A few Saturdays ago a lovely friend who shares in my passion for property invited me to a free seminar on renovating.
Needless to say I jumped at the chance and we signed up for Renovating Run Down Real Estate For Profit which is held in every State of Australia every few months and is presented by Australia's renovating queen Cherie Barber and hosted by Stuart Zadel.
Needless to say I jumped at the chance and we signed up for Renovating Run Down Real Estate For Profit which is held in every State of Australia every few months and is presented by Australia's renovating queen Cherie Barber and hosted by Stuart Zadel.
You know with these "free" seminars they're going to try to sell you something - at this one they're selling a $6000 package which includes a 3 day workshop in Sydney, all the paperwork, templates, contracts, etc you will need to start your own renovating for profit venture. Personally, I thought it was too expensive but if you are serious about renovating for profit and unsure where to start, then this will help you in the process.
Project managing my own home renovation over the last few years has given me a lot of insight into how the process of renovating works, organising trades, what order to do the jobs in, and I have created my own documents along the way to help. Although some of the templates and contracts in the package would be useful, I know that I can do my own research and find most of the information I need online ... for free!
Regardless of the package that they were selling - all the information shared on the day was brilliant.
Cherie is smart, approachable and open with her knowledge and understanding of the property market. She shared lots of examples of her before and after renovations, how to keep the budget down, cosmetic updates Vs structural changes, and looking after your tradies to build up a team to help you do the work.
Let's face it, the Australian property market has already boomed and now it's a lot harder to find a do-er-upper home, in the perfect location, for the right price. But there is still money to be made in real estate and this seminar gives you lots of hints and tips in getting your foot in the door to give it a go.
I was really impressed and inspired by the seminar and it's driven me to consider the idea of renovating for profit as a serious business venture. Since doing my own home renovations and the passion and interest I have in the process (as you know I started this blog to document my own home renovations!) I'm contemplating having a go at project managing another renovation .... who knows I could be doing it for a career in years to come just like Cherie!
We were given a book The New Way To Make Money In Property Fast by Stuart Zadel who hosted the event - you can get a free copy here. I've read the book cover to cover and while my eyes glazed over in some parts about taxes and things I didn't understand, it has some really good chapters by property experts about the different ways you can make money from property - everything from the stock market to property development which I found really useful.
The Renovating Run Down Real Estate For Profit seminar was really inspiring and motivating and if you're interested in renovating homes not to live in yourself styled perfectly to your tastes, but to renovate for a profit to rent out or sell and step into the property market then I really recommend you sign up for this seminar.
Hey it's free, you've got nothing to lose except for a few hours of your time!
The next Renovating For Profit seminars are in October 2014 - you can check out the dates here
Stuart Zadel also hosts other property and investment events which you can find here
Stuart Zadel also hosts other property and investment events which you can find here
Have you been to one of Cherie Barber's seminars before? What did you think?
[Image sources here]