Smarter Property Improvement: Ways to Maximise Returns by Transforming

Want more value out of your property investment? The Australian love affair with property is ingrained. We all know people who have found financial security through property ownership and investment. Low interest rates and a heated market have led more and more Australians into property investment - around nine per cent of the population. We are buying homes, we are buying investment properties and now we are moving into the third stage: we are improving our properties. But to maximize your investment you need to do more than the typical cosmetic renovations which are so popular in television shows. The real profit lies in transforming your property through adding value - as an active investor you might simply add another bedroom to your home, or you might look at converting one dwelling into two and subdividing. There are many different strategies which people are using: * Subdivide your home block, build a couple of smaller homes, live in one, sell the other and pay off the mortgage. * Change the use of a property from residential to commercial and increase its value. * Take a small block of flats and strata-title them. * Re-configure a strata block to turn common property into private areas: gardens, courtyards and roof tops. * Improving the value of apartments by changing the floorplan. * Re-shaping a property for the retiree market with a focus on access, storage, security, privacy and safety. * Tricks for creating more car spaces. Outlining all the options open to the first-time property developer, Peter Cerexhe shows how you can squeeze more value out of your property.