3 Ways To Sift Through Your Renovation Leads

Hi, my fellow renovation buddies! It’s Naomi Findlay here.

Did you know I have a renovation course? You can check it out here! 

Last time I spoke about how you would go about getting your leads to find your renovation projects. 

You’ve got that all sorted and now have a good stream of leads coming your way. But how exactly do you filter through all of these to find your next project?  

Are you getting overwhelmed at the thought of sorting through them all or choosing the wrong one?  

Have you saved a bunch of potential projects on your realestate.com.au account? Now wondering how to pick one over another?   

Fear not! I’m here today to give you some tips on how to sift through your leads quickly and easily. 

And the first step involves keeping it personal. 

Every step you take in your renovation project should consider YOU and YOUR goals, first and foremost. Sure, your budget will play a part, but just because a property comes along that’s cheap and perfect money-wise, doesn’t mean it’s the right one for you. 

Before you even get stuck into doing in-depth assessments of whether a particular house would make a good renovation project, you need to take a step back. 

If you ask yourself these important questions, you’ll sort through all the jumble in no time. 

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1. Does the lead fall into your patch? 

Remember all that talk on making sure the properties aren’t too old or too expensive? About finding the areas that aren’t filled with smelly warehouses and tire-making factories? The ones where you would let your kids ride their bikes in the street without worrying about kidnappings?   

These are all the things you should be looking at ticking off when a new notification pops up on your Domain page. 

If you don’t have a patch yet, please don’t go throwing your money down on a property just yet. Have a look at my earlier post on finding your patch and go from there. 

The other thing you need to think about is whether that lead that you’ve come across actually fits the sort of area you’re looking at.  

Sure, it may be in the suburb you’ve been keeping an eye on. But does it fit the suburb well? Or does it stick out like a sore thumb?  

When you are looking at leads you need to look for ones that you can spruce up and add value to, yes. But there is a difference between finding a property that could do with a makeover and one that looks like the scary haunted house that everyone avoids. 

Of course, there might be someone who loves that sort of house, but you’ll be limiting yourself to that someone. And by limiting yourself to the niche market, you could also limit your potential profit because there will be no competition to push it up.  

You need to think about your target market. Jill and Sam want to live in that suburb that forms your patch. But do they want to live in a weird house that looks like it was built by a crazy scientist?   

The second thing you need to consider is this: 

2. Is the property in a reasonable condition? 

Now, I’m not asking you if the property is perfect. This isn’t a hall pass for a low-effort renovation. I’m not asking you to consider whether Dana and Kyle would be happy to live there so you don’t have to do much other than a quick paint job.  

What’s the point of buying a property to renovate for profit if you won’t be able to add any value to it?  

No, you don’t want that sort of property. 

What I mean by “reasonable”, is for you to consider what the extent of the renovations will be, and then see if they fit into your strategy.  

Is your strategy to focus on small apartments for young professionals? Then you probably don’t want to go for a three-bedroom unit, even if it is good value. 

Are you looking to focus on cosmetic touch-ups for small family homes? That fibro house might be perfect for a new external paint job, but when you walk inside you might realise that it’s also in desperate need of new walls, kitchen, bathroom, and terrace.  

All things that are way beyond your budget as well as not compatible with your strategy.  

The other things you need to look at is the actual damage or wear and tear to the property.  

That 50’s Queenslander might be a seemingly perfect match for your strategy at first. It’s the perfect price and just needs some fresh polish and a new kitchen. Exactly what you had in mind when setting up your patch.  

But then, on further inspection, you can see that there has been some serious flood damage and all the supporting pillars have rotted through. And to top it off, termites have started to eat into this damaged wood. Ouch.  

Not really good value after all. 

3. Do the Council checks check out? 

So, once you’ve found a lead that fits both your patch and your budget and strategy, the final thing to look into is your Council checks. 

There are heaps of things to consider when it comes to these checks, all of which can affect what you plan to do with the property.  

If your strategy involves swapping out the front doors and windows and extending the front porch, properties that are heritage listed probably wouldn’t fit the bill.  

The same thing goes with making the actual property bigger. If you are looking to add another entertainment room and extend the property into the backyard and there are floor space ratio restrictions, you might not be able to do that – so it’s best to cross that lead off your list.  

A bushfire zone can affect the type of materials you want to use, and the zoning of the property can prevent you from subdividing the properties into a triplex.  

All of these important factors can be found in a 149 certificate. If might cost a small fee, but that is nothing compared to potentially dropping your whole budget on a property only to realise later that you can’t do the renovations you want to do.  

The last thing you should look into is any planned future works that the council has in store. Otherwise, you could put in a whole lot of effort to beautify a property, only to realise that the quiet suburban street it was on will become a six-lane highway. Talk about the best way to kill your profits.  

So, there you have it. These are the three ways you can filter your leads to find your diamond in the rough. My Rapid Renovation Formula has a whole lot more info on how to QA your leads to find your perfect renovation.  

Until next time! 

Are you interested in renovating for wealth? Check out more of Naomi’s tips here!