrooms etc as above. Then work out roughly what it would cost to build. Stewie Re: cant decide to build or renovate 3Mar 21, 2014 9:50 am Good advice Stewie. I found that the layout of my 1950s home that had already been extended just would not work in the area. Many houses in the street were being KDR with very large double storey houses. In this case the renovated house would not come close to what is becoming the norm for the area and I feared that any money spent would not be retained as future buyers would only see block value. The existing house was very nice but nothing special or of architectural significance. I think it is a balance between what is in the area and ease/ fit for reno. Some places just do not lend themselves to renovation. Re: cant decide to build or renovate 4Mar 21, 2014 11:10 am Do your research - here homes in a new suburb as selling for at least 50k more than the block+ construct cost. What do you get for your money in each (home size, block size, views, convenience)? Old homes always need work- are you able to much of the work yourself or will you always need a professional? (cost difference) Is this purely for investment purposes or do you intend to live there for some time? Re: cant decide to build or renovate 5Mar 21, 2014 6:39 pm I think it depends on what you want to use the house for. Your username implies you are looking for a personal, long term family home in which case I'd say work out whether you want to raise a family in Rochedale or Tarragindi. The number crunching is more important for investment properties IMO. Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65085 Re: cant decide to build or renovate 6Mar 22, 2014 12:25 pm You are traversing the areas of property investment, town planning, and new home construction, and renovating, and most people are not across all 4. Without an experienced renovator/investor inspecting the house you intend to renovate, you'll only be guessing on that front. As others have said you need to do your own sums and hope they are right Re: cant decide to build or renovate 7Mar 26, 2014 12:57 pm I've lived in both Holland Park and Rochedale, and am now building in Rochedale. We renovated a lovely post-war in Holland Park - a great investment. But for us, long term we have picked Rochedale. Brand new house in a nice suburb - trendy has become less important to us - we are getting exactly what we want and are happy with the choice. the step up is 30mm and wanting it to be flat . how much does the concrete have to be lowered .we plan on removing bath and lenghten shower and adding seat. the old bath… 0 11828 if the original house is in good condition most of what you listed could be added in stages without the need for KDR and costs and disruption of having to live elsewhere… 1 13658 I thought this would be a popular question but I haven't been able to find any similar posts. Perhaps I'm wording my searches wrong? When you have car insurance and the… 0 6604 |