{"id":10344,"date":"2017-01-26T10:00:10","date_gmt":"2017-01-25T23:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/realestatetalk.com.au\/?p=10344"},"modified":"2017-01-26T10:00:10","modified_gmt":"2017-01-25T23:00:10","slug":"a-warning-about-sprukers-buyers-beware-ice-properties-cookie-cutter-renos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/a-warning-about-sprukers-buyers-beware-ice-properties-cookie-cutter-renos\/","title":{"rendered":"A warning about \u2018sprukers\u2019 \u2013 BUYERS BEWARE + ICE properties + \u2018Cookie Cutter\u2019 renos"},"content":{"rendered":"

 
\nToday we share a sad story with you. Sandy wrote to me with a tale that we can all learn from.\u00a0\u201cBUYER BEWARE\u201d as Sandy says.\u00a0 We could also say that if it looks too good it generally is. We get expert comment on Sandy\u2019s situation from Shannon Davis<\/strong><\/a> who says he sees this all too often.
\nWe are seeing some alarming statistics about methamphetamine contamination in Australian properties.\u00a0 In NZ, property screening has shown contamination in 50% of all properties tested. So, what are your tenants up to and how can you tell and protect yourself.\u00a0 We get all the facts today.
\nDamian Collins<\/strong><\/a> from Western Australia is a guest today as we reflect back on that market in 2016, the lessons that came from it and Damian tells us that there is some good news on the horizon.
\nHave you ever been tempted to broaden your investment horizons by getting into commercial property? Well anyone who has done it will tell you it is vastly different from investing in residential property.\u00a0Michael Yardney<\/strong><\/a> gives us the lowdown on that and tells us about some of his personal experiences.
\nWe are joined by the queen of renovation \u2013 Cherie Barber<\/strong> – who last year predicted that the inner ring cap city markets would be more subdued and her recommendation was to take a \u2018cookie cutter\u2019 approach to renovation. She expands on that this year and tells us why we should be the last ones to get bored with a uniform approach to property renos.
\nYou will find us at iTunes under podcasts as Real Estate Talk.\u00a0 Listen there for free, leave a review which helps us grow and tells us what you like and how we can improve the show. Don\u2019t forget to subscribe at the site as well \u2013even if you do get the show through iTunes – so that we can tell you about the bonus offers we make to subscribers. Your questions are welcome through the site as well.
\n <\/p>\n

Transcripts:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

A sad spruker story – BUYERS BEWARE – Shannon Davis<\/a><\/h2>\n

Kevin:<\/b>\u00a0 I\u2019m going to feature a question that came in \u2013 well, probably not so much a question as more a comment or a statement from Sandy, who shares an experience with us that I want to share with you because I think there\u2019s a lot of lessons inside this.
\n\u201cKevin, just writing about an unsuccessful investing experience.\u201d This is Sandy writing this message. \u201cI really enjoy the success stories of others but here\u2019s one from the other side.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve been interested in property for about 10 years and currently have 11 properties. It sounds reasonable on paper and could be marketed in a magazine as a success story if you stopped there. But the reality is I\u2019ve hardly any equity in those properties and all of them have underperformed in terms of their equivalents in even good markets like Sydney, and the majority are in dismally performing areas.\u201d
\n\u201cHow did I get myself into this situation?\u201d asks Sandy. \u201cI got spruiked. I blame myself and not the spruiker. Buyer beware, although I feel like there was a breach of trust in this process. I joined a well-known real estate mentoring group and was sold what I now realize overpriced, undesirable developer stock. There was little transparency in the process of the commissions the sales agent posing as a real estate mentor received.
\n\u201cI\u2019m now in the process of taking a $250,000-plus hit to steady the ship and start again, this time in the inner ring areas of the four major capital cities and most likely pay a buyer\u2019s agent a fee to find me something that ticks all the boxes \u2013 an expensive learning process and one that I would feel much better about had I chosen these properties myself, rather than pay for a mentoring program and then pay much more dearly for biased advice. Once again, buyer beware.\u201d
\nSandy says that she writes this as a warning to many of those looking at joining certain groups with underlying vested interests to sell you certain properties.
