How Will People Maintain Their Homes with The Increasing Cost of Living?

ForkSnorter on 24/05/2023 - 11:40

I'm seeing prices rising massively for basic services, trades, renovations, building, materials, etc.

These prices are rising much faster than incomes, plus there seems to be a bit of a mini recession at the moment.

With many people owning older houses that will need a lot of maintenance and/or renovation, I wonder if there will be a nationwide disaster in terms of quality of housing over the next decade.

Many people won't be able to keep their house in decent liveable condition, especially if we have a lot of rain or a few floods. I'm in a reasonably comfortable position, but my house is pretty old and already needs a lot of work. I don't know if I'm going to be able to afford all the things I need to do to the house over the next few years.

Any ideas on this?

Home & Garden

Comments

  • lostgoat on 24/05/2023 - 12:29

    I don't think there will be any more $600K pa with free house and car packages offered to GPs anymore to move to a country practice.
    From extreme to common labour both will be cheaper .
    Isn't that the opposite of what the govt is trying to do ?

  • Ghost47 on 24/05/2023 - 12:38
    +4

    With how expensive properties are, people will be asset rich but cash poor by the time they hit retirement. Gains can only be realised after the mortgage is paid off or the property is sold (for IPs anyway — if you own a high value PPOR good luck realising gains without either downsizing or reverse mortgaging or renting out a bedroom). Houses are so poorly built and insulated as well.

    If your house is old and the whole thing needs work I think a knockdown-rebuild would be the most desirable option but that’ll cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. You could renovate piecemeal I guess but that’ll still cost a lot of money. Or downsize and handball the issues to someone else which IMO is not admirable behaviour (I.e. handballing anything in general).

    Personally I’ll be happy to own a PPOR in my older years and leverage my super for renovations. Aiming for at least $1m in super by the time I retire, ideally I’ll hit $2m minimum and draw on it when required for situations like you describe. I don’t want to be asset rich and cash poor.

    • larndis on 25/05/2023 - 07:55

      Sorry, selling a property is 'not admirable'?!?

      • Ghost47 on 25/05/2023 - 08:41

        Selling a property that’s run down because you didn’t take care of it and didn’t want to renovate it isn’t admirable is what I mean.

    • duchy on 25/05/2023 - 22:08
      +1

      Gains can only be realised after the mortgage is paid off or the property is sold

      Nonsense. It's enough to be positively geared to realise positive cash flow.

      A lot of boomers have a 'draw equity' retirement strategy - e.g. they have a 5M value of inv. properties with some debt. They draw 100k every year (2%) while the portfolio still grows by 5-7% (16% YoY just during COVID). Banks are happy and so are the investors.

  • orangetrain on 24/05/2023 - 13:19
    -1

    If prices of property goes down, so will the demands of wage rises by tradies which mean cheaper tradie work later on.

    Just weather the storm and let the over leveraged people sell into a falling market.

  • brendanm on 24/05/2023 - 13:25

    How has everyone coped before in periods of economic downturn?

    • mskeggs on 24/05/2023 - 13:34
      +2

      Have to live with the cream formica benchtop a few more years.

      • brendanm on 24/05/2023 - 13:35
        +2

        😲 What will my friends think of me?

          • surg3on on 25/05/2023 - 14:36

            @Mad Max: Those bastards not wanting to get sick!

            • Mad Max on 26/05/2023 - 22:26
              -2

              @surg3on: They all got sick anyway!
              One also has vaccine induced myocarditis that has been going for over 1 year now.

      • ihbh on 25/05/2023 - 10:53

        They're in all my investment properties that I built new (in navy to match the blinds), bar one, and still going strong.

    • AustriaBargain on 24/05/2023 - 15:20

      They sucked (profanity) for bread money.

    • Mr Haj on 25/05/2023 - 16:50
      +1

      ozbargain forums don't go back that far so it's difficult to understand

  • coffeeinmyveins on 24/05/2023 - 13:46
    +2

    , I wonder if there will be a nationwide disaster in terms of quality of housing over the next decade.

    ummm there already is?

