Christmas projects ?

Sounds great Kevin I was considering the new Zodiac resin above ground pools that can go inground and use salt, but it was the liner that put me off - we have a female boxer dog who is a bit insane and launches herself into pools with huge velocity ... maybe 1.5mm thick liner would be ok but I'm not sure - she's pretty mad !

As for progress report, I still only have a hole in the ground as using a tank builder means ordering something from the busiest contractors in town (now the Council subsidises everyone's water tanks ) I got some good pool equipment new via eBay. I think everyone will finish their Xmas projects before I'm properly started ;-)

 

Yeah c'mon RJ, don't leave us hanging ! The agent hasn't updated the listing on the web, so you're the only one with news

 

What acid problems does pebble create ?

 

Where you celebrating last night or not RJ??? We want to know

 

Sorry everyone!

Went along to the auction. Had been approved for finances - everything was peachy until I arrived there only to find a 10% GST on top of purchase price which I hadnt seen before. Anyone else seen this?

Anyway, because of the unexpected GST and the eventual sale price I didnt end up getting it

Oh well, got air conditioning installed in my IP today

RJ

 

On the GST I think its only an issue when the seller is registered for GST :
REIQ - Buying/Selling/Renting - Selling Tips - FAQs

So what sort of money did they make RJ ? Don't feel too bad - they looked like pretty big projects to get finished - sometimes the missing out is 'meant to be' ;-) At least now you'll only have a hectic Xmas and not an insane one

 

The steel one which I was interested in went for $367,000 plus GST which equates to $403,700. Is that right?

Anyway...

Had all the necessary inspections done. Engineers report, builders quotation. To complete it would have cost an additional $260,000 roughly so it wouldve ended up being a $700,000 ish project.

Still money to be made though I guess, if you could onsell it for somewhere in the high $800's.

Oh well, nevermind. You know what they say.

An opportunity of a lifetime comes around twice a week.

RJ

 

Man.....
Don't mean to be a stick in the mud but how are you assessing these opportunities?
If it cost you $700 kand supposed you onsell for $800s' , what sort of return are you making ?
Are you calculating the profit dollar value at $100k plus as being good or is the percentage return on the investment that is good ?

As an example 3 yrs ago, I did a duplex that cost $200k each, for house and land to complete, and it sold for $295k ( for one half) and I did one immediately after that cost $310k each to complete, and it sold for $415k.
Which one was better from a return point of view ( on my effort if nothing else) ??

Just the increased holding costs on the second one made it a worse outcome, let alone, teh added risk that delays, etc. caused.

KEvin

 

Holding and selling costs really have to be factored in on a "worst case scenario" from the outset, don't they?

Bad luck RJ, but there will be other opportunities- and think of the learning experiences that you've now gained from at least investigating such a project. At least you now know who to call when there's a frame for sale and you're interested...

How long did it take you to sell the second Duplex, Kevin?

 

I gotta agree with Kevin's comments, don't be too concerned RJ, 'cos at :

$400K for land and partly finished building plus
$30K ? - a full year of your spare time project managing * (it wouldn't happen in 3 months, no way ;-) ) plus
$260K finish build plus
$52K - the expected 20% budget blow out plus
$30K swimming pool and
$10K sundry council fees/connection fees/inspections plus
$8K landscaping plus
$2K renting furniture to properly market it on completion, plus
$50K holding costs across the above funds ....

The worry could be that $800K could leave you with a loss ? (even if my figures are rough, they'll be in the ballpark) ... and nothing to cover the risk of being unable to sell, 'cos I assume it ain't gonna rent at $1,000 a week ?.

* One thing I really gained from Steve Navra's course was using time wisely, 'cos time is the only thing you don't get back. From that I learned to cost in a wage for either myself or tradespeople, and get on with making money at my core skillset whule property becomes the capital growth vehicle. I still have the motivation to be a property baron, but from a true 'education / wealth creation' perspective I think there are far better things to do with my time than trying to tile a floor or get a mitre joint right. I think its possible to get too hands-on and take your time from looking for the next property (or other business) opportunity.

I honestly think it was meant to be that you missed this one in your earlier stages of building the empire. There will be way more profitable opportunities round the corner, and such a large single risk could take control of your life .

