How to add $100,000 of value with a $10,000 renovation

Continuing our series of renovating for under $10,000 Paul Eslick from Reno Kings gives us his guide to maximising profit with minimum outlay.

He says it’s possible to add $100,000 of value to some properties for just $10,000, provided owners learn to do the work themselves.

In general though, Eslick says for every dollar he spends he aims for about a $5 return.

With enough care and an effort, Eslick says it can be possible to do all the following steps for just $10,000.

Paint

“Without a shadow of a doubt the best bang for buck is with paint. I’ve never meant a person who can’t paint and the results are fantastic. We like to start at the top and work down to the bottom. Painting from the outside gives it a lift. We love to increase the street appeal as it gives better value to the tenant who’s driving by, better value to the bank manager who knows where his money is going and more importantly better value for valuer who is doing the restricted assessment – ie a drive by.”

Fence

“Installation of a fence if it doesn’t have one. It’s the frame around the Mona Lisa. The reason the fence would be good value is security for the tenant if they have children and for their pets (in Australia we’re one of the highest pet-owning countries in the world).”

Landscaping

“Some light landscaping. Try and find access off the kitchen to have an area for the indoor-outdoor look. Go and do a paving course for free with Bunnings. Put a paving section in if it’s close to the ground or put in a small deck with a table that fits six people. Have an ABN number and go to the wholesale distributor and you cut out the middle man. Consider doing walkways with stone instead of concrete because you can do it yourself.”

Kitchen

“A quick way to add value to an old kitchen would be to buy laminate paint and paint the front of the doors and buy new handles. If the splashback is tiles, use tile paint and repaint the tiles at the back.”

“Get a good quality, marine grade stainless steel polish and polish the stainless steel sink.”

“Buy single flick mixers for the sink and install them.”

Bathroom

“I’ve seen too many people wasting money throwing out pink baths and odd coloured baths. Invest in Tub 'n' Tile and repaint the baths white.”

“Re-lift the existing tiles by using tile paint. You may paint a bathroom any colour providing it’s white. It will make it bigger brighter and cleaner.”

“Shower curtains and tenants do not mix. Pay the extra for a DIY laminated grass shower screen and install this instead.”

“An old daggy vanity can be replaced quite simply.”

Add an extra bedroom

“I’d look for a big open space in an AVJennings home and put in a $1000 home wall and convert it to a two bedroom house and add $50,000. You take an L shaped room where the dining room used to be, put a wall where the window is and you add a room.”

Window furnishings

“I like putting straight venetian blinds for my window furnishings. The cheap plastic ones seem to break so go up the next level.

Do it all yourself

“You have to be able to do all the work yourself. You can do courses, you can paint, you can do landscaping, building a wall inside is very easy though you may need help with plastering.”