  • Donaldhump on 24/05/2023 - 13:52
    +2

    people will stop doing things beyond essential repairs.

    prices of tradies will come down

  • Godric on 24/05/2023 - 14:14
    +2

    Start an OF

  • FoxJump on 24/05/2023 - 14:34
    +6

    we bought an old house as that's all we could afford. we had some money left over for renovations. but … it looks like even that is out of reach :(
    sigh

    • Stopback on 24/05/2023 - 14:44

      How much is Reno?

      What are your major costs

      • FoxJump on 24/05/2023 - 16:45
        +1

        reno estimate came in at 670k (from an estimator)
        includes a new roof, because the old one has leaked in the past where the flat roof (of an ancient extension) and the pitched roof join.
        includes a nice front fence because the red brick one is a bit tumbly
        includes a nice alfresco because - we'd rather that than the wheelchair ramp.

        includes moving kitchen to a better spot, shrinking garage (from 4 car to 2), straightening a corner of the house (because it was a wonky shape to allow the 4 car garage)
        includes adding an internal wall to add a new bedroom internally and moving one bathroom to a new spot.

        apparently , if we nuke the new roof, nuke the nice front fence and maybe simplify the alfresco, we may save 120k.

        • JimB on 24/05/2023 - 16:49
          +11

          Could be cheaper (and smarter) just to knock down and rebuild.

          • FoxJump on 24/05/2023 - 16:55

            @JimB: it comes down to the "if we were to K'R then we would want something nice"
            and so the K'R for a 2 storey house (vs the single storey we have right now) is 200k more (5 months ago)
            And given RBA boss likes to increase interest rates we cannot push for those extra 200k

            maybe a single storey K'R might be okay, but then, we'd be building something similar to what is already there!

            • JimB on 25/05/2023 - 11:27
              +1

              @FoxJump: I'd probably wait and save a little more to get the 2 storey house you really want.

              Not an ideal time to build with builders collapsing and/or overcharging. I think it's better to wait a year or two if you go the KDR route.

        • Cluster on 24/05/2023 - 18:28
          +6

          $670k for a renovation!? Dear deity!

          I hope the house is enormous, or in a highly desirable location, or you're really rich.

          • FoxJump on 24/05/2023 - 19:23
            +1

            @Cluster: no
            a little bit yes
            ozbargain-average income

        • RefusdClassification on 25/05/2023 - 03:10

          It would be better if you could relocate your house to America:) Renovations/flipping is much more common in the USA. I assume that is because illegal aliens are driving down wages in the construction industry. Maybe we should stop enforcing borders and flood Australia with millions of illegals.

        • aliceisstupid on 25/05/2023 - 07:44

          We’re in similar position (quotes around $500k for knock down rear of house and rebuild inc kitchen, bathroom and roof). Can’t do full rebuild cos heritage overlay on front. Huge chunk of the quote is builder markup atm because of their perceived risks coming out of the construction bloodbath that was the last year. So we’re going down the owner builder route

          • FoxJump on 25/05/2023 - 08:46

            @aliceisstupid: crikey. what do you need for "owner builder"?

            • aliceisstupid on 26/05/2023 - 07:29
              +1

              @FoxJump: Owner builder you take on the role of builder so need to do an application to gov, have a white card, etc. You then do the project management side, line up trades/materials yourself and take on the liability.

              The biggest cons are more effort from you, typically will take a fair bit longer cos you don’t know as much a pro builder and some tradies won’t work with you.

