Applications have opened for Ten’s new 2011 reality competition show, The Renovators, to be produced by Shine Australia, and to air in the second half of 2011.

Have you got the skills to transform the country’s worst house into a real estate goldmine?

The search for Australia’s best renovator has begun.

The Renovators is an ambitious new television project from the creators of Masterchef Australia. We are holding a nation-wide hunt to find the one person who can prove they are the most talented renovator of all.

Applicants must be ready to roll up your sleeves and dedicate up to six months of your life towards proving you are the best in the nation. We are looking for men and women, aged 18 and above, who have home renovation experience and are ready for a life-changing experience.

The chosen individuals will take on rundown homes, with the aim being to make as much profit as you can in a short space of time through clever renovation. As well as the home makeover, contestants must fight for survival in the competition, through an epic series of additional building and design challenges.

Just one renovator will emerge victorious in this historic winner-takes-all competition.

Applicants must be available for filming between April and October 2011, be passionate about renovation and be able to show photo evidence of renovations carried out.

You can apply here.

Larrikin carpenter Scott Cam, of Channel Nine’s Domestic Blitz, gives us his top ten tips for home reno projects. Scott tells us about essential tools for the DIYer’s toolbox (see our DIY section), the move towards building with sustainable wood products and gives us an insight about builders’ beer etiquette.

What are essential tools for the home handyman?

Scott: “The main thing to remember – when you are a home handyman or woman – is to not go too big too early and not have power tools that could cut your fingers off. So, I think hand tools are the most essential thing.”

Toolbox essentials

• Screwdriver set
• Pliers
• Multigrips
• Tin snips
• Wire cutters
• Hand saw
• Square pencil
• Level and shifter

What is the best power tool someone could buy? Or should weekend renovators just hire large tools?

Scott: “The most important power tool you can have is a cordless drill, one with a hammer component so you can drill into masonry or concrete or brick.”

“I don’t like the concept of people that aren’t really up there on power tools to go out and hire a nine inch power saw because it’s so easy to injure yourself with those. So if you hire power tools, make sure they’re small ones.”

What’s your favourite power tool?

Scott: “I’ve got about 300 power tools and 10 circular saws. I really like my chainsaw – it’s petrol driven – and my big circular saw. You have to be very experienced to use a big chainsaw and it can be dangerous for the home handyman.”

What is the most important building tip to remember when revamping your home?

Scott: “Be prepared to make sure you budget. Be careful of variations. If you’ve got a plan, stick to that, and don’t change things along the way because that’s when you get into strife and you’ll run out of money.”

“And be prepared, when you’re in old homes and you’re knocking a few things down, that you’ll have to rewire the whole place, as there’s no point putting wiring in when you’re half way through – so there’s $10,000.”

* Scott advises renovators to check the plumbing and electrical on homes more than 40 years’ old.

Where is the line between home renovation and home demolition?

Scott: “It’s based on your foundations. If you’ve got bad foundations from the start, which a lot of houses had in the old days, (when) they used to just lay the foundations straight onto the ground with no footings. Sometimes a builder or an engineer may need to get involved and say, ‘look there’s no point in renovating, here, it’s best to knock this down’.”

Easy building project for the weekend renovator?

Scott: “Without a doubt it’s to put a deck on the back of the house with a pergola over the top – creating a new room – an extension. It’s an easy extension to do and make it covered, so it’s all-weather.”

“You put a little clear roof on the pergola you knock-up; and a deck underneath that, put a table and chair out there, some blinds coming down to protect against the wind and the rain, and you’ve got yourself a full extension of your house. And even when it’s pouring with rain you can sit out there. It’s without a doubt, an easy way to add value to your home and get a better standard of living.”

Are people moving towards using more sustainable products? Are the products more expensive? Any special precautions people should take when using these products? For example, embedded nails.

Scott: “We use a lot of plantation timber these days in the building industry and I also use a lot of recycled hardwood, which is quite expensive, but it’s a great feature timber. It’s very hard for the home handyman to nail into second-hand hardwood – you’ve got to be on your game!”

