TEN percent of your property value is my golden rule for cosmetic renovation budgets. But sometimes, you need far less to make a BIG profit!

With this project, I helped homeowner Michelle, who had lived in her home for almost 30 years. Still with a mortgage and on a limited income, she was finding it really difficult to maintain her heritage property. As her home started to look more and more tired around her she had tried subletting rooms to help make ends meet, but it wasn’t enough. She wanted to sell up and live debt free, but to maximise this once in a lifetime investment, she needed my help to drive her property value up and lure in potential buyers on a budget of just $10K!

At first I was stumped by the roof colour (which I didn’t have the budget to change) but I love that it meant that I had to get creative. I love how the terracotta red is made modern with crisp white trim and walls in Taubmans ‘Wisecrack’. The red door, garden clean up and window boxes, all make this a welcoming first impression and decorative fretwork adds back some heritage appeal that had long ago been stripped away!

Inside, it was paint, paint and more paint … plus the addition of professional styling, that brought this home back up to date. There were two unavoidable budget blow outs with some rotting joists under the floor in bedroom 3, and some less than safe electricals that resulted in my budget going from $10K to just under $11,829. Here’s a breakdown of what we were able to achieve:

SCOPE OF WORKS

• Internal painting throughout
• External painting of facade only
• Cosmetically refresh the kitchen through tile & laminate paint
• Cosmetically refresh the bathroom through tile painting & other minor tweaks
• Fix structural floor issue in Bedroom 3 (unplanned cost)
• Update electricals (new ceiling fan, 4 x down lights, fix faulty GPO’s)
• Install electrical safety switches to meter box (unplanned cost).
• Install new carpet to bedrooms 2 & 3
• Install new curtain rods & curtains
• New landscaping works to facade (new plants, paving paint, lights, fretwork)
• Repurpose old furniture with paint (porch chair & old garden urns)

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE FULL FINANCIALS …

FINANCIALS

Property value (pre-renovation): $1,200,000.00

Renovation spend: $11,829.42

Renovation time frame: 9 days

Property break even point: $1,211,829.42

Property value (post-renovation): $1,275,000.00

Net Profit Margin: $ 63,170.58

Note: Budget overspend of $1,800.00 due to structural floor issue in Bedroom 3 and the need to install electrical safety switches (which were uncovered during the renovation).

TAUBMANS PAINTS USED

•  External Façade Walls: Taubmans Endure Exterior – Acrylic Low Sheen  in “Wisecrack”

• External Façade Trims: Taubmans Endure Exterior – Acrylic Low Sheen in “Cotton Ball ”

• Façade Front Door: Taubmans Sunproof Exterior – Low Sheen in “Red Emphasis”

• Internal Walls: Living Room & Bedroom, Taubmans Endure Interior – Acrylic Low Sheen in “Winter Mist”

•  Internal Walls: Kitchen & Bathroom, Taubmans Endure Interior – Acrylic Low Sheen in “Crisp White”

• Internal Walls: Hallway,  Taubmans Endure Interior – Acrylic Low Sheen in “Stormy Shadow”

• Internals Doors & Trims: Taubmans Endure Interior – Acrylic Semi Gloss in “Cotton Ball”.

• Paving Paint: White Knight Ultra Pave in “Terracotta”

• Kitchen Cabinets: White Knight Tile & Laminate Primer, followed by 2  x coats of White Knight Laminate Paint tinted to Taubmans “Stormy Shadow”.