Mates help with makeover

HOMEOWNER Jesse Breen has spent the past year renovating his 1958-built twobedroom house at Howrah.

And he managed its thorough transformation without having to pay one tradie.

Mr Breen, 37, owns a floor sanding business and he lent on a few friends — a builder for joinery, new wiring by an electrician — to return favours they have done for each other in the past.

It was a big project, but Mr Breen did almost all of the work himself, including turning five small rooms into an open living and kitchen space, plastering, painting, tiling, landscaping and breathing new life into the Tasmanian oak floors.

“When I bought it, the house looked like it had not been touched in about 60 years,” he said.

“The Western Australian karri timber kitchen benchtops are one of the house’s best features.”

Alan Moane Real Estate property consultant Alex Burke described this Ninabah St house as a “stunning property”.

He said in this price range — $350,000 to $395,000 — it would be ideal for new home buyers or investors keen to take advantage of the excellent capital growth and rental returns that Hobart was enjoying.

“The house is in a great neighbourhood, very close to the beach, local shops and playgrounds,” Mr Burke said.

This renovation is Mr Breen’s third.

He said the trick was to find a property that was structurally sound and also in need of a lot of work.

“Generally, that will help keep the price at an affordable level,” he said.

CoreLogic statistics for the 12 months to June show Howrah’s median house price is up by 12.7 per cent and units are up by 7.6 per cent.

On average, Howrah houses sell in nine days and units in 18 days.