\n\u201cKevin, thank you for a great show. I listen to it regularly and religiously, and I find all your guests very interesting. I feel it\u2019s kept me on the property pathway rather than giving it up due to my recent failures. Kind regards, Sandy.\u201d
\nSandy, thank you so much for sharing that with us.
\nJoining me to talk about this, Shannon Davis from Metropole Property Strategists.
\nShannon, a really sad story there for Sandy. What would be your advice to her?
\nShannon:<\/b>\u00a0 I think first and foremost we have to educate ourselves. I think whenever we go to a supposed mentor \u2013 or in this case, spruiker \u2013 and say, \u201cI\u2019ve got money; what should I do with it?\u201d you\u2019re abdicating your responsibility and you\u2019re setting yourself up for failure with that.
\nSo let\u2019s educate ourselves first, and the best way to do that is to ask questions \u2013 and if a person\u2019s always bringing you back to a certain set of properties or a certain area to invest, it might be that they\u2019re in a process of selling property rather than selling investment strategies.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Sandy talks there about going to see this group, a well-known buying group, and I guess one of the warning signs is if they are representing property. In other words they come to you and say, \u201cLook, this is the solution. I think you should buy this,\u201d that is a warning sign, isn\u2019t it?
\nShannon:<\/b>\u00a0 Oh, yes, definitely. Stock lists: they\u2019re masquerading as sellers for developers, really. And you might be paying a commission but they\u2019re getting further undisclosed or disclosed commissions from the builders as well, and very little empathy as to whether you\u2019re going to get capital growth or not.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Shannon, there are a number of questions I want to ask you, one about working out what area you should be involved in, but Sandy did mention there her strategy of four major capital cities. What\u2019s your reaction to that?
\nShannon:<\/b>\u00a0 Yes, I think Sandy\u2019s on the right track there because she\u2019s starting to look for a little bit more scarcity. I think if it\u2019s a new area that you haven\u2019t really quite heard the name of that suburb before and it\u2019s stage one or stage five to go, there\u2019s not really a lot of scarcity in that investment, and at the end of the day, they\u2019re the properties that are going to be more prone to a correction or a big run on prices.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 So, mate, how would someone go about finding it an independent person to talk to about this?
\nShannon:<\/b>\u00a0 I think that they have no ties to anything at all. They can be unbiased and independent and survey each property for what it is and not on how they\u2019re going to get paid. I think if you\u2019re not paying the person working for you, buyer beware because obviously nothing\u2019s for nothing in this world and they\u2019re getting paid somewhere else, and that\u2019s going to compromise their advice.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Yes. I\u2019m going to repeat this little part because I think it\u2019s quite relevant. Sandy says, \u201cI write this as a warning to many of those looking at joining certain groups with underlying vested interests to sell you certain properties.\u201d
\nNow that\u2019s the key \u2013 that they actually will come to you and say, \u201cWell, look, here\u2019s a portfolio of properties.\u201d You\u2019re going to find that they\u2019re new. They\u2019re probably developer stock. If you do your research properly, Shannon and I would suggest to you that you\u2019d probably find that it\u2019s also grossly overpriced, because they tend to build their own commission in above on top of that, don\u2019t they?
\nShannon:<\/b>\u00a0 Yes, it\u2019s a very contrived market. Offer stock lists, like you said there, and they\u2019re going to really preach the tax deduction of buying new, but what you find out is you\u2019ve bought very expensive development stock that underperforms in areas of little known establishment, and moving forward, it\u2019s not quite the investment you thought it was.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Another warning sign will be if you are offered any kind of a rental guarantee. Normally what happens here\u2026\u2014You explain it, Shannon: what happens with a rental guarantee?
\nShannon:<\/b>\u00a0 Again, priced in. It originates to put new investors at ease, but again, it\u2019s priced into the price, and their biggest fear of finding a tenant, you pay a lot for that and you\u2019ll see a significant drop once those leases expire.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Yes, so effectively they build in\u2026 They\u2019re prepared to put in over the above rental that you would normally get for that property to make it look a lot more attractive in terms of its return, and as you said, once that guarantee runs out, it will go back to a normal rent, which is grossly under what it is now.
\nShannon:<\/b>\u00a0 Yes, that\u2019s right. And often, they\u2019ll recommend their own solicitors and own financiers as well to help it escape the scrutiny, as well.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Good talking to you, Shannon, thank you. A very timely warning. And, Sandy, thank you for sharing that experience with us, and I hope that\u2019s a great lesson for many other people, as well.
