With so many new ‘looks” and interior products to choose from, it’s really important not to get distracted when creating the overall look for your property. That’s because design continuity has a welcoming effect that is not immediately obvious, but definitely noticeable if it’s missing! Your theme can be anything from an industrial feel, to a…

If there’s one upside to the chore of lodging a tax return, it’s that nice little windfall that hopefully lands in your account as a refund.   Most people wouldn’t think to reinvest their tax refund into something that can make them money. Yes, I’m hinting at small and achievable updates to your home, guaranteed to…

I’m often asked the question, particularly from non-property people, how profitable is property development? Well, it largely comes down to risk versus reward. This risk and return paradigm is well understood by many investors – if you want a higher level of return, you need to accept a higher level of risk, and vice versa.  It’s…

We all know your kitchen is the most important room in your home, but if you’ve been putting off a reno because it all sounds too hard,  you’ll be pleased to know there are some clever shortcuts to make it easy. For example, you can gloss over the bones of your old kitchen carcasses with…

Watch the short video that Dominque & I filmed together just a few days ago. Jump online, lock in your seat, it’s only an hour of your time to get this right.  Click Here To Secure Your Spot!

If you’re in the process of building or renovating a bathroom, your choice of tiles is going to be one of the most effective ways to add visual interest and a dash of wow factor. The texture and colour of the tiles you’re considering is important, but you also need to pay attention to their…

A prized waterfront location with gobsmacking views of Sydney harbour doesn’t necessarily guarantee top dollar when you come to sell. Amid all the property bloodbath headlines, you have to be highly strategic in order to entice buyers to pay top dollar and secure a speedy sale. That was certainly the case with this luxury property…

If you’ve been procrastinating about whether to buy property, here are some important reasons why you shouldn’t wait around much longer to take the plunge. Since the May election, there have been several pivotal changes that signal the tide has turned for investors. For one, there’s more political stability. The government has put incentives in…

With markets in fluctuation across Australia, it makes sense to adapt your level of risk to the property market you’re operating in. That’s certainly what the banks have been doing! In a rising market, for example, there’s a certain amount of “cream on top” that renovators and property developers can reasonably expect that comes from…

Selling a property in a challenging market requires that extra creative push to make sure it’s in tip-top shape and stands out from the crowd. This tired-looking Sydney apartment was definitely a candidate for a sizzling makeover, however the owner’s limited budget meant there was no cash for an all-out, no holds barred renovation.  …

With its dated eighties cabinetry and severe lack of storage, this kitchen required a major rethink in order to better capitalise on the existing space. A bookcase served as the owners’ pantry, and sat beside their large fridge and chest freezer on the only free wall, visually blocking one whole side of their kitchen. There…

The furniture you choose for a room – and where you place it – is one of the most powerful ways to dictate the look and feel of a space. If your room is quite dark, quite narrow or it feels crowded, the solution may be as simple as choosing furniture that has long legs or a thin…

With the election now over and Labor’s loss relegating its controversial property tax changes to the scrap heap, there’s a collective sigh of relief from property investors in Australia. It means negative gearing remains intact and there’ll be no changes to the current capital gains tax laws. Thankfully, certainty has now been restored, and investors…

In a competitive market, it’s more important than ever to make sure everything is perfect for your open for inspection. Potential buyers will be scrutinising every detail, pouncing on any shortcomings, and judging you heavily on first impressions. Your renovations have undoubtedly added great value to the property, but these may not be what visitors…

A special makeover for a single mum of 2 battling breast cancer highlighting the importance of a good financial plan. On Monday, I had the honour of doing a special master bedroom renovation in just 6 hours (yep, you read that right) for Cath, mummy to 8 year old Georgia and 12-year old Lily. No-one…

There’s no getting around the fact that a full-blown bathroom renovation is a costly, time-intensive and stressful affair. It requires an army of trades and your bathroom is likely to be out of action for several weeks. That’s why it makes so much sense to work with your existing bathroom, and avoid the nasty surprises…