“As far as treated pine is concerned, it’s the way to go for your outdoor stuff because it lasts a lot longer and the price is cheap. I think that’s the way we are going in this industry, if we don’t do that, we’ll run out of timber, so we’ve got to start using the stuff they can grow in the pine plantation.”

But if you’re after a bargain, visit a demolition yard, or scout around a house block where someone is demolishing a house, to get second-hand timber. This timber could have embedded nails in it – so take care!

The best advice for our weekend carpenters?

Scott: “Know your limitations, and once you start something, make sure you finish it! Don’t take two years to build it – start it and finish it!”

“And the other thing is, make sure you get beers nice and cold for the 5 o’clock knock-off. There’s nothing finer than sitting at the end of the day and having a cold beer and admiring what you’ve accomplished for that day. It just doesn’t get any better. It’s magnificent!”

Do you think the internet is helping people with renovation/building information? Is it making the building industry lose (or gain) business.

Scott: “I think it’s a great thing that people are doing stuff at home and people are getting stuck into it. I’m not real good on the internet, I need to get in there a bit more myself, but a lot of my friends go onto the internet and find out information.”

“If people do get out of their depths and go a bit hard, then it’s great work for us to come along and fix those things.”

* Article written by Angela Erini

Source: www.realestate.com.au

The days of only looking for a property through the paper have changed, with the majority of people these days starting their search online and loving the flexibility of being able to set up alerts and notifications so they get told when a property that meets their search criteria becomes available in the marketplace.

Purchasers can first narrow down the number of potential properties they’re interested in through use of criteria such as: location, price, property type, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, land size, car parking, etc.

They’ll then look at the results that have been returned by the search engine they’re using and narrow it down further. They’ll do so according to the first impression they get from the photo, heading or first sentence. They’ll only open some of the listings to actually read the description in full and see all the photos.

So my question is this… If you’re going to put in parking into your investment property, which is going to give the best returns? Does having a garage add more value then a carport? And what about a shade sail? Or just a driveway with an uncovered parking space? Are potential buyers or tenants even going to care too much about what type of parking it is, as long as it has some?

The majority will argue that a garage will bring in the highest returns (how much it adds to the value of the property compared to how much it costs to put in), especially if the garage is needed for more reasons than just parking the car.

It’s often perceived as a space with multiple uses. There’s the potential to use the garage as an additional storage space or as a handyman’s workroom. It also provides additional security for the occupier’s vehicles and other belongings.

For some people it can also be an additional living space, like a rumpus room where they might have a pool table, bar, etc.

On the other hand building a garage also costs the most and involves getting plans approved by the council which can introduce additional delays for the project. All in all a new double garage costs somewhere around $40,000 these days inclusive of all costs. And it tends to add somewhere between $50,000 and $70,000 to the bottom line of a property investing deal, depending on the location of the home.

So is it really worth it? If you have that much extra in the budget for your renovation, then it probably is. But not everyone does.

A carport does cost less to construct and still provides undercover parking for cars, however it also requires getting a permit from the council which may cause delays and introduce additional costs. So what does that leave us with?

The shade sail. In some councils having a cover which isn’t 100 per cent solid which is under three metres in height may not require council approval. They still protect your vehicle from UV rays and the higher quality ones can be fairly weather resilient.

They can also look very modern in appearance and are quite often used in new developments and display homes. You can get them for around $1500 to $3400 (3m x 6m) including poles and fittings. Surprisingly they tend to increase the bottom line of a renovation deal more than a standard carport. They tend to increase the value of the home by about $5000 to $15,000.

Interestingly having uncovered parking doesn’t add as much value to the renovation deal as you’d think. Although most people would be happy that a property has some parking they won’t value it as much as any of the other options.

There are exceptions as always and central business districts of most big cities fall into that category where any parking at all is considered a blessing.

