Renovate To Recession-Proof

By the age of 26 many people haven’t yet worked out what to do with their life, but Sydney-based Melissa Xiang has spent her time wisely and is already a successful property investor, with six renovations under her belt.

Melissa bought her first property, a tiny studio at Pott’s Point in Sydney’s Inner East, when she was just eighteen.

“I paid $105,000 for it in 2000. I was able to get $170 per week rent for it, but I had a bad tenant experience. It taught me to keep on top of rent arrears, even if your agent doesn’t!   In 2002, I realised the property would always have high tenant turnover due to its size so I sold it for $164,000.”

Melissa borrowed a $20,000 deposit from her parents for her second property in Spring Hill, Brisbane, which she paid back a few years later. She’s since bought several properties in Sydney’s Inner East, as well as properties in Melbourne, Adelaide and Queensland.

Due Diligence

“For the interstate properties, I do lots of research to understand an area before I decide whether it’s the right place to invest. Then I take a few days off work to go and inspect as many properties as possible. Before I arrive I organise appointments with most agents in the suburb and ask to see all of their suitable stock; at the end of my time there I choose the best property.”

Melissa cuts down on stress by ensuring her interstate purchases are low maintenance so she can just buy and hold, which means she can spend her time renovating and adding value to properties closer to home.

“Renovations are hard work, and require lots of on-location organisation and decision-making so I like to keep my eye on them. I’ve learnt that things always go wrong in a renovation! You have to be prepared with some contingency funds and to make speedy decisions.”

Time Management

Melissa’s time-management skills have taught her to invest the most effort where she will get the most reward.

“Sometimes it’s better to get a professional in to do a job (eg. tiling) rather than attempt it yourself - it will take you four times as long and the quality won’t be as good. I took a load to the tip once: it took me an hour to load up the van, an hour there and back, and another hour to clean the van afterwards. Now I get professional rubbish removalists who do the job in 30mins.”

Good Investment

In property investing, it’s vital to spend your time and money wisely but, as a beginner, it can be hard to know where to get good advice.  As a busy woman with a full-time job and plans to start a family, Melissa is a fan of Reno Kings’ flexible Home Study Course. “It’s a good introduction to renovation; it covers a very broad range of subjects with some in-depth focus on a few areas; and it’s great for students to be able to access the course and not be restricted by location or time.”  And that is time well spent.

The Reno Kings' want to help you to make the best use of your time and money.  Get access to the Reno Kings' Free Videos Series on renovating in a recession: the rewards, the risks and what it takes to be successful.  Click here to register for your free videos now.

To read more on Melissa's experiences and tips and to see before and after images of the property from which she made a net gain of $65,000 on in just 10 months and with only a $10,000 renovation, Click here.