              The biggest pro is that the builders cut is as much as 25% (!!!) so pretty ducking easy to come out on top for jobs like ours even if you hire pros end to end. And that’s before you account for the fact builders have large mark ups on materials/costs atm because of the risk of everything (inc interest rates) continuing to go up as fast as it has (how much you agree and account for that depends on your risk appetite). Smaller pro is you can do more of the work yourself but that depends on your skills set

        • JakeyJooJoo on 25/05/2023 - 09:06

          As a newish homeowner of an old crappy house myself, I have run into a heap of problems like yours and am halfway through overcoming them economically. Back yourself mate. Figure out what you want the alfesco area to look like, then google what order to do things in, then google what steps to do each step in, when you break it down it becomes a lot more achievable, and before you know it, you're like "holy shit, I just built this whole thing myself"

          Do the small stuff first to build up your confidence and knowledge and gradually build on it. Outsource certain things if you're not sure in stages. If you outsource an entire massive renovation, you're paying out the nose for convenience.

    • JimB on 24/05/2023 - 15:01
      +3

      Good reason to start to DIY.

      You'll be amazed what you can do if you take your time and watch youtube.

      • FoxJump on 24/05/2023 - 16:42

        The pain of DIY is when you have to change a window size (to smaller!) and suddenly you need a CDC and someone to draw plans and a certifier and an occupation cert

        • JimB on 24/05/2023 - 16:48
          +1

          why do you have to change window size?

          Old house.. not one is going to care if you have a CDC or not.

          • FoxJump on 24/05/2023 - 16:57

            @JimB: cos the windows are huuuge, leaving no space for warddrobe on the side of the bedroom wall next to the window.
            we could - just put the warddrobe in there anyway and just let things look a bit ugly on the outside.

            But we want this to be a nice reno, not a half done thing with bits missing for "one day" so .. shrinking the windows a bit and replacing the frame and panels would be nice.

            and yes i have considered "Just paying someone" to brick it in a bit and replace the frame and i agree chances of anyone giving a damn or even noticing are practically zero.

        • trapper on 25/05/2023 - 11:56
          +1

          You can't DIY every single thing, but you can DIY a hell of a lot of things.

  • Drakesy on 24/05/2023 - 14:39
    +6

    In the words of Morrison

    "Work harder to earn more"

    • Fredfloresjr on 24/05/2023 - 15:38
      +6

      You mean to pay more (Taxes).

    • FoxJump on 24/05/2023 - 16:46
      +1

      this sucks when Childcare subsidy means my effective tax rate is 60% [once you factor in loss of CCS as income goes up]

      • serpserpserp on 25/05/2023 - 18:32

        Pay for your own childcare

    • DarkOz on 25/05/2023 - 08:39
      +1

      Joe Hockey agrees, "get a good job that pays good money"

  • AustriaBargain on 24/05/2023 - 15:19

    Why would any one person need homes (plural)?

    • orangetrain on 24/05/2023 - 15:28
      +1

      To increase rental supply!

      Who cares about home buyers being unable to compete with the amount of advantages that investors get?

    • FoxJump on 24/05/2023 - 16:58
      +5

      for when you divorce :D

    • tessel on 24/05/2023 - 20:22
      +1

      Bro, to make bank!

  • Some Human on 24/05/2023 - 20:23
    +3

    I do just about everything myself except for cutting down large trees and cleaning the septic tank.

    Not much one can't learn from youtube.

    • Pcosmic on 24/05/2023 - 22:53

      What else can you diy?

    • dmcneice on 25/05/2023 - 09:19

      Agreed. Im a GP, financially strapped (yes we exist) and do most of the maintenance myself, all of it learned from youtube.

  • Gdsamp on 24/05/2023 - 20:35
    +1

    They won't. So many more breakdowns and car fires on WA roads i'm seeing according to WA incident alerts and being in Main Roads WA FB group. Clearly a sign of a lack of maintenance.

  • amazonaddict on 24/05/2023 - 23:36
    +4

    Standard of living of Middle class will go down.

  • RefusdClassification on 25/05/2023 - 03:05
    +5

    This too worries me. We have heard a lot about food inflation, but the prices for services now are astronomical in Australia. If you need somebody to do something for you, be prepared to pay a fortune. Everyone is so avaricious, constantly trying to fleece other people of their money (it's called capitalism). It's not just tradesmen; law professionals, medical specialists, dentists are also prohibitively expensive for those of us on lower class incomes.

