nice one mate... i'm the same as you except one year ahead. i also have builders in the family, and i went down the path of renovating... best decision i have ever made. spent about $10k to make approx $50k equity in a matter of weeks. everything was decent quality, yet on the cheap. for example, solid timber (not the timber laminate shit) spotted gum floors from the surplus stock auctions throughout the house wound up costing about $20/sqm. kitchen made by proform as per specifications, yet installed by us... cost was around $4k - your average punter would pay $10k - $20k. keeping this in mind, i would strongly recommend looking into getting your house built to lock-up only, and then finishing/furnishing it all yourself... as that's where the money really adds up. you also then have the ability to build a super basic/cheap house, then fit it out with quality floors, fittings, cabinets etc etc. pain in the ass, but if you have it within your means to do something like that i would milk it for all it's worth. you'll wind up with a shit load of equity before you even move in.
