Australia's cheapest reno house resells at $74,500 – five months after its $15,000 purchase

The repeatedly graffitied, vandalised, run-down Moree fibro cost $15,000 in June, and five months later it's been sold at $74,500.

After the $15,000 renovation,  property investor Engelo Rumora had put the property back on the market for $80,000, offered with the tenants paying $180 a week.

It recently sold through Petta Melbourne from Artesian Real Estate.

"A total make-over has seen this property transformed from ordinary into extraordinary," her marketing said.

Rumora said his initial low purchase price was due to persistence and a little luck. The property had been on Nathan Birch's Property Dealfinder site.

"Originally I saw it on the market advertised for $80,000 and it needed a bit of work but I made some enquiries anyway," he told the September edition of the API magazine.

"Turned out the owner planned to renovate and do some work.

"A few months later it had dropped to $60,000 so I checked in with the agent again and made an offer to buy the renovated property for $35,000, and we started negotiations."

During negotiations the four-bedroom house was broken into and vandalised, at which point insurance money became involved. 

"I checked in again after a few weeks and the vendor was supposed to be getting an insurance payout … but the agent said he was having problems with the insurance company.

"That day I offered to take it off his hands for $15,000 cash. And he agreed."

According to Rumora, $15,000 was enough to get it back into shape.

"I don't install $10,000 kitchens and granite benchtops — this isn't Vaucluse. I stuck an $800 Bunnings kitchen in there and went down the budget route."

Rumora also opted for interior all-over spray-paint to slash the budget. A spray gun got the place painted for about $3,000.

"Normally painting a home is expensive because of the labour. You've got a different colour on the ceiling, the walls and the woodwork and that takes time. We covered the windows and floors and sprayed the lot," he said.

"Making around $40,000 profit is pretty sexy numbers," he said.

Property Observer ascertains its lastest price roughly matches its $70,000 sale price in 2007. It had sold at $10,080 in 1969. 

Rumora lists his other success stories on his website, where he recently announced he was taking his endeavours overseas to the USA.