Renovate or Relocate

Renovate/Relocate

RENOVATE OR RELOCATE OR RELOCATE then RENOVATE? Mmmmmmmm Never designed these, just like the attention to detail. Floor tiles different sizes. Counter heights. Very Nice Taps. Granite Tops. Gas. Microwave. Under counter lighting, stylish overhead lighting. Kettle station? Why nothing on the side of the peninsula?

Bedroom and Bathroom fit for a FIVE STAR Hotel, or for YOU!

NO MONEY LEFT FOR CURTAINS! MOVE OR STAY – The dilemma begins! As a property Investor, I have faced this problem many times and done both many times. Some even with success. (We try not to mention the failures – One still “haunts” me to this day!) Before you even begin to do the SUMS, try this technique. Step One. Grab an A4 piece of paper and draw a line down the centre. One side write STAY! Other side write MOVE! As fast as you can, write down 10 reasons to move, then, on the other side, ten reasons to stay. (Important - Time yourself for each section, write down the time as soon as you reached TEN) Step Two. Then add as many additional reasons after each side has TEN to your list. Do that NOW. Which list has more “Reasons” that is always a good indication; the TIME you took to get to the TEN Reasons is just as important. So that should take care of the EMOTIONAL SIDE, let’s look at the MONEY SIDE. A possible problem you face is if you are not willing to PAY a professional for professional unbiased information, you are going to get the opinion of a biased person. Just so you know there is no personal GAIN for KitchenGuys whatsoever. Our thinking is: - If you STAY, one day you will do your kitchen, if you MOVE, one day you will do your kitchen. ISSUES. Other peoples opinions? If you speak to a contractor, they say RENOVATE. (They want the business) Speak to an estate agent they going to say RELOCATE. (It is in their interest to sell your place and earn some NICE commission.) Won’t take too long before you will find yourself between a Rock and a Hard place. “DO IT YOURSELF” and if you get it wrong! Will it be costly, painful, and if you get it wrong (like I did) you will remember it forever. Besides it being costly it could even be VERY costly! Ask yourself, if I get this WRONG, what will it cost my family financially; what will it cost me emotionally? Perhaps now would be a really good time to “Invest” in your future, look up PROPERTY VALUATOR and phone them. (Professional – NOT Estate agent) So what is in in it for YOU? They will come along, give you an Unbiased PROFESSIONAL Valuation on your property. They will give you a report on all the things right and wrong, as well as a report on all the property sold in your area. Now that is VALUABLE information, especially the part when they tell you all the things right and all the things wrong with your home. Knowledge is Power, use of Knowledge is REAL power. NO? – Still not into that Idea? (Remember, we are the KITCHEN GUYS, not property analysts! So this is just our humble opinion, use it, don’t use it!) Think about WHY you want to move. (Being transferred to LONDON!– Well Goodbye and Good Luck) Get professional packers to come and do the packing for you and double check the move insurance! Some horror stories about trying to claim afterwards and the repudiation. If you are going to do it yourself, start saving lots of quality Boxes, tape, labels, koki pens, and possibly money for storage. NEXT STEP, MONEY I$$UES. The Cost to MOVE – To keep the figures simple, in this example, we are working on a MILLION BUCKS. Sell your place - Estate Agent fees 7% + VAT. (70K + VAT = 79, 800.00 (Call that 80K) Well move to where? Around the corner, around the world? (Add Breakage) Add + _______? Best possible Insurance cover to Move! Sell stuff before you move? Cost? Supply the Electrical (Legitimate) Certificate – Add a Grand or Seven. Penalty for cancelling your Bond. (You are supposed to give them three-month notice) Buy the New