Bus Trip Blog by Barry Edwards
Your committee's decision to postpone our monthly meeting for a week due to the Masters Games proved to be a wise one with only a couple of vacant seats on the 45 seater bus left. We left the Racecourse at 7pm and proceeded to one of Pahia's houses in Glasgow St. He bought it about 3 years ago and is getting about a 15% return on it now. A tidy house and an excellent investment.
Our next stop was at Shaun Browns place in Aramoho. Shaun bought this place six months ago and gutted it, regibbed, rewired ect, ect. With a new kitchen and bathroom he has put it back on the market. Once costs, tax and consideration for lost wages are taken out it is quite a gutsy move and the margin isn't as good as everyone thinks ( my opinion only ). Good luck Shaun. I bet it was a real sharp learning curve.
We then went to two of mine in Aramoho. Both two bedroom houses, but in one of them I had converted a sun room into a bedroom. I did not do my homework very well when purchasing this one as it has a major condensation problem during winter. Partly due to location, construction type, gas heating and lack of internal ventilation. To rectify and fix the problems it has caused has cost me over 5k, and even then it has not entirely fixed everything. Just minimized it. A DVS may be next.
We then went into the city to look at two of Pam Cashman's houses and one of Phil Sedcole's flats. It was interesting to hear Pams comments on converting a house into a commercial venture increased its versatility and therefore its salability and price.
The bus then took us over to Wanganui East to look at another one of Phil's flats. He expressed the importance of checking the layout of the roof when purchasing, and picking the right tenant when they are living in close proximity of each other.
A few streets away and we where outside two more of my houses. Pam commented that a shared driveway between the two houses had a negative effect on the price of the houses.
We then went and visited two blocks of chalets. One in the process of being subdivided. In the other the units are being done up individually and then relet with a much higher rent. Eventually to be subdivided.
The examples we saw that evening are just some of the many different aspects of property investing. From hold and rent, hold to develop and rent, to develop and sell, through to subdivide and sell. Each reflecting their owners skills and expertise.
I was impressed with the honesty and openness from the committee members who's houses we visited and would like to thank them very much for sharing this information with us all. Many thanks also to Suttons, Mortgage Link and ANZ for supplying goodies for our goody bag. Plus Vicky Davies who put them all together just in time.
PS: After revealing that I had not had any problems with my tenants or rent for 18 months, a couple of days later a tenant gave me 3 weeks notice. I have since relet the two bedroom Aramaho house out at $170 per week ( a $10 increase ). I received about 12 calls from one add in a Saturday paper. Five people went through the house and I am very happy with the tenant I have picked ( so far ). So there is still some demand for rentals.
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