28.03.2024

Cherie Barber on how to make millions renovating property

The 47-year-old property tycoon dipped her toes into the renovating market at the tender age of 21 and developed a taste for transforming homes and the generous profits it led to.

Renovation queen Cherie Barber has successfully bought and sold over 100 homes around Australia.

And after earning over $135,000 in extra cash from turning around a Sydney home for her 100th renovation in only nine days, Cherie spoke to Daily Mail Australia about her top tips for buying properties – and says anyone can make millions if they have the ‘passion’.

‘When I bought, renovated and sold my first home, I said to myself: “What am I doing? I just made three years worth of my salary in months, this needs to be a career”,’ Cherie said.

Cherie Barber (pictured) has bought and sold over 100 homes – and firmly believes everybody can get into the property market

The renovation queen (pictured) says she bought her first ever property in her early 20s and developed a taste for turning homes around

CHERIE’S 100th RENOVATION

Where: Dural, north-west Sydney

Property Value (Before Renovation): $1,400,000

Renovation Spend Total: $62,909

Renovation Timeframe: 9 days

Property Breakeven Point: $1,462,909

Property Sold Price: $1,600,000

Uplift In Value: $200,000

Net Profit Margin (After Reno Costs): $137,091

‘I believe anyone, with hard work and passion, can get into the property market. I know a 13-year-old boy who has bought his own property. It is possible.’

The Balmain-based renovator says she worked long and hard, seven days a week for almost ten years to be able to afford her first property in her early 20s.

She says she went without luxuries and worked three jobs while cosmetically renovating her very first home – which was situated near a six-lane highway.

‘I wasn’t going out and buying shoes and dresses every other weekend like a lot of girls do. If I wasn’t waiting tables I was at my other job or painting the inside of my first home,’ she explained.

Cherie, who now owns a $20 million property portfolio and has renovated 106 different homes, says she has learnt countless lessons during her two decades in the business.

‘I believe anyone, with hard work and passion, can get into the property market. I know a 13-year-old boy who has bought his own property. It is possible,’ Cherie said

Cherie, who now owns a $20 million property portfolio and has renovated 106 different homes, says she has learnt countless lessons during her two decades in the business

She recently bought a property (pictured before) in north-west Sydney and renovated it within nine days

Cherie sold (pictured after) the Dural home for $1.6 million after purchasing it for $1.4 million

Cherie’s latest pride and joy was her renovation of a five-bedroom, two-bathroom home which she turned around in a staggering nine days.

Her renovation strategy was to cosmetically renovate the whole of the house internally – including replacing tiles, redoing the kitchen, painting walls and changing the furnishing completely.

The final product was then resold a week-and-a-half later for $1.6 million – $200,000 over the initial price after $62,909 in renovations

Cherie’s top tips for anyone eyeing a property is to educate yourself on real estate and do your homework

‹ Slide me ›

The difference some painted bricks and a cool grey colour scheme can make can be clearly seen with this before and after shot

Cherie’s top tips for anyone eyeing a property is to educate yourself on real estate and do your homework.

The first item on an aspiring renovator’s agenda should be to determine if your forte will be structural or cosmetic renovation, Cherie says.

‘You need to choose your strategy. You should either focus on cosmetically enhancing properties for a smaller profit or the more lucrative path of structural renovation,’ she said.

She also recommends adopting a ‘cookie-cutter’ mentality when redesigning and refurbishing the interior of your properties.

The first item on an aspiring renovator’s agenda should be to determine if your forte will be structural or cosmetic renovation, Cherie says (Dural home pictured before renovation)

She also recommends adopting a ‘cookie-cutter’ mentality when redesigning and refurbishing the interior of your properties (pictured after)

‘The key is to find a winning signature style. Use the same colour scheme, same type of kitchen, same everything so when you start redoing multiple properties you almost create a production-line for yourself,’ Cherie said.

‘You don’t need to reinvent the wheel for every project and if you do it this way you know exactly what you’ll spend every single time.’

As many property naysayers in Sydney can confirm, renovators across the city are choosing to spend upwards of $1 million on ramshackle homes simply because of it’s desirable location.

And Cherie agrees first home buyers shouldn’t shy away from the ‘ugly’ homes because it means there is far more capacity to add financial value to it.

‘You don’t need to reinvent the wheel for every project and if you do it this way you know exactly what you’ll spend every single time,’ Cherie said (property pictured before)

Cherie agrees first home buyers shouldn’t shy away from the ‘ugly’ homes because it means there is far more capacity to add financial value to it (pictured after)

‘There is a huge amount of satisfaction in taking an ugly house or one that hasn’t been loved for years and transforming it into a family home,’ she said.

Cherie also warns people to be unwavering in their budget and to know truly what a property is worth.

‘Real estate agents always hope that silly people will come along and pay too much for a property,’ she said.

‘Be smart, know what the homes are worth and how to negotiate the price.’

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *