Duplex Reno adds $94,200

Renovation Success past participant Audra Finlay is looking forward to brushing the dust out of her hair and enjoying a night of glitz and glamour at the Property Woman of the Year Awards Dinner on 20^th February, where she’s one of the lucky finalists. That’s a fantastic achievement considering Audra, 41, only started seriously investing in property in June 2008 when she realized her other investments weren’t performing.

Ailing assets

Back then, she’d just moved to Brisbane and bought a house to share with her husband-to-be, Darryn, who was a first time homeowner. “It was at the end of this purchase that our finance broker advised us that we still had the capacity to be able to purchase another property if we wanted to. We were very conservative with what we thought we could afford and purchase at that time,” says Audra. “We were diversified in Shares and Managed Funds and started to notice from approximately April 2007 that things were not looking good with our asset values, which also included our Superannuation funds.  In fact, by the end of 2008 we had lost approx 68% of our capital value which was horrifying, so we decided that we needed to take urgent action by diversifying even more through property if we wanted to retire considerably earlier than when the government tells us that we need to.”

Inspiration strikes

Audra started to do some research. “At the time I was reading some books by successful Australian property investors and decided that I wanted to achieve a property for each of our six children and one grandchild. These books highlighted the fact that we could take control of our financial destiny.”

Audra’s first investment was a renovation project of a 2x2 bedroom Duplex pair. “Darryn’s first impression was, ‘Oh, my dear, we aren’t possibly serious about putting an offer on this are we… it’s a mess and in such disrepair’. My reaction,” says Audra, was, ‘Oh, how PERFECT!’ We did our numbers (back of an envelope, Reno Kings style) and then we put forward what we thought was a reasonable price for the property based on the condition and the information we released from the real estate agent.” Two days later they were under contract, with one slight hitch: Audra and Darryn were due to fly to Vanuatu for their wedding and honeymoon and wanted to close the deal before they went. Unfortunately, administrative delays meant they spent some of their time on their honeymoon sorting things out via email. But the hassle paid off: after the deduction of renovation costs they manufactured a capital growth of $115K and an additional rental income of $8,320 pa. (to read more about how they achieved this Click here)

Property bug bites

Since then Audra has invested in seven more properties to renovate, subdivide or develop. “Once we started we loved the transformation that we were seeing in the properties by renovating them and now have the “bug” for property investing. We also have the satisfaction of seeing our capital worth grow as our knowledge and experience grows, but we are still having fun in the process.”

Audra’s property portfolio has grown to $4million in two years and she enjoys $12K monthly rental income. Audra puts her impressive results down to two things: “The Reno Kings Renovation Success Online Home Study Course was great value and no matter how many times I go back over it, I pick up more valuable tips for the next renovation giving us even more value adding potential.  And the Property Women Conference in Oct’09 was great.  It was inspirational to hear from other Property Women of their successes and their sharing of their knowledge was invaluable.  I had the opportunity to network with other likeminded women investors and have made some great friends as a result.”

Interstate Renovation

What does Audra have planned next?  "Late February 2010 we are taking two weeks annual leave to drive down to Adelaide with the trailer in tow to do a major renovation on a duplex pair.  We have put in a great deal of preparation work for this in purchasing all our materials prior to our departure." The renovation will entail : repair of termite damage, bathroom rejuvenation, total replacement of kitchen, patching and painting external walls and all internal ceilings, walls and architraves, air conditioning and ceiling fans installations, strip out carpet and vinyl and repair floorboards and polish, plus window furnishings, tree removal and landscaping.  No small undertaking, and from 2,500km away!


Reno Queen?

We at Reno Kings are keeping our fingers crossed that Audra wins the coveted Property Woman of the Year award at the Property Women Inaugural Gala Awards Dinner in Brisbane on 20^th February 2010. If you’d like to attend the dinner, or find out more about Property Women, Click here.

If you you’d like to do the next Renovation Success Online Home Study Course and learn how to achieve results like Audra, the  Course starts on 12^th February, 2010.  Click here to reserve your place.