    The secret seems to be, get a work from home job and move to an Asian country with cheap services (eg Philippines, Indonesia). If you have a net wealth of over $86,000, you are in the top 1% in the Philippines.

    • Cluster on 25/05/2023 - 09:56

      Then your employer realizes 'hey, I'm paying $86k to an Aussie in Indonesia. Why? I can pay an Indonesian in Indonesia to do the same job for $10k'

      • duchy on 25/05/2023 - 22:14

        Net wealth is the value of your possessions (Super, PPOR, IP, car, etc…) minus your debts. Not your salary.

        • surg3on on 29/05/2023 - 11:31

          your salary often has an impact on that calculation

      • Mistredo on 26/05/2023 - 14:51

        My employer did that recently (we are all WFH).

    • Ghost47 on 26/05/2023 - 15:47

      Everyone is so avaricious, constantly trying to fleece other people of their money (it's called capitalism).

      I agree and I reckon it’ll just get worse as people’s debt goes up.

    • Toph Beifong on 05/06/2023 - 12:37

      You will pay a fortune and get a job half done! The quality of workmanship in Australia has gone downhill over the past 20 years. Younger trades no longer take pride in their work and don't give a damn about it

  • pikapika on 25/05/2023 - 07:37
    +2

    Things will have to bottom out. But basically stop spending money on "fun things" to save for the rainy/unexpected costs.

    Actually use the things you've bought instead of buying the newest shiny that comes out every year.

    People these days want everything right away instead of living within their means. Might be a hard reality check for some people. You may look fancy but you've got no bank.

  • DarkOz on 25/05/2023 - 08:08
    +2

    My old man maintains his house DIY hardcore style:
    - Roof tile repairs
    - Side wall repairs
    - Repairing and maintaining one of those antique giant hot water tanks in the attic for 30 years until the side wall gave way from too much internal rust. Then installed the new modern hot water tank freaking 30 metres away and relined all the electricals and water pipes
    - Repairing lighting electricals
    - Repairing all things gas related
    - Trims all the garden trees and mows the front yard and back yard lawns
    - Rebuilt the foundation of the toilet and relocated the bath tub
    - Converted the laundry room into a granny flat
    - Built a 3mx3m shed with concrete foundation without using a cement mixer. It took the whole family all day to complete the job
    - Rebuilt the clothes hoist and rain shelter with concrete foundations

    If you can't DIY make sure you have mates that could DIY that can give you mates' rates.

    • Jolakot on 26/05/2023 - 09:44

      If you have an electrical fire that burns down your house with all your possessions inside of it, won't insurance refuse to cover it because the work was unlisenced? Seems like a massive gamble

      • Odin on 26/05/2023 - 11:29
        +1

        Unless you're a complete moron you're probably doing things to a higher standard and with more care than a professional would

        • Jolakot on 26/05/2023 - 14:15

          Why would an insurance company care about how well the work was done?

          If a DIY pipe bursts, or DIY electricity/gas causes a fire, or DIY roofing causes a leak, then no resulting damage to your home or contents will be covered by insurance. They don't give half a damn if it was done well, or if it's been working fine for 5+ years and this was a freak accident/part failure, or even if you're a retired electrician.

          For licensed work, your insurance will pay you out and then spend years going at it with the contractor's insurance to recoup as much of that payout as possible. But if they can save $$$$ by claiming it was unlicensed work and thus not something they cover, then they will because they're a business not a charity.

          • [Deactivated] on 26/05/2023 - 15:27

            @Jolakot: Why are you assuming that DarkOz's father has house insurance?

          • Odin on 26/05/2023 - 17:10

            @Jolakot: And HOW are the insurance company going to know or be able to tell the difference?

            "This was here for the last 10 years before I bought the house"

  • doctordv8 on 25/05/2023 - 08:10
    +1

    To survive tough times, separate the I want and I need.

    You want new paint, becomes you need to learn to paint.

    You want smokes and booze becomes you need to abstain.

    You want name brand shopping, becomes you need home brand where possible.

