A run-down, "pretty nasty" rental in South Auckland that was transformed into a modern family home by a TV renovation champion has sold, making a tidy gross profit of more than $250,000.
Jono Frankle, who won the first season of the TVNZ renovation show Our First Home, picked up the do-up on Waimate Street, Otara, for $591,000 in May and after a rapid four-week makeover has already resold it for around the mid-$800,000s.
The three-bedroom, one-bathroom home went unconditional this week, but the exact sale price cannot be disclosed until settlement in early August.
Frankle said he was pleased it had been bought by first-home buyers who were able to get such a great place using their KiwiSaver.
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“I think it’s a great outcome for everyone being able to turn an unliveable space into a home that I know the home buyers are really proud to have been purchased.
“The feedback from the agent was that they were real stoked.”
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Frankle carries out his renovations with first-home buyers in mind. The latest renovation included painting both the interior and exterior, a new bathroom, new kitchen, new flooring and landscaping. The cost was about $100,000.
It’s the second property he’s flipped this year. He bought a property on Antrim Crescent, Otara, in December for $530,000 and resold it in March for $735,000.
The profit margin for the Waimate St property is “slightly bigger” than the Antrim Cres house, he said, but a lot of extra work also went into it because of the poor condition it was in. “The reno budget was higher, but obviously the sales price was higher so better return for me and my partners."
Before: The original living room was dated and the purple carpet was smelly. Photo / Supplied
After: Frankle removed the fireplace and knocked down a wall to install a breakfast bar. Photo / Supplied
Frankle carries out the project in a joint venture usually with one other investor who stumps up the deposit. Once all the expenses such as tax, renovation costs and time is taken off they split the profit.
“Everyone thinks with property trading that there are huge profit margins, but there are a lot of expenses, and a lot of time and effort that goes into buying the properties.”
He has four other renovations on the go. He’s nearly finished renovating a unit on Willoughby Street, Howick, with his wife Karen and father in-law Tom Schreuder, who he won Our First Home with.
A joint venture renovation in Manurewa is due to start in mid-August and he’s also just purchased a do-up in Massey and another in Otara.
Jono Frankle has flipped two renovated properties in Otara this year. Photo / Supplied
Just the like the previous properties, he hopes to have them renovated and resold within six weeks of purchasing them.
Frankle told OneRoof this month that the key to being able to renovate a property in a month was making sure they stuck to a tight schedule and had good communication between all the tradespeople.
Ray White salesperson Tom McCartney, who sold the Waimarie Street property with Hayley McAlister, said he’s seen a bit uptick in the number of traders buying properties and some do-ups were attracting up to 10 bidders at auctions.
The properties are usually unliveable for a normal home buyer and needed renovation. “Those ones you are getting pretty huge competition a lot of the time.”
Harcourts Papakura salesperson Alex Dunn said flippers have returned to the market in the last two months because they seem to think the market has reached the bottom.
They are often competing against each other for do-ups in Papakura priced around $500,000 to $600,000 that they can renovate and resell for about $800,000.
A house at 26a Gray Ave, Mangere that has a fire damaged sleepout is also attracting flippers. Photo / Supplied
He’s just sold a unit on Russell Road in Manurewa in the mid-$500,000s to someone who intends to do it up and flip it.
“I’m writing offers all the time for them. It’s big-time business.”
Harcourts Papatoetoe salesperson Harsh Kathuria said property traders and investors are aggressively looking for properties and jumping on them as soon as they are listed.
Kathuria said they want to make the most of the first home buyers currently in the market and buy, renovate and resell them as quickly as they can.
The listing for a do-up he has in Clover Park hasn’t even gone live yet and Kathuria has already shown several buyers around.
“All the offers were are working on are all first home buyers. Most of the property trader properties that we had are already sold.”
Ray White salesperson Rubal Singh is currently working with about 14 property traders and investors who are planning to bid on properties at Ray White Manukau’s large auction day next week and half of those are people wanting houses they can add value to and flip.
“Traders are simply saying, ‘look if the numbers are right, we are happy to buy properties now because we can see that’s it – we can’t see it going further down’.”
He’s currently selling a four-bedroom home with a sleepout at 26a Gray Avenue, Mangere, that he said would be perfect for a property trader or investor. The house is fine, but the sleepout has fire damage.
“I’ve got traders calling me and saying, ‘look we are happy to buy projects now’. If you’ve got anything in South Auckland, give me a call.”
Magic makeover: Waimate Street before and after
Before: The original bathroom was smaller, tiles were cracked and the floor had rotted due to a leaky bath. Photo / Supplied
After: Frankle's team opened up the bathroom and replaced the flooring, toilet, vanity and bath. Photo / Supplied
Before: The original bedroom decor was drab and the walls sported layers of wallpaper. Photo / Supplied
After: Frankle stripped back the walls, gave them a bright clean finish and put down new carpet. Photo / Supplied
Before: The original kitchen was poky and quite basic. Photo / Supplied
After: Frankle ordered new kitchen units and appliances. All of it was done within the space of a month. Photo / Supplied
Before: The house had been a rental before Frankle picked it up at auction in May. Photo / Supplied
After: Frankle renovated the house to make it a dream home for a first-time buyer. Photo / Supplied
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