Some people say to us, "I see that I can make a fortune from passive property investment over the longer term, but I don't want to wait that long. What can I do?”

When we tell them that they must consider property renovations, they are usually surprised that they can create wealth quickly through this technique.

It does seem like an odd way to get rich, messing about with old houses and dealing with tradesmen. It's certainly not very glamorous - no French champagne, private jets or red convertibles in this picture.

You should know that there are incredible riches to be made by unlocking value through property renovations. Many investors have used this as a means to catapult themselves up the wealth ladder.

Planning Your Perfect Home Renovation: Save Time and Money with This Essential Guide to Fuss-free Home Improvements Renovation can be awful. It's not like the television shows - it's dirtier, harder and more stressful than any close-up can capture. It doesn't matter if you live in an apartment and need to repaint the lounge room or if you live in a harbourside mansion and need to rebuild the entire house, you can just about guarantee that things you haven't anticipated will go wrong, the budget will blow out and you'll want to shout at someone. But help is at hand. “Planning Your Perfect Home Renovation” is your blueprint to a stress-free, well-planned and well-budgeted renovation that improves the value of your home. It helps you to plan a renovation to suit your available time, experience and money. It will also: * Introduce you to the three R's: repairs, refurbishment and rebuilding * Provide examples of room-by-room mission statements for easy planning * Show you how to work out cost estimates and schedules * Help you to build good relationships with builders and trades people * Show you what happened in three real renovations: in a unit, a brick-veneer house and a semi * Give you lots of money-saving and design tips * Include helpful and practical diagrams, floor plans and tables “Planning Your Perfect Home Renovation” is a complete how-to of assessing all your renovation needs. If you're thinking about improving your home (and want to survive the experience), you need this book. In the middle of her second renovation, Alex May is the perfect person to write this book. She is a freelance writer who specialises in property and design. Planning Your Perfect Home Renovation: Save Time and Money with This Essential Guide to Fuss-free Home Improvements

When the right type of property is renovated you can actually add value over and above the amount spent on renovations! For example, I recently purchased a property for $225,000. After spending $12,000 on some simple renovations, I was able to sell the property 6 months later for $295,000. I was able to enjoy a substantial profit by applying easy renovation strategies that anyone can use!

Some of you will wonder how a property can be purchased and renovated and suddenly be worth much more than the total cost. It happens all the time. The crucial part is knowing how to pick the right property and the right type of renovation project. If you get these two factors right then there are huge fortunes to be made.

So, how does purchasing a property to renovate differ from purchasing an investment property? It differs in many ways and you must consider many factors before making a decision to purchase. One important factor in property renovations is consideration of the surrounding properties in the area you are considering buying in.

Too many people rush into renovations without consideration of the surrounding neighbourhood. Even if you think the house is perfect, if the neighbourhood is surrounded by ugly flats built in the 1960's, then no matter what you do, the property isn't going to have that "WOW" factor. It will be harder to get the top price or the top rent for a property like this no matter what you do. Equally important is the style of house you pick to renovate. You get this wrong and you may not even add as much value as you spend on the renovations!

Don't get us wrong, there are plenty of houses out there where you will be astonished at the value you can add. There is also a potential minefield of houses out there where you will not even get back your investment! There is a danger here if you don't pick the right house.