    It was shown many years ago that when you earned 30k a year you lived nice on 30k. When you upped to 40k a year, you upped your lifestyle to suit.

    Adapt, accept need for your family is far more important than your want. Ask….do you absolutely need this to survive…or do you just want it?

    You and your house will survive I am sure, both maturing with age and the upgrades will just wait for you to be in a better position. No worries.

    • ForkSnorter on 25/05/2023 - 08:40
      +1

      You want new paint, becomes you need to learn to paint.

      We just painted the entire interior ourselves.

      You want smokes and booze becomes you need to abstain.

      I don't smoke and don't drink.

      You want name brand shopping, becomes you need home brand where possible.

      My phone cost me $200, smart watch cost me $120. Spent less than $100 on clothes last year.

      You and your house will survive I am sure

      Actually, I'm less concerned about my own house. More concerned about the thousands of people with large mortgages, kids, and only median salaries. I have no idea how these people will maintain their homes over the next decade with high interest rates, high cost of living, high cost of materials and services.

      • Ghost47 on 25/05/2023 - 08:42

        I have no idea how these people will maintain their homes over the next decade with high interest rates, high cost of living, high cost of materials and services.

        They won’t or they’ll take out more loans and get into more debt or DIY and do a job only they think is good enough and others might disagree.

      • duchy on 25/05/2023 - 22:15

        The wages will go up as well. Eventually.

  • bigbadboogieman on 25/05/2023 - 08:38
    +2

    I have been doing alot of it myself where it doesn't require a license and is not a regulated profession. For e.g. I painted a roof I had accidentally damaged but I got it repaired through Airtasker. I do alot of gardening and maintenance including pruning of trees myself (I don't have massive trees). I clean the roof gutters myself. I got the downpipes replaced with thicker plastic ones so that they don't choke so often anymore. The square metallic ones were choking alot. I replaced the window blinds (venetian and roller) myself. Did alot of looking around to find the exact fit and then just installed it myself. Got the deck repaired through a carpenter but then did the associated landscaping around it myself.

    I had to get some plumbing, electrical work done through tradies but I planned it very well in advance and went through atleast 10 tradies each until I could find the one that was reasonable with their pricing and their attitudes. You can still get it wrong though (like I did with the plumber) but what can you do.

    This is the world we live in. Everyone has their problems so we just have to learn to get along and get it done.

    • lostgoat on 25/05/2023 - 08:46

      I know someone similar but he won't do anything real high on ladders.
      He has enough dough to warrant that .

      • bigbadboogieman on 25/05/2023 - 08:47

        I bought a pole pruner and use a 3-step ladder. The pole pruner is heavy so good exercise in parallel.

  • The tiger on 25/05/2023 - 08:46

    If one wants to get small jobs done the best platform to approach is “ Airtasker”. I think there are many “ handy men” etc provided by good expert tradies who are new immigrants but lack of business connections. They are sure keen to make some moneys out of their time. I did a number of times with them . Not bad.

    • bigbadboogieman on 25/05/2023 - 08:50
      +6

      I kind of disagree. Airtasker is a price gouge. It slugs both the seller and the buyer of service with an outrageous fee based on percentage. Also the people you find on it can be dodgy work so you need more screening. I did manage to find one gyprock tradie after going through like 15 shills.

      Edit: That guy too had a bad attitude. Disrespectful from arrival. My wife almost had an argument and I had to calm both of them down. Completely unjustified stress that wasn't supposed to exist.

  • Herbse on 25/05/2023 - 09:15
    +2

    No one is struggling.

    Changing from tip top to Coles brand sandwich bread is not struggling.

    People are skimping out at the groceries but still having weekends out, holidays, buying new cars, keeping their investment properties and generally doing whatever they like.

    This site alone and the amount of useless stuff we buy is proof of how much we're all struggling.

    • ssfps on 27/05/2023 - 02:46

      Plenty of people are struggling. The subtlety here is that Australia (and many places in the world) have growing disparity of wealth - the rich are richer, the poor are poorer, and the middle class is stratifying further.

      • Herbse on 27/05/2023 - 11:08

        Please show me someone who is struggling and has done everything to reduce that struggle.

        • downsize
        • move to a cheaper location
        • hasn't been buying unecessary things
        • hasn't been on or planning on holidays

        The only people I see struggling are the ones who over borrowed to buy a house or investment property owners who don't want to let go

        • ssfps on 27/05/2023 - 14:26

          Have you tried looking at the 40% of the population who rent?

          downsize

          Either you accept that there are a subset of home owners who are on the bones of their ass with a modest home, or you believe there is a discontinuity where everyone is either a middle class home-owner, or are dirt poor. I actually think this is becoming more true, but it's not that stratified, yet.

  • Odin on 25/05/2023 - 09:21

    Diy

  • 2esc on 25/05/2023 - 09:36
    +1

    Ive always tried to do as much as i can myself before i called trades because of the cost but also the standard of work is not what i expect from a trade.

    There will be more diy work done some of a poor and dangerous standard.

  • succulentchinesemeal on 25/05/2023 - 10:37

    regarding trades - seek out smaller businesses rather than brand name companies.
    in my experience they're generally more competitive because they're not just going off a price sheet. they also do not have as much overhead as bigger companies, meaning more room to move in their pricing.
    just make sure you do your research on facebook etc to find local reviews. generally smaller businesses are incentivised to do better work because word of mouth can boost or destroy their reputation. but do your research

  • Oz em on 25/05/2023 - 10:59

    People will try diy with various outcomes.

  • jaimex2 on 25/05/2023 - 11:11
    +1

    Need to deregulate a lot of red tape in the country so we can legally DIY more.

    It will make trades cheaper for everyone.

    The red tape does nothing currently but add costs, it hasn't stopped shoddy developments.

    • mrdean on 25/05/2023 - 17:57

      It's a deliberate rort. More regulation (mostly done under the guise of "safety") means much more opportunity for business. Follow the money.

  • rlagksquf on 25/05/2023 - 11:53

    Ask your boss for salary increase!

    • Jolakot on 26/05/2023 - 14:20

      "It's not in the budget this year, but if you work hard then we might be able to potentially consider a 2.5% increase instead of your usual 2% increase next year"

      • beefmaster on 28/05/2023 - 09:36

        I got 0%. excuse was economics uncertainty.

  • hopper on 25/05/2023 - 15:36

    sending kids to neighbours home for dinner

    • Hangryuman on 26/05/2023 - 10:50

      I like my kids lightly fried in a little batter

  • mrdean on 25/05/2023 - 17:52

    By 2030 you'll be renting everything, & you will be happy.

  • noideaa on 25/05/2023 - 19:03

    I’ve always wondered why there isn’t any public backlash over the high cost of living.

    • beefmaster on 28/05/2023 - 09:37
      +2

      Too poor to make it to the protest

  • MrBillions on 25/05/2023 - 20:45

    My ducted heating replacement bill $21k !!!

  • D3HUN on 25/05/2023 - 21:30
    +6

    I wonder if there will be a nationwide disaster in terms of quality of housing over the next decade.
    Coming from Europe, I have to break the news for you - there is already a housing quality crisis in Australia.

    • OzzyOzbourne on 26/05/2023 - 14:28
      +1

      Nah, no point of reference for most people, general acceptance of shoddy work and rebuilding houses after 20 years, the fact the property will be worth 3 times the purchase price by that time whether it's still standing or not and lots of rich people.

  • Loopholio on 25/05/2023 - 21:43
    +2

    My landlord is paying me to look after the lawn, general gardening and extremely light superintendent duties. I'm cheap and I'm already here soo yay me!

  • FittyFitty on 26/05/2023 - 02:06
    +6

    As a rule of thumb, there is no longer any callout job worth less than $500 and $5000 for a "day job" will soon become common place.

    I have a couple of cracked windows, and Im nervous to get a glazier come out; have this $2K figure ringing in my head…

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