Depending upon where you’re investing, it might be called rooming, boarding house, HMO, or micro-apartment conversions. But the strategy is the same. Take a single-family house, convert it into a co-living property, and uplift your rental return in the process. Here’s how our VIC students, Brian and Lisa, did just that … and created much needed affordable accommodation in the process.
How Brian and Lisa From Victoria Converted a Queensland Property and made over 10% Gross Yield.
SITNB Mastermind Students, Brian and Lisa, had been preparing to invest in the right property to help turn their portfolio around when COVID-19 hit.
Brian, an asset and project manager, and his wife Lisa, a full-time mum, invested some years ago in property with the goal of a better future for themselves and their two teenage daughters.
They had made the rookie mistakes of falling in love with a property with their first property and then purchasing a house and land package that saw them lose money.
Having been burnt by an education program six years prior, they were bitter and aware, but Brian was curious enough to find out more about the High Income Real Estate (HI-RES) positive cash flow strategy.
SCROLL DOWN FOR THE FULL PROJECT FINANCIALS
The tiled family room, along with adjacent bedroom # 2, became a one bedroom suite.
By the time they joined my program, they were already saddled with an underperforming, negatively-geared portfolio.
Motivated by the difference a positive cash flow would make to their bottom line, meant that Brian and Lisa wasted no time in moving forward, but they couldn’t seem to get their numbers to work and needed some help.
They loved the idea of creating micro-apartments, where tenants could have their own space and the opportunity to build community with others as well.
With their calculations and their research, coupled with their prior lessons under their belt, Brian and Lisa worked with our ‘Do It For You’ Buyers Agency to source the best property for their strategy.
The plan was to be that, once they purchased a property, they would travel from Victoria to oversee the conversion and, during that process, also shop around for second-hand pieces to furnish the house.
But crunch time came with the COVID-19 travel restrictions, and with the property being in Queensland, it meant a decision needed to be made.
Being a project manager and always ‘hands-on,’ the idea of giving up control and leaving things to others is not in Brian’s make-up.
The original lounge and dining room made way for a comfortable studio suite with kitchenette and ensuite bathroom
The pair discussed the time, money, and headaches they would have to deal with because of their lack of expertise and experience and asked, “is it really worth doing this ourselves?”
Handing it over to the conversion and property management teams, they delegated them complete responsibility.
Brian says that this choice meant everything aligned for them. The settlement was on Monday, and by 7 am on Tuesday, a swarm of tradies and off-siders had landed on-site with their tools ready to go.
Transformation of the three-bedroom, two-bathroom home meant the addition of five kitchenettes, three bathrooms, another two bedrooms, and additional laundry.
FIND OUT HOW THEY ACHIEVED 10% + GROSS YEILD IN OUR BREAKDOWN BELOW
The old master bedroom and ensuite is now a neat single-person suite.
The project was completed in only two weeks, with the styling and photography done the next day for advertising.
In a week, the first lot of tenants had moved in, and in the space of four, the home was completely occupied.
This house on the standard rental market would have seen a weekly rent of $480 a week, but now converted to 5 x affordable micro-apartments, it is bringing in $1,355 per week!
By offering five affordable housing options to the market, Brian and Lisa have realised $875 more than they would get as a straight rental property and a gross yield of 10.26%.
As I always say, it has to make sense before it makes dollars. And this fantastic result is a win-win for the community and the investors.
Brian says, “We are totally hooked on the HI RES program; we just love it and will definitely do another Do It For You soon” “We have had our eyes opened to what is possible for yourself, the community, and for property.”
WATCH OUR BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO BELOW!
 FINANCIALS |
|---|
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PURCHASE PRICE: $530,000 |
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RENOVATION COST: $94,424 |
| BEFORE | AFTER | RESULT | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
RENTAL RETURN WEEKLY |
$480 per week |
$1355 per week |
$875 per week uplift |
|
CASH-FLOW ANNUALLY |
$24,960 per year gross |
$70,460 per year gross |
$45,500 per year uplift |
WANT MORE? Watch Brian and Lisa’s project come together in our video updates below.
LEARN HOW: you can rapidly uplift your rental returns and own a cash flow positive investment by joining my Free Live Webinar HERE.
I have been perusing co living but through building one ! I love the micro apartment concept and perhaps finding a house that is suitable and building the interior into the apartments will be a good way to go I have struggled to find good land to build
Hi Linda, We can convert your property into income earning micro-apartments. or we can teach you how to manage the process yourself. To find out more, join my webinar HERE
How much is it to do this kind of room conversion totlly?
Hi, Costs depend upon the property layout and construction style. You can see the full financials on each of our case studies which indicates the conversion or renovation cost. To find out more, book your 1-on-1 strategy call with our INVIDA team here – https://invida.com.au/get-started/
Can this be done in Sydney, converting a house into two apartments with a view to living in one and renting the other? (Or, converting a three-bedroom apartment into two units.) Have you done a project like this? Do you have a renovation team in Sydney? What are the numbers?
Thank you
Robert
Hi Robert, Co-living micro-apartments are created by dividing single-family homes into several smaller spaces. It can be done with a town house but typically is not permissible in an apartment due to council and strata regulations. To find out more, book your 1-on-1 strategy call with our INVIDA team here – https://invida.com.au/get-started/