\nShannon, thanks for your time.
\nShannon:<\/b>\u00a0 Thanks, Kevin.
\n <\/p>\n

Green shoots emerge in WA – Damian Collins<\/a><\/h2>\n

Kevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Let\u2019s check in with another one of our experts who we spoke to this time last year \u2013 Damian Collins from a very interesting market, WA, from Momentum Wealth, buyer\u2019s agents in that state.
\nDamian, thank you very much for your company. Welcome to the new year, and happy New Year.
\nDamian:\u00a0 <\/b>Same to you, Kevin, and we certainly hope to see a happier new year than 2016 for people investing in the west.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Let\u2019s reflect on a few things that you made comments about this time last year.
\nDamian:\u00a0 <\/b>Well, I think in terms of the Perth market, by the time we get into this time next year \u2013 early 2017 \u2013 we\u2019re going to be saying we\u2019ve just seen the seeds of recovery. In the first half of the year, the market is probably going to be fairly similar to what it was in 2015\u00a0 \u2013 fairly flat and a tough rental market \u2013 but towards the end of the year, we\u2019ll start to see the signs of recovery as rental vacancy has peaked and started to drop back. A bit more confidence back in the West Australian market, and early stages of hopefully a reasonable upcycle \u2013 nothing significant, but a reasonable upcycle over the following years ahead.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>What about those green shoots, mate? Did they start to appear?
\nDamian:\u00a0 <\/b>Towards the end of the year, Kevin, we saw the median price growth start to tick up. Both [1:18 inaudible] <\/b>and CoreLogic saw growth in the final quarter in the median price. There are glimmers of hope on the horizon. Building approvals \u2013 which is the supply coming into the market \u2013 have certainly slowed down, but we still have low population growth.
\nWe\u2019re at the bottom of the cycle. Exactly where we are is always difficult to say, but 2017 is going to be another year of slow recovery. I\u2019d expect the prices to be fairly stable across the board, but you might find a few pockets here and there where you might do a bit better than the market. In the years ahead, there\u2019s still a strong long-term outlook for Perth, but short term, it\u2019s not going to rise in a hurry.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Was it a tougher market in 2016 than what you had anticipated, Damian?
\nDamian:\u00a0 <\/b>It was a little bit tougher, yes. We thought that the market might start to recover, and as I said, the median price showed it did towards the end, but I still think that might be a just quarterly blip.
\nThe population outflow was the big one that I think took people a bit more by surprise. It was evident that with the end of the mining construction boom, we\u2019d see a slowdown in population growth coming in, which we definitely did, but the number of people leaving and going out of state or overseas was higher than most people expected.
\nThat has held back the recovery. Going back 12 months ago, I would have thought coming into 2017, we\u2019d be starting to see it pick up from early 2017, but I still think that\u2019s going to be towards the end of the year or even in 2018 before we see a sustained, across-the-board recovery in the property market.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Do you see any opportunistic buying coming into the WA market, given the fact that things have come back a bit, Damian?
\nDamian:\u00a0 <\/b>That\u2019s where it is at the moment, Kevin. As you would know, you have Sydney, Melbourne at the other extreme where people are paying potentially over the top. They\u2019re at the other stage of the cycle, and we\u2019re at the bottom, so we\u2019re certainly getting some really good properties that in a normal market, you\u2019d find more competition, and we\u2019re getting them at exceptional prices.
\nIf you have a long-term vision, the fundamentals are there in Perth. The agricultural sector is going very strongly this year. It\u2019s not just mining. Mining is the big industry. Commodity prices have recovered. As we speak, it\u2019s about $80 (U.S.) a ton and has been for a little bit.
\nThe fundamentals are there. I think it\u2019s just confidence that holding people back. It\u2019s a great year to get those opportunistic ones, lock them away, and if you have a five- or ten-year horizon, you\u2019ll still do well.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Can you be a bit specific and tell us where you think some of the best opportunities lie right now in WA?
\nDamian:\u00a0 <\/b>We\u2019re certainly focused on being in proximity to infrastructure and particularly trains and future train lines. Obviously, we\u2019re seeing tourists spending a ton of money in New South Wales and Victoria. As the city gets bigger and more congested, people really focus on that public transport, and that becomes an important determination of where they want to live.