Ana Stankovic is well known as one of Australia’s leading renovating-for-profit specialists and is regularly featured in prominent industry publications, expos and continually educates investors.

Homes will be where the easy access is, says new building code to promote mobility.

A minimalist step-free shower; a corridor wide enough for a sofa; and a front entry you don’t have to wrestle the pram up.

These features are part of a voluntary building code to be released today by the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities, Bill Shorten. The code would improve a home’s value and also make life easier for Australians with mobility issues, advocates said.

An ageing population of baby boomers who dislike stairs and young parents wanting better safety for toddlers are key targets for the Liveable Housing Design, the consumer-facing brand of the code developed with the property industry.

The national convener of the advocacy group Australian Network for Universal Housing Design, Amelia Starr, said the fashionable step-free shower was already standard in homemaker magazines, while wider corridors were useful to anyone moving furniture.

US research showed 90 per cent of newly built homes would at some point have someone with a mobility issue residing there. Too many Australian homes were unable to adapt to a family’s evolving needs, let alone wheelchair use, Ms Starr said.

”We hope people will say I want that brand in my home because then it can be sold off to the widest range of people possible,” she said.

The Property Council of Australia chief executive, Peter Verwer, said: ”It makes good sense to design homes so they evolve with their users. It works as well for mums to be as it does for senior Australians.”

The new standards grew from several meetings between Mr Shorten and Therese Rein with industry groups including the Master Builders, Australian Institute of Architects, the Property Council and the Herald journalist Cynthia Banham. The last meeting was held two days before Kevin Rudd stepped down as prime minister.

The code will be launched today by Mr Shorten at a Penrith housing development that already adopts its features.

The Master Builders chief executive, Wilhelm Harnisch, said: ”Improving the safety of kitchens and other areas means people can stay longer in the home instead of going to an aged care facility.”

Story by Kirsty Needham www.smh.com.au

Don’t let the slow real estate market keep you from having the home of your dreams. You don’t have to move, you just need to improve. And this is the perfect time to do so.
Never before have all the stars been so perfectly aligned to facilitate the remodelling needed to give you your perfect palace. Materials costs have been lowered to increase sales, building contractors have reduced their fees to attract more clients, and interest rates are the lowest they have ever been. If you’ve ever wanted to tackle a home improvement task, this is the time to do so.
Here are five good places to start:

1. Kitchen Remodel - If your kitchen is tired and run down, this is a great time to remodel it. Cabinet manufacturers are pricing more competitively, granite prices have fallen, and contractors are itching to work. The contractors that were busy building homes during the housing boom are now fighting each other to get the kitchen remodelling jobs, and the homeowner is the one who wins. Since it is the kitchen that is said to sell the home, the improvements you make now will benefit you greatly when the market turns around and you put your home on the market.

2. Bathroom Remodel — No longer just a place to shower and shave, bathrooms have been elevated to spa status. If your bathroom doesn’t measure up, this is a fantastic time to bring it up to date. Popular improvements this year include heated flooring, natural materials such as stone and wood, multiple shower heads with massaging jets, higher counters with vessel sinks, and soft colours with mood lighting for that ultimate spa experience.

3. Bedroom Addition — There is always great value in adding another bedroom to your home. Whether you create an ultimate master retreat, a welcoming guest room, or a home office, the extra room will always increase your profits when you go to sell. The long line of craftsmen needed to implement a room addition are all willing to bargain now to get your job. From the architect to the contractor, to the carpet salesman, they are all offering the best deals in years.

4. Decks — Outdoor entertaining is a huge trend with homeowners, and adding a deck is a great way to welcome your friends to the great outdoors. From a simple square deck to a multi-level masterpiece featuring an outdoor kitchen, materials and labour costs have come down to make this an ideal time to take on that outdoor living project.

Story by Barbara Green – http://www.housingwatch.com
Barbara Green is The Design Diva and owner of Sensibly Chic Interior Design. She creates one of a kind interiors that reflect your taste, lifestyle and budget.