You normally wouldn’t buy a sofa without road testing it in the store and you wouldn’t buy a house without walking through it at an open for inspection. Yet for the biggest investment some of us will make, we are expected to trust a floorplan on paper. If you’re about to embark on a structural…

In the lead-up to the May 18 federal election, proposed changes to negative gearing have been a key issue of discussion. negative gearing in a nutshell Negative gearing is when the interest on a loan is higher than the net rental income, meaning the investor is making a loss. Under current tax laws, this loss can then…

The botanical trend has come and gone over the decades, largely because it plays to the idea of bringing nature into our homes, adding a fresh and airy vibe to any interior. There are many ways to incorporate this trend, from using old botanical drawings to the contemporary look of overscaled printed images of green leaves…

It’s no surprise that times are tough if you’re banking on a property loan. Lending criteria with banks have tightened up and record numbers of applicants are being turned down for a loan they probably would have easily secured five years ago, when the market outlook was a lot rosier. And before last September’s release…

This house in the Hunter Valley has a most unusual roofline: in fact it is so wacky, the home was dubbed by locals “the Kentucky Fried Chicken house”. My renovation strategy was to cosmetically refresh the front facade and right side of the house only, due to the home owner’s budget constraints. Down the track,…

Adelaide students Martin and Leanne have been property investors for over 20 years, but tackling a renovation was something they had little experience of until completing a Renovating for Profit bootcamp in May 2017. Since then, they have done four renovations in and around the Adelaide suburb they live in, none more audacious than this…

A cosmetic renovation is by far the cheapest, easiest and most effective way to instantly manufacture equity in a property. The fact you can do a lot of the hard yakka yourself, whether it’s coordinating trades or some strategic DIY, means you save money and time compared to a lengthy structural renovation. So here’s 5…

This bedroom project is the first step in the transformation of Mick my chippie’s unrenovated home in Sydney’s west. Recently married, Mick and his new wife Joanne bought this modest brick house just one month ago, so they have their work cut out turning it into the dream home it will undoubtedly become. With Mick’s…

With so many people jumping on the Airbnb bandwagon, it’s easy to seize on the upsides (all that extra cash rolling in, for one) and play down the time and effort involved if you want to be a truly successful host. Gaining Superhost status, with the all-important badge that automatically appears on a host’s listing and…

Whether we realise it or not, managing risk is something we deal with every day. For example, the simple process of crossing a street involves a certain degree of risk that we manage without even blinking an eyelid. But what about managing the risks of something as complex as a property development project? Let’s take…

I’m asked to write or contribute to many different media outlets over the course of a year, and I find there are a few recurrent themes that pop up. One of them is common rookie renovator mistakes. Maybe it’s comforting for fellow renovators to know they’re not alone in the inevitable stuff ups they’ve made…

The three sisters who owned this unrenovated suburban house in Sydney’s west were caught in a bind and desperately needed my help. With Sydney house prices in freefall, and similarly unrenovated houses in this suburb failing to sell, they knew their best chance of securing a quick sale was to do a well-targeted renovation. However, they…

We spend time styling spaces in our homes, aiming for a special look and feel that helps us relax, recharge and be ourselves: the bedroom, the living room, the garden… but it’s often the bathroom that gets overlooked. Too often relegated to quick showers and cleaning teeth, the bathroom quickly becomes filled with containers and half-used products, the…

Having grown up in Wollongong, first-time renovator Anne was familiar with the NSW south coast city and its surrounding suburbs, even though she now lives in Sydney. Priced out of the Sydney market, she decided to return to familiar roots and look for a rental property around Wollongong. Even though Anne and her husband own…

Whether you’re saving for a deposit, starting your own business, or simply want to get a better handle on your finances, there might be a major roadblock that you’re not even aware of: the way you think about money. This could be a result of your upbringing, early conditioning or maybe just a financial setback…

The owners of this Californian bungalow are the first to admit they made a bad choice with the original colour scheme for this facade. What they thought was going to be a striking grey, turned out to be blue, and they’d never got around to updating the colour scheme. So it was time to get…