house – Ah, Transfer Fees. Nice, the Government loves that one. Lawyer Fee’s – Ah, Lawyers love that one as well. New place is more expensive than the old place? – Add insurance – Death / Life insurance to cover the new bond. Painting the OLD place before you SELL, Don’t forget to tidy up the Garden, and clean Pool? (1X Blue52 Shock treatment and Blue52 every week.) Paint the NEW place before you move IN. Walls, Garden, and Pool? Deposit at the Council. HINT * Settling the old Rates & Tax’s will be done by the transferring Attorneys. BUT make sure you go in yourself and EYEBALL someone to make sure you have an account that up to date and clean with no queries. Else, it could take months to do the transfer. If you NEED that Money and the council has lost your documentation (again) your will cry. If your “Occupational Rent” for where you are moving to, (or From) is not sorted out, this is another PAINFUL and expensive experience you don’t need. Your furniture is either too big, or too small, something has to give. What is it and what will it cost. New area? – New Schoolbooks, uniforms, schedules and . . . . Rates, Taxes, Electricity, etc. for NEW place may well be a lot higher than your current place! Consideration - Interest might go up. (Everything goes UP) what is you new bond. What will you need for that? Maybe at this rate you will need ANOTHER A4 page TOTAL COST FOR THE MOVE IS __________________________________ So the MOVE bit. You are always better off with the Worst House in the Best Area, than a Great house in a poor area. Especially if you love renovating. If the Wife hates the dust and dirt, maybe not so much then! Alternatively, move out whilst you do the 3 month renovation! That could be taxing on the Marriage. Remember the LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION is always key. Kids and pets on a main road, is looking for trouble. Back to :- STAY MOVE WHERE DO YOU FALL? Just so you know, most (not all) people sell because of the “FOUR D’s” :- DEATH, DIVORCE, DEBT, DOWNGRADE (or UPGRADE) If you are going to Up-Grade or Down-Grade, then this info is most likely to help you the most. Well at least now, you know what you are in for (sort-of ) If you fall into the other groups, Sorry to hear that and may GOD Bless and Guide You. If you are an Atheist . . . . You walk alone! The COST of House Hunting is something very few people take into consideration. Financial, Emotional and Time consuming. If you feel embarrassed about looking at their home when the owner is there cooking supper. REMEMBER you are spending a Million bucks (+), so don’t be SHY, Don’t RUSH! Look! Re -Check your MUST HAVE LIST at all times. Rate every place, (1-10) and take at least 20 photos of every place you look at. Write down notes and compare every place before you drive off to view the next place. SHOULD WE STAY! Look at the price of what other property has sold for in your area. Is your house better or worse, take the dogs for a walk and go look! So you did not want to pay for a Professional Evaluator, . . . Knock on the door and say, “I see you have a SOLD sign, well done, I live around the corner, and would you mind telling me what you sold your home for?” What was the asking price, what was the selling price? I.e. Asking 1.1 Mill and sold for One Mill. Mmmm Do not forget to do the HIDDEN MATH, LESS this, and Less that, and add VAT, Plus. . . Less the outstanding Bond, plus cancellation fees, Insurance, Breakage. Should I leave out the part about NEW CURTAINS, blinds, etc. Did we mention the TV dish, cabling, DSTV? If you stay and RENOVATE what is that cost of the renovation and add that as a CLEAR COST to STAY. If you have access to an Access bond – The Cost of a R200K renovation will be around 2K a month, but do your own sums. Current Bond, Insurance, Rates & Taxes, etc. PLUS Renovation Monthly cost. = New RENOVATED TO MY TASTE MONTHLY COST = R__________________ Now add up all your RELOCATE COSTS- Your detailed homework will show. . . . You sell your place (Example) 1Mill LESS all the obvious and not so obvious cost for the MOVE, including the transfer, moving, legal, , etc., etc. = 25% Means you get 750K clear after the sale of 1Mill now deduct the current Bond and you are left with. . . = Your NETT PROFIT. NEW PLACE, Monthly Bond, Insurance, Rates & Taxes, etc. PLUS all the hidden costs. = New RELOCATE MONTHLY COST = R__________________ DO YOUR HOMEWORK, then decide. . . . MOVE or STAY! NO MATTER WHAT! Kitchen, Bathrooms, Cupboards, Gardens, Pool & Entertainment space is what sells a place to YOU and sells your place to someone else. KITCHENGUYS can help you with your Bathrooms, Cupboards and Kitchens, but not with the emotional side of . . . . RELOCATE OR RENOVATE? THE GOAL = THE GOAL IS HASSLE FREE, QUICK, PAINLESS TRANSACTION. Don’t give a potential buyer the opportunity to start to question anything about your property. Don’t let them think “This place needs a lot of work. . . . “ Funny how you expect the place you want to BUY to be perfect, yet the place you are selling, the tap is leaking, walls need a good scrub, dead plants, etc. Every fault you see when looking at a possible new home. Ask yourself, is my home that perfect, or should I fix that i$$ue so I can get my asking price! Before you put in an OFFER TO PURCHASE, get up at 04h30 in the morning, drive to the new place you want to buy. Preferably Monday morning (Not the Weekend) wait until 06h30 and drive to your place of work. Look at the Time & Traffic. Your wife needs to do the same, drop the Kids off, and then drive to her place of work (Worst possible scenario) and time yourself. You could be in for a nasty shock or a pleasant surprise. Then that evening, reverse the procedure, back to the new place. Time versus Traffic. PAINFUL – YES, but better you get up for one day and see what you are in for than MOVE and discover, you made a MISTAKE (Like I did) “Forearmed is Forewarned” as my darling Mother would say. Me! – I say “Caution Costs Nothing!” After you survived that, then ask for the latest legal PLANS of the property. If the plans and the property look correct, then put in you offer. Let the CALCULATOR do the talking not your emotions. There is a GOLDEN RULE in Property that says “YOUR FIRST OFFER IS USUALLY YOUR BEST OFFER” Personally I have made an offer that was rejected. Then I bought a place across the road. Later I was asked if my offer still stood. (Hell NO) and they SOLD FOR LESS than my Offer. So we both lost out. If the average house is being sold for 1.7 and your place is valued around that price, you already know what the renovations are going to cost you and what you are going to get. Observation :- Renovation = R200K, Value of property 1.7, Total 1.9. Now that is just above 10% of the average, but now YOU know what you are going to get, no guessing. You HAVE the Kitchen of your dreams, you HAVE high end Bathrooms and LOADS of Cupboards space. All done to YOUR taste. Now you KNOW what you are getting and you have no unpleasant surprises. The Difference between what you got and what you will get (%) means you will NOT be over capitalising. However, if your renovations are equal to the cost of the move. Then RECAP - Look at your LIST when you started this exercise. Then the ESCALATION of property Values in the AREA over the past five years is a serious consideration. NOW, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU KNOW. Then again . . . YOU DON’T KNOW, WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW! (But remember what my Mom taught me) Trust this has questioned your thinking. Welcome to my world, we do this every day! KitchenGuys – Push the Envelope. Don’t conform, Dare to be different. Question Everything! Written by:- NORMAN WEGERLE – The Design Guy at KitchenGuys Let me know if you found this useful and what else I can add to HELP the next person.

norman@kitchenguys.co.za

We DID DESIGN this, and built it, including the Roof, the ONE WAY glass, the Rock Art, Security Gate. Not too shabby for a Kitchen (Guys) company! See what I mean about “Dare to be Different” IMAGINE - What we can do for YOU!

We did this bathroom with loads of mirrors in a Cottage with cupboards in the bathroom. Worked out nicely.

I did design this Kitchen with a FRENCH Flair and antique feel to it.

Up-Size Down- Size. My humble Thoughts. If you are UP-Grading / UP-Sizing, you need to do it in a SLOW / Weak Market / Buyers’ Market. That means from NOW April 2015, by Dec 2015 you will see the Market start to change over. The DAYS LISTED of properties will reduce quite a bit; your SEVEN Good Years / Seven BAD Years will change over as from 2016. Well that is just my thinking. If you see what FIRST TIME BUYERS are experiencing, these smaller homes (JHB – Northern suburbs 1.3 Mill small home, DO NOT stay on the market long and are sold quickly and for virtually the asking price.) However, test everything for yourself, do your HOMEWORK! If you are DOWN SIZING, you want to do this when the Market is STRONG / Sellers’ Market – (NEXT YEAR or the year after.) Although you are paying more for the place you are buying, you are getting more for the place you are selling. i.e. NOW - April 2015 - Your place currently can sell for 1.5M the place you want to buy is 1Milll 2016 / 2017 - Your place has now gone up 10% year 2016 + another 10% in 2017 So 1.500 + 10% = 1.650 then another 10% so the value of the property is now 1.815 (Less all the hidden selling Costs. – But let’s just keep it simple that is a difference of near 315 000.00) Now try to SAVE 315 000.00 bucks in TWO YEARS! ! ! ! – GO ON I DARE YOU! Oh and RENT a container or a Storage unit for 6 months. Moving from a Big place to a small place, is something you don’t want to do too often – So when you as ask yourself about an item, say “OH That! – Just stick it in storage”. If you miss it, go fetch it. If not sell it. SIX Months will go by very quickly. This way there is an opportunity to keep just about all the things you have doubt about. Keep / Sell? OK so let’s look at what you wanted to buy was 1.M + 10% + 10% for year two is now selling For 1.21 for the new place but you made around 315K by waiting, so that gives you 105K up. Which may or may not be a sizeable chunk of Money. It depends on how long will it take you to save 105K – That will quickly determine which side of the fence you are on? Things you need to take seriously when selling. Remember the “GOAL” on selling your place? – (Look it up.) Some things you need to take seriously. DE-CLUTTER – Be ruthless, a de-cluttered place is MUCH bigger than a cluttered place. CLEANLINESS – Clean everything – NOW is a good time to SPRING CLEAN - LIFE STYLE – What Life style are you buying into? – Well what Lifestyle are you SELLING? WHY WOULD YOU BUY WHAT IS THE FIRST IMPRESSION? Can they move right in – Now – Today? Why not? - What will they have to do (the obvious things?) Can’t you fix that ahead of time. Less problems. Quicker sale. At Asking Price! Stand outside your property. Look at your property. You have seen a few other properties by now. What was your FIRST Impression on those. Well now look at your property. Good? – Could be better with a small amount of work! I have ridden up to homes, and not even got out of the car. So remember “You NEVER get a Second Chance to create a First Impression”. People will not buy your place if they think it needs “TOO MUCH WORK” What is too much work? – You will never find out because they will buy somewhere else. Worn out carpet, Paint, ( bit inside, bit Outside) Broken Tile in the bathroom – Garden has weeds. Grass needs cutting – Pool is Green. Roof tile broken. Cracked Window “Pain” All simple things to fix in a weekend or 8 hours of hard work, but to the new home-buyer that means “NEEDS TOO MUCH WORK!” and not even a ridiculous offer. I love all this stuff, it allows me to put in an offer of 70% of asking price. Usually they say “HO - NO” but my best offer has been 71% of asking price and the offer was concluded. So when I tell you these things, it is not hypothetical. It happens, and I do it. What is the THREE Best features about your current home * * * (list them and enhance them) What is the three WORST * * * (List them and FIX them) What is the single most important character in your place? Make sure no one overlooks this feature. Neat & Tidy. That is not difficult to do. Take photos and look at the photos – Untidy? Layout & Flow. Clean all tiles in every room that has tiles. Vinegar. If you have to de-grout, and re-grout the tiles, that is easy, just do it. Outside any CTM, you will find Tilers, Even Builders Warehouse. CTM is safer. That is not going to cost you more than R 500.00 for labour and grout. But if you don’t, it could cost 10 times that as a starting point – or NO OFFER AT ALL. KitchenGuys – We know a thing or two about renovating, we know what the finished product looks like before we even start. That is a gift few people have. Need to know about Kitchens and Bathrooms, cupboards? We are your guys. Phone us 083 747 1182 - Else click on CONTACT US. KitchenGuys - Randburg.