\nPerth is getting into that stage; it\u2019s two million now. We\u2019re focusing up in the Northern Corridor. We still like Warwick and Joondalup and Craigie up the Northern Corridor, and we still buy selectively in Forrestfield. It did have a bit of a run-up with the rezoning; it has come back a little bit, but there is still a train line going out there, which is going to make that area quite accessible to the city once that train line gets built, and it will be up and running in a couple of years.
\nSo really, the focus is on being near that important infrastructure, and still areas that are rezoning. That\u2019s another area we\u2019re focusing on. We\u2019re looking at where prospective rezoning is because that gives you that uplift. Even in a flatter market, we\u2019ve seen some rezoned properties jump 20% or 30%.
\nIt\u2019s really about doing a lot of research and picking out the best properties. The good thing at the moment in Perth is that you can do that. In 12 or 18 months, it will be a lot harder, because there will be a lot more competition.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>We\u2019re hearing some terrible stories around Australia about the tightening the banks are going through and what flow-through that\u2019s having for a lot of developers. Are you seeing any signs of that in WA at all, Damian?
\nDamian:\u00a0 <\/b>Yes, it certainly has. Because the confidence has been down for a couple of years, developers have really struggled to get projects off the ground. Getting the requisite number of presales has been very difficult, so we haven\u2019t had a substantial oversupply of apartments. Yes, there is a bit of an oversupply, but a lot of the projects haven\u2019t been built. We have more general oversupply in the market, whereas some of the other cities have a particular issue in apartments. So, it has been, and there have been some sales fallen over <\/b>in some development projects, but nothing substantial.
\nBut it certainly has affected investors. We\u2019ve had clients who <\/b>could potentially borrow $1.5 million before the changes; now it has pared back to about $800,000 or $900,000. So, it certainly has had an impact on people\u2019s borrowing capacity.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>We\u2019ve learned a lot of lessons out of the market of 2016.
\nDamian, all the best for this year. We\u2019ll talk to you as the year goes through, but thank you for giving us your time and your insight this morning on the show. Thank you.
\nDamian:\u00a0 <\/b>Pleasure, Kevin.
\n <\/p>\n

Broarden your investment horizon – Michael Yardney<\/h2>\n

Kevin:\u00a0 <\/b>With the residential markets slowing down or showing signs of slowing down, many people wonder if this could be a time to switch to commercial property. There are some differences. Let\u2019s find out exactly what they are. Michael Yardney joins me.
\nHi, Michael.
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/b>Hi, Kevin.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>You\u2019ve had experience with this, not only on behalf of the people you work with but personally, the differences between commercial and residential investment, Michael.
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/b>In my mind, they\u2019re very, very different investments, and while I can understand why some people are tempted to get into commercial property, I\u2019d be suggesting to leave it until later on in your investment career. It\u2019s really more an investment for the big boys.
\nWhat are commercial properties? There\u2019s a range. There are shops (which we call retail), factories and warehouses (which we call industrial), and offices (which we tend to call commercial). The big difference is that they\u2019re yield-based investments.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Does it take a different type of investor to become involved in those, Michael?
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/b>It depends in which stage of your investment career you are and what your investment philosophy is. To me, residential real estate is a high growth but low yield investment, and as I started to say, commercial is really a lower growth investment (because the increase of the values of commercial properties tends to be pegged to the CPI) <\/b>but they have a higher yield.
\nSome people say, \u201cIf the return is the same overall, why not go for the one with the high yield that gives me cash flow?\u201d The big thing, Kevin, is many beginning investors need to grow their asset base. And while yields are taxed, capital growth isn\u2019t, so it\u2019s much easier to build a big asset base using residential property, and then later in life, transitioning into the commercial field.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>If that\u2019s the case, Michael, then why do some people consider getting involved in commercial property?
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/b>I guess they\u2019ve noticed that institutional property investors as well as those investors of the BRW Rich 200 list own commercial properties, and they wonder why. They see them getting high yields; it seems a bit attractive. They don\u2019t understand the downsides, Kevin.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Michael, <\/b>I wonder if you would be kind enough to spend a minute or two and take us through what you see as the fundamental differences between commercial and residential investment.
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/b>Sure, I\u2019m happy to. I got involved in commercial real estate in the late 1970s when I bought my first factories, and. I did a lot of commercial and industrial development in the late 1980s. Great properties; some of them I still own.
\nInterestingly, since then \u2013 and that\u2019s 25 or 30 years \u2013 those properties have only doubled in value. They\u2019ve had good rental return, they\u2019ve not been vacant long, they\u2019ve had great tenants, but because they only go up much more slowly, they\u2019ve only doubled in value.
\nHaving said that, a lot of the residential real estate I own has doubled in value in eight or ten years, sometimes even five or six years if I\u2019ve done some developments. That means my wealth has grown because the rents have grown proportionally, as well.
\nSo, it\u2019s something I\u2019d be recommending people consider when they\u2019re at a different stage of their life, or maybe in their superfund where they\u2019re looking for more cash flow. I know I haven\u2019t answered your question about the big differences, but I thought that was an important place to start.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>It is indeed. You said that commercial properties tend to yield higher returns.
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/b>Yes, they do. Now, it depends upon the lease. The more secure the lease\u2026 If you have a lease to Officeworks for 15 years, you actually are prepared to accept a lower return than if you have a fish and chip shop leased to mom and dad.
\nFirst of all, if you want to get involved in commercial real estate, to get the benefits of the security of the long leases, you normally need much deeper pockets \u2013 firstly, because probably unless you\u2019re spending $2 million or $3 million, in my mind you\u2019re not buying an A-class commercial property; you\u2019re buying secondary properties \u2013 and you shouldn\u2019t do that.
\nThe other thing, Kevin, is banks will often only lend you maybe 60%, sometimes 70% of the value of the property. You need more deposit because they have lower loan-to-value ratios, and also many banks charge you a slightly higher interest rate.
\nOne of the big differences is that you need much deeper pockets and you need to be looking to get cash flow out of them.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Yes, we can see there are some fundamental differences there. I guess like anything, Michael, we should always take advice on this before you take those kinds of steps.
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/b>This even more so. Even the leases are complicated, Kevin, so you don\u2019t get the normal property manager to do those. You need a solicitor\u2019s advice for this. The due diligence is significantly different, and commercial real estate is very much more cyclical. It depends a lot more upon how the economy is going and what happens with interest rates, so a lot more homework and due diligence.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Michael Yardney from Metropole Property Strategists. Michael, thank you for your time and your insight. I appreciate it.
\nMichael:<\/b>\u00a0 My pleasure, Kevin.
\n <\/p>\n

When you are on a winner – stick to it! – Cherie Barber<\/h2>\n

Kevin:<\/b>\u00a0 We\u2019re going to check in with another one of our experts who we spoke to at this time last year about the property market and what they expected to have happen, and that is Cherie Barber.
\nHi, Cherie. Nice to have you back in the show again, and happy New Year to you.
\nCherie:<\/b>\u00a0 You, too, Kevin.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Cherie, let\u2019s have a listen to what you said this time last year.
\nCherie:\u00a0 <\/b>Moving forward, I think that for the next 12 months that property prices are probably going to come back in the order of 5%, particularly in the inner city rings. We just have to be mindful that the property market is not one market, Kevin. Moving forward, I think the outer metro ring, a little bit farther \u2013 50 K\u2019s onward \u2013 are going to get really good capital growth opportunities for anybody looking to renovate.
\nOnce somebody makes the decision to do renovating as their property strategy, generally your strategy remains the same. Typically you would just focus on a small cluster of suburbs. Instead of being a jack of all trades, you become a master of one. You focus on a small cluster of suburbs, so you\u2019re not spreading your wings too fine.
\nYou\u2019d be looking for the same sort of property deal after deal. In an ideal world, you\u2019d be renovating that property in the same manner, so almost adopting a cookie-cutter approach to how you renovate.
\nWhat I teach my students is not to get fancy on any cosmetic renovations, to work with a template that works. That comes down to color schemes, the type of kitchen cabinet you put in, the type of floorboards, what color you sand them, all that sort of stuff. All you do is just replicate that project after project so that your renovation projects become a production line, a cookie-cutter mentality. If it\u2019s cookie-cutter mentality, while it may not win you any design awards, what it will do is make you money, so people don\u2019t need to reinvent their strategy property after property.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 We\u2019re back live now with Cherie Barber. Cherie, you made some very good points in there. The opportunities for people to make money \u2013 which is what we focused on there in that last little segment \u2013 were there some good opportunities did you see last year?
\nCherie:<\/b>\u00a0 There were. There\u2019s definitely very strong interest in renovating still right across the country because the premise of renovating is all about adding value regardless of what the market is doing. Some states have suffered. Obviously, the Perth market has taken substantial losses in 2016. However, most of the other states from a renovation perspective really held their own. Most people in 2016 flipped from the buy, renovate, and sell strategy to the buy, renovate, and rent strategy, which is very lucrative right now.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Yes, we\u2019ll talk about that more in just a moment. I\u2019d love to get your insight into that. You made a very good point I thought \u2013 and you and I talked off-air about whether we should make this a national focus or a local focus. I think there is a danger for people to become too broad. In other words, I think you made the point in that segment about making sure that you work within the small cluster of suburbs and get to know them quite well. Is that still your premise?
\nCherie:<\/b>\u00a0 Absolutely. That\u2019s a problem. People chase renovation deals. They might be in one suburb one weekend and a couple months later, they\u2019ll be chasing a deal 20 K\u2019s away. I\u2019ve personally always adopted this theory of becoming a master of one, not a jack of all trades. I\u2019ve always applied that rule to my property investing, and I\u2019ve done very well.
\nCertainly for my students across the country, I say focus generally on a cluster of suburbs \u2013 five suburbs or less. Become an absolute expert at them, because then you know what\u2019s happening in those suburbs. You know what prices you should be buying at as a renovator. You know the likely demographics of who\u2019s either going to buy or rent that house when you finish your reno project.
\nAnd obviously, once you become a suburb expert it means that you can forecast your expected resale or revalue price before you even buy. When you become too broad, your ability to do that really gets hindered.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 You also mentioned in that segment about the cookie-cutter concept. I imagine if you had a formula \u00a0that worked and you\u2019d done it once or twice, would that make it easier to shop around and find the type of property in the area that you want, Cherie?
\nCherie:<\/b>\u00a0 It does. I do preach the merits of the cookie-cutter template to my students nationally. Yes, that makes us a little bit more boring. We\u2019re not going out an installing all the latest mod cons and all that sort of stuff. I am a big, firm believer of a cookie-cutter template for your renovation projects.
\nFor example, for my personal projects, all of my projects are the same color \u2013 the same internal wall color, the same external wall color. You never have two houses that are side by side, so it\u2019s not an issue.
\nWhen you adopt a cookie-cutter mentality, your renovation projects become nothing more than a production line where it\u2019s a different day, a different address. That\u2019s how you get time, cost, and process efficiency. Your tradies come on site. If you do the same thing, the same signature look, project after project, then your tradies automatically know what to do, so you\u2019re not reinventing the wheel, and that does save you a lot of money.
\nAlso, cosmetic renovations work best at a certain price point, and at the price point that cosmetic works financially, you don\u2019t need all the bells and whistles. You need to get in there, make the property look better than before \u2013 obviously to a good quality standard but it doesn\u2019t need to be a slick, modern, designer premise. That will cost you more money, which will erode your profits. In large part, it\u2019s about getting back to basics.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 You call it a cookie-cutter concept; I call it a winning formula. If you know it\u2019s going to work you have to recreate it. You said there about being boring. The only person who would get bored with that would be us ourselves because we\u2019re seeing it all the time, but bearing in mind that we\u2019re going to be selling these properties to different people, we\u2019re the only ones who are going to get bored with it, I would think, Cherie.
\nCherie:<\/b>\u00a0 That\u2019s true. For example, I\u2019m about to do my 100th<\/sup> renovation in the next couple of weeks, and for a large part of those, I have adopted the same cookie-cutter template for all of my projects. When you do that it just saves yourself a lot of headache. You don\u2019t have to go to Bunnings and buy new fixtures and fittings. You don\u2019t have to go to the paint store and look at 300 new paint swatches. Your life becomes very easy when you adopt a cookie-cutter production-like mentality for your renovation projects.
\nFor example, I obviously do Channel 10\u2019s The Living Room<\/i> and renovation shows overseas, and for those shows, I have to reinvent the wheel every single project. I can\u2019t use my cookie-cutter template on those projects because then they\u2019d say, \u201cYou\u2019re boring, Cherie. You\u2019re doing the same thing.\u201d So I have to reinvent the wheel. I tell you what. It causes me so much frustration in getting paint colors wrong, in choosing a kitchen laminate that doesn\u2019t look as good as my normal cookie-cutter template, so there is a lot of merit for sticking with a winning formula.
\nOnce you get a winning color scheme, a color scheme that is timeless that won\u2019t date, that will still look great in 10 years, and fixtures and fittings that appeal to the majority of people \u2013 once you have that template, just roll it out project after project so that you do maximize your renovation returns.
\nIt\u2019s a very, very, simple concept, but people try and over-engineer things or they try and win design awards. At the end of the day, I don\u2019t need a trophy on my mantelpiece to say I\u2019m the best designer; my renovation projects need to make money.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Okay. Fast forward to this time next year, will you still be saying that buy, renovate, and hold is the strategy for 2017?
\nCherie:<\/b>\u00a0 Absolutely. It\u2019s getting very difficult. It doesn\u2019t matter what state of Australia you\u2019re in, it\u2019s very difficult to buy, renovate, and sell if you\u2019re doing a cosmetic renovation. With the high entry and exit costs of a renovation project these days, it\u2019s very hard to get the numbers to stack up.
\nI do believe that the buy, renovate, and rent strategy has a lot less cost involved. It also means that if people are not selling their property on completion of their renovation, they\u2019re going to be renting it out to a tenant. A tenant technically should pay all of the mortgage. If not, and they\u2019re still in a situation where they\u2019re forking out a bit of cash, most of that they\u2019re going to claim back. The owner of the property will claim that back on negative gearing benefits anyway, whereas structural renovations are still very strong for buy, renovate, and sell.
\nObviously, we have the two types of renos \u2013 structural renos and cosmetics. The structurals are buy, renovate, and sell \u2013 no problem there in most states of Australia. But for cosmetics, it\u2019s definitely buy, renovate, and rent.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Well done, Cherie. You can catch Cherie, of course, at her website RenovatingForProfit.com.au or catch her on Channel 10\u2019s The Living Room <\/i>Friday nights. A great show, too.
\nCherie, thank you so much for your time, and all the best for this year.
\nCherie:<\/b>\u00a0 Thank you so much, Kevin. It\u2019s a pleasure always.
\n <\/p>\n

ICE properties – what areyour tenants up to? –\u00a0Bryan Goodall<\/h2>\n

Kevin:<\/b>\u00a0 We\u2019ve reported on this in the past, and more and more, we\u2019re starting to see this emerge as a major problem now. If you are the owner of a property \u2013 an investment property or even your own personal home, probably more so an investment property \u2013 you\u2019re going to really want to have a listen to what we have to say in the next few minutes.
\nBryan Goodall is the National Sales Manager for a company that is called Octief. Basically, Bryan, your company is on top of the situation with regard to detecting methamphetamine poisoning in properties.
\nGood morning, and welcome to the show.
\nBryan:<\/b>\u00a0 Good morning, Kevin. Thank you very much for having me.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 I read with interest that at least one state government is finding it difficult to get on top of this, paying about $400,000 just to clean up some homes that have been poisoned with methamphetamine. That was in Victoria.
\nBryan:<\/b>\u00a0 That\u2019s absolutely right. And in fact, we use New South Wales as another example. Each year, they knock down six to ten homes that are probably so contaminated that they\u2019re not economically worth cleaning. It\u2019s a massive problem everywhere you go.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Is this increasing? Are you noticing it increasing?
\nBryan:\u00a0 <\/b>The awareness is certainly increasing. We know that the usage \u2013 and we talking per capita \u2013 has nearly tripled in the last five years in Australia. Contamination therefore is bound to increase, also.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Correct me if I\u2019m wrong, Bryan. It\u2019s not so much the fact that people are endangering themselves with this but the poisoning that\u2019s left behind on properties is both hard to clean up and also quite harmful to innocent people like children and even adults.
\nBryan:<\/b>\u00a0 Absolutely. To be quite fair, I think that most people who are using \u2013 as in they\u2019re smoking methamphetamine \u2013 they\u2019re not necessarily out to harm anybody else or to do damage to a property or anything else, but they\u2019re just not aware either of the effects that they\u2019re having.
\nThe chemical contamination that they leave behind is both invisible \u2013 you can\u2019t see it and can\u2019t necessarily smell it \u2013 and you have innocent people who come into that room. You might have a future tenant, for example, and they have a small child. No one knows that that contamination is there, and then people start getting sick.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 The onus of investment properties relies very much on property managers to keep them on top of these types of situations. Are they aware of how widespread this is, and are they testing?
\nBryan:<\/b>\u00a0 Some are testing. I\u2019d say that the majority are not testing. It\u2019s quite concerning. I\u2019ve spoken to a number of property managers in the last probably six months or so, and there are a lot of people who don\u2019t believe we have an issue, they don\u2019t see that there\u2019s a real problem there, and they have their heads buried in the sand a little bit.
\nThere\u2019s a real differentiating fact here between if we\u2019re talking about a manufacturer\u2019s house, like a clandestine lab where people have been manufacturing methamphetamine inside the house. That\u2019s quite well-known and the awareness is out there. There are movies like Breaking Bad<\/i>, etc. where people already have an image in their heads of what they\u2019re doing to a house and the kind of contamination that can be left. That\u2019s one problem.
\nThe other problem is \u2013 like we say \u2013 from people smoking, where we can\u2019t see it, we can\u2019t smell it, we don\u2019t even know that contamination is there, and that\u2019s a whole different story to deal with.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 What are the signs that a property manager should be looking out for?
\nBryan:<\/b> \u00a0Like I said, Kevin, if we\u2019re talking about a house that\u2019s been smoked in, there literally are no signs. It could be as clean and tidy as your house or my house. There\u2019s no staining and are no smells. You don\u2019t know until people start getting sick.
\nQuite often, that\u2019s when these properties are discovered \u2013 when someone has been admitted to hospital on a number of occasions and no one quite knows why they\u2019re getting sick. They get removed from that environment and they start getting well again, and they go back into that environment and they start getting sick. Then testing is done and we realize that there is, in fact, contamination there.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Is there a low-level test that property managers can do to see if this is happening?
\nBryan:<\/b>\u00a0 There certainly is. That\u2019s actually a service that we offer. We call it our Methamphetamine Baseline Screening. That\u2019s a test where we would come out to your premises. We would take samples, send them to the laboratory, and the laboratory would actually give us a result to tell us whether there\u2019s contamination there. From that early result, we can also tell whether the contamination is from manufacture or from use, as well.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 We\u2019ve already covered the cost of cleaning up, and that can be quite extensive. It just depends on the amount of poisoning. What does one of those tests cost?
\nBryan:<\/b>\u00a0 The laboratory test is $550 including GST, and that\u2019s available in metro areas.
\nKevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Certainly something that property managers should be looking into and certainly property owners should be well and truly aware of. If you want to get a bit more information, the website is Octief.com.au.
\nMy guest has been Bryan Goodall. Bryan, thank you very much for your time.
\nBryan:<\/b>\u00a0 Thank you, Kevin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Today we share a sad story with you. Sandy wrote to me with a tale that we can all learn from.\u00a0\u201cBUYER BEWARE\u201d as Sandy says.\u00a0 We could also say that if it looks too good it generally is. We get expert comment on Sandy\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176692471,"featured_media":10345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,11,13,24],"tags":[70,101],"class_list":["post-10344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kevin-turner-sponsored-channels","category-kevin-update","category-latest-story","category-shows","tag-featured","tag-podcast"],"yoast_head":"\nA warning about \u2018sprukers\u2019 \u2013 BUYERS BEWARE + ICE properties + \u2018Cookie Cutter\u2019 renos - Realty Talk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/a-warning-about-sprukers-buyers-beware-ice-properties-cookie-cutter-renos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A warning about \u2018sprukers\u2019 \u2013 BUYERS BEWARE + ICE properties + \u2018Cookie Cutter\u2019 renos - Realty Talk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  Today we share a sad story with you. Sandy wrote to me with a tale that we can all learn from.\u00a0\u201cBUYER BEWARE\u201d as Sandy says.\u00a0 We could also say that if it looks too good it generally is. 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