Keep at it mate and nicely missed on this one ;-)

 

Spot on Carl,
I used to do all those things in the early days, thinking I was saving money.
But in reality it was costing me time, and in fact I had never assigned a value to my time.
Its good to know how to do those things, but its not smart to keep doing them as you progress on this wealth building journey.

At some point, 'smarter' is better than 'harder'

 

Well, it was a funny time in the market and this was in Perth as well, in the last 3 yrs!!

Just to clarify, I sold one of each development at completion.
So the sale in the first development happened at completion.

The completion of the second development coincided with with a slight 'breather' in the market, early in 2005 just after there was an interest rate rise ( from memory?) and sales were a bit slow before the rockets and afterburners kicked in for Perth ( read...crazy buying frenzy)

On top of this there were poor delays with the builder for the second one, so you also have holding costs dragging out longer on a more exxy development. All adds up to an erosion of your profitability.

Chalk it up to experience, another lesson learnt.

 

Hello all

Just to show some progress on the Xmas project, I'm not as advanced as I'd hoped by 07, but its getting there :

http://www.invested.com.au/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=504

Waiting on some tiles for the waterline before we pebblecrete, then fill 'er up and see if we (god forbid) have any leaks

Finally its getting hot enough to justify the effort at creating a pool !

The budget was pretty right - will come in around $10-$11K fully finished and fenced, with salt water chlorination and good filtration and a fountain - I forgot to factor in around $1,500 for concreting around the top edge to create a pool deck kind of thing. However the concrete mix turned up 'hot' (industry term for 'stuffed' apparently!) and the concrete mob gave it to us free.

Basically it is within 20% of what it would cost to put an above ground pool in the ground, without the future hassles of liner replacement, and at least half the cost of a typical inground pool. Whether its a good option or not remains to be seen More news as finishing happens

Cheers
Carl

 

Looking forward to seeing the end product, Carl!

Your energy is making me tired..... afraid I'm quite a bit behind on my planned Xmas job list- but there's always Easter to aim for

 

Jeez Jacque I'm not so sure I am real energetic - but very keen to have this thing full of water so I can go back to drinking beer and scratching myself This project management is a thankless task - plus being labourer for a very cranky concreter who was having to work with dodgy concrete quite honestly nearly killed me in the 32 degree heat

 

Pool finished

Right well I did start this so I might as well finish it My "Christmas" project was completed today 21 Feb ! Could have nearly made it as an Easter project.

Stayed within budget (roughly) but impossible to find tilers etc. at this time of year hence the delay. Happy with the end result and * no leaks * (yet)

So to recap its a 16,000 litre plunge pool approx 5 x 4 metres fenced, salt water chlorinated, tiled/pebblecreted and finished for $10K (um $11K actually I failed to factor in $800 for steps ) Not sure I'd do it again but I'd rather use the other $20K we would have spent on a 'proper' one for something else at this stage in our investing life.

Anyway the final photo just after the water was delivered is here at :
http://www.invested.com.au/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=129&cat=504

All we need is at least 3 hot days before Autumn so it was all for a reason although both the girls have been in already ... ah the serenity

 

Looks very cool, Carl

I'm sure the family will enjoy it with the hot weather you get up there in sunny Qld! What are your intentions for landscaping around the pool- are you going to install a fence, path etc? Looking forward to seeing it all completed.

 

Sorry Jax - back again

Has Mary been speaking with you ? As if my chore list isn't long enough without external parties lodging new "To Do's" electronically !

Actually the fence is in (was before we filled- with a 2yo I ain't taking any chances). You can sort of see it in the background of those photos.

The landscaping is kind of underway. Not exactly Jamie Durie material (and I can't do backflips like him either, both much to my wife's dissatisfaction)

 

Ah...c'mon! I don't believe you at all
With your energy I think you'd be sure to give Jamie a serious run for his money any day!!! Backflips are overrated anyway

 

Well YOU'RE at least good for my ego Jacque - which will help next time Mary says "shut up I'm watching Jamie dance" - stupid reality television. Of course, it doesn't suck watching Tatiana dance either, and I can even almost like whats-her-face from the dodgy current affairs show