Renovate the Family home !?!?

There is a heap of good reasons why you might renovate the family home.
1  If you have owned the home for more than ten years it is likely your largest family asset.
2  For a modest outlay of between one percent and ten percent of the home value you can uplift the home value through renovating. One should aim for a high rate of earnings return on your renovation expense, a three times return is entirely possible.
3  One can renovate in your own time and at your own pace, either, as a do it yourself or through contractors.
4  Some simple and low cost renovation ideas, can make a disproportionally favourable impact, on the home value.
5  A wealth of advisory consultants and services are available for the home renovator.
6  A home renovation will make your home more comfortable and enjoyable place to live.
7  If you employ your friends and family labour expenses can be minimal.
8  An investment in energy and water savings renovation measures, can cut your Utility bills, as well as make the home more comfortable.
9  A family home renovation is likely to have major tax advantages, over just about any other investment or business area.

10  Rather than moving house, as your family changes, a home renovation is likely to be far more cost efficient.

11  Big box Hardware stores like Home Depot, B&G, Lowes, Bunnings and Masters will provide low cost materials, renovation advice, including access to recommended contractors.
12  One of my favourite ideas is to renovate during the holidays. This means arrange a contractor, book the holidays, go on holiday, return to find the home renewed, renovated and revitalised. Then revalue to fund your dreams!

new Freeway enhances Suburb Appeal

A new freeway is one of the best indicators for growth in a new suburb. Currently, here in Melbourne a big new freeway is being built which will connect the Eastlink tollway, Mornington Peninsula freeway and Peninsula link. Its due to open by March, 2013. I think it will be a roaring success.  It links the popular holiday Mornington peninsula suburbs to Melbourne. Arguably, it will cut driving travel times by 30 minutes to Melbourne and one will encounter only a one traffic light.

The suburbs of Mornington, Dromana, Safety Beach become practical living suburbs for commuting workers. Some people may chose to live even further down the peninsula at Rye and Rosebud. There has only ever been one factor holding people back for living on the coast of the bay, employment. The new freeway resolves this with fast transport access to the city and eastern suburbs.

One way to research these new developments, is to study the latest road maps, as these usually pencil in the future traffic improvements like freeways, new tramlines and railway stations. Another method is to study the local council plans, as new developments are planned many years in advance.

Carbon tax effects the cost of new homes!

The Herald-Sun commmentator, Terry McCrann, notes the Carbon tax will effect a wider range of goods and services than the Goods and Services Tax. Given it includes products like fresh food, education, books, medical expenses, charities all were exempted from the GST tax. The Carbon tax also starts high at $23 a tonne and then grows at a compounding pace of eight percent a year. The effect of this new tax McCrann argues, is very like raising the GST tax from 10% to 15% over time. The Housing Industry Association, argues this will raise the cost of new house and land packages by $6,000. I maintain the diesel section of the tax will have a larger disproportional effect on the subdivision and developmental cost of land. I suggest the real cost of new home and land packages may be even higher!

More Help for First Home buyers

Announced with the last state budget, the Stamp Duty rebate, is being progressively rolled out, initially as a 20 percent reduction, with a further 10 percent to be knocked off in January 2013 and 2014 respectively and then a final 10 percent reduction in September 2014, bringing the total rebate to 50 percent of the stamp duty, usually paid by first home buyers. It applies to homes that cost or are built for $600,000 or less.

The Stamp Duty rebate, which must be applied for after settlement, complements the existing first home owner grants. Under this scheme, buyers are eligible for a First Home Buyers grant of $7,000 when purchasing a home up to the value of $750,000. If the home is newly built and its price does not exceed $600,000, there is an additional bonus of $13,000.

Buyers in a regional area, in addition to the previous two figures, will get another bonus of $6,500, if the price or construction does not exceed $600,000.

State government figures show that more than 28,000 people claimed the first home owner’s grant for an established or new home in the last financial year alone.

Earlier this month, a spokeswoman for Treasurer Kim Wells, told The Sunday Age, that the Stamp Duty cuts had assisted more Victorians to buy their first home, with government figures showing” 1,428 buyers had collectively saved more than $3.96 million in stamp duty under the program so far.”

However, Greville Pabst, chief executive of the WBP Property Group, a prominent Valuers group, says the Stamp Duty concessions so far appear to have had ”little impact” on the number of first home owners entering the market.

Melbourne as an easyhomerenovating capital

The recent State government studies researching new transport upgrades highlight the opportunity in Melbourne. Sir Rod Eddington, Infrastucture Australia, is suggesting an underground east-west link tollway road tunnel. This would link the Western ring road to the Eastern freeway, its long over due. The Westgate bridge which has become completely overloaded and clogged, it needs an alternative route.
Melbourne, is forecast to need atleast 600,000 new homes over the next twenty years, so lets consider the transport needs, before the roads become gridlocked. A new outer Western ring, to swing from Beveridge to Melton down to Werribee is mooted. This would support the growth of Lockerbie, Tarneit, Wyndham vale, Melton, Werribee South, Point Cook and West Wyndham vale.
The prospect of fifteen new trains stations, including at Donnybrook, Beveridge, Wyndham Vale, Tarneit, Truganina, Toolern, Rockbank, Clyde and Sunbury North.
Not all these projects will proceed smoothly, but atleast some great plans are being laid, for the expected massive growth of Melbourne to the north at Donnybrook, west at Melton and south-west at Wyndham vale. The projects to proceed will need considerable Federal funding.

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