Barkly Street flip
or rooming house feaso

Off market house on Barkly Street, Footscray. The agent is calling it a 2 bed 1 bath. The floor plan has 7 rooms, 2 bathrooms and 2 toilets across about 128m². Buy it at $500,000 to $510,000 and a flip or a rooming house both stack up. Pay the $550,000 ask and neither does.

$500k to $510k
Likely buy price
$179,802
Flip profit, light reno, sold as a 3 bed 2 bath
$28,970
Rooming house, 6 rooms, a year after interest
12.0%
Gross yield on every dollar in

Ten sections. The site and the two plans, the floor plan and what it tells us, what still needs checking, then each plan in turn, then the site checks.

1The site, and the two plans

Two plans that work

Original house, never touched, offered off market at $550,000 on a long settlement with 5% down. We think it lands at $500,000 to $510,000. Every number on this page is run at that, not the ask.

about 195m²Land, 29.25m deep
about 128m²Floor area
7 rooms2 bathrooms, 2 toilets
Mixed UseZone, commercial building next door
No car spaceJust a 0.9m side walkway
740mWalk to Middle Footscray
Option 1

Renovate and sell

$179,802
Buy at $500,000, light reno, sell as a 3 bed 2 bath at $860,000. Sell it as a 2 bed at $790,000 instead and it comes back to about $111,342.
  • In and out in about 6 months
  • $102,500 of works, out of your own cash
  • If it needs a full gut at $212,500 it loses money
  • Photos showing structural work kill it
Option 2

Rent it by the room

$28,970 a year
What is left after interest, buying at $500,000 and letting 6 rooms. That is 12.0% gross on every dollar in. Drop the passage and run 5 rooms and it falls to $16,502.
  • Six bedrooms, none of them under 7.5m²
  • Needs a 1m passage built over the side walkway
  • $207,500 of works, about $239,000 in the deal
  • The passage sits in the overlay, so it needs a permit
2The floor plan

Drawn as seven rooms

The 2012 architect's existing plans. Front of the house on the right facing Barkly Street, rear yard to the north. Everything on this page comes off what is drawn here.

Existing ground floor plan, 2012
RoomSizeAreaOver 7.5m²Rooming house, 6 roomsFlip as 3 bed 2 bath
Front house, about 15m deep
A, front3.65 x 3.64m13.3m²✓BedroomMain bedroom
B3.65 x 3.33m12.2m²✓BedroomBedroom 2
C, attic stair4.17 x 3.49m14.6m²✓BedroomLiving
D, kitchen4.95 x 3.33m16.5m²n/aShared kitchen and livingKitchen and dining
Bathroom with bath1.87 x 1.60m3.0m²Bathroom 1Main bathroom
Corridor, laundry, 2 WCs1.91 x 1.60m plus 900mm corridors3.1m²Inside route to the rear wing, second shower room, 2 toiletsLaundry, powder room
Rear wing, about 7.75m deep
E2.47 x 3.52m8.7m²✓BedroomBedroom 3
Bathroom1.56 x 1.46m2.3m²Bathroom 2Second bathroom
F3.03 x 2.62m7.9m²! 0.4m² spareBedroomStudy
G, kitchenette3.03 x 3.24m9.8m²✓Bedroom, kitchenette outRumpus or 4th bedroom
Upstairs
Attic2.98 x 2.92m8.7m²!Storage onlyStorage or loft

Sizes come off the 2012 drawing, which says up front that the dimensions are approximate and it is not a survey. 7.5m² is the minimum bedroom size for prescribed accommodation. Ceiling height in the attic is not shown.

3What the plan tells us

Four things it changes

It is bigger than it reads

Front house about 15m deep by 5.2m wide, rear wing about 7.75m by 6.9m. That is roughly 128m² of floor, well up on the 90m² we first ran. Block is about 29.25m deep and 6.4m to 6.9m wide, so around 195m², near enough to the 202m² on record.

Someone has run it as share housing before

Two kitchens, in rooms D and G. Two bathrooms, two separate toilets, a laundry. And someone paid an architect to draw it in 2012, so pull the permit history from council before you offer.

Six rooms clear the 7.5m² minimum

Room F is the tightest at 7.9m². There is no way to carve a hallway through the rear wing without dropping rooms under that, so the passage goes outside instead, over the side walkway. Wet areas are already in place: a bath, a small shower, two toilets, plus a laundry room that becomes a second shower.

Rear yard faces north

The rear wing and the yard get the sun, which helps whether you rent rooms or sell to a family. Side walkway is 900mm and there is nowhere to park a car.

4What to check before believing it

Six things to check

IssueWhy it mattersHow to check
Inside access to the rear wingThe 900mm corridor off the kitchen gets you to Bed 4. Beds 5 and 6 only have doors onto the side walkway, which is why the passage gets built and enclosed over it.Walk it. Check the corridor is open, check the widths with the building surveyor, and check the doors are where the 2012 plan puts them.
The new side passageIt is building work in the overlay and it sits hard on the boundary, so it needs a building permit, a planning permit for the overlay and a Melbourne Water referral. Budgeted at $45,000 including permits. Without it the house runs 5 rooms, not 6.Draftsperson and builder to price it, then lodge early. Melbourne Water sets the floor level.
Kitchenette in room GA room with its own kitchen can be treated as a self contained unit rather than a rooming house, and that loses the exemption.Remove it in the works. Budgeted.
Reno cost on 128m²The light reno at $102,500 works out at about $800/m², which is the bottom of the cosmetic range. The full gut at $212,500 is about $1,660/m².Get a builder to price this plan before you sign.
The plan is from 2012Fourteen years and a squatter period since it was drawn, so walls or wet areas may have moved.Check it against the agent's photos.
AtticNo ceiling height on the drawing, so it cannot be counted as a bedroom.Measure on site.
Option 1, renovate and sell
5The numbers

What it costs, what it makes

Profit before tax. Rows are what you pay, columns are how much work it needs and what it sells for. The 3 bed 2 bath column uses the layout already on the plan: A, B and E as bedrooms, C as the living room, both bathrooms kept.

You payLight reno $102,500, 6 monthsFull gut $212,500, 9 months
sells $760,000as 2 bedsells $790,000as 2 bedsells $860,000as 3 bed 2 bathsells $760,000as 2 bedsells $790,000as 2 bedsells $860,000as 3 bed 2 bath
$500,000 likely$82,00212.1% on cost$111,34216.4% on cost$179,80226.4% on cost($37,731)(4.7%) on cost($8,391)(1.1%) on cost$60,0697.5% on cost
$510,000 likely$71,05810.3% on cost$100,39814.6% on cost$168,85824.4% on cost($48,848)(6.0%) on cost($19,508)(2.4%) on cost$48,9526.0% on cost
$525,000$54,6417.7% on cost$83,98111.9% on cost$152,44121.5% on cost($65,523)(7.9%) on cost($36,183)(4.4%) on cost$32,2773.9% on cost
$550,000 ask$27,2803.7% on cost$56,6207.7% on cost$125,08017.0% on cost($93,315)(10.9%) on cost($63,975)(7.5%) on cost$4,4850.5% on cost
$179,802Light reno at $500k, sold as 3 bed 2 bath at $860k
$111,342Light reno at $500k, sold as 2 bed at $790k
($8,391)Full gut at $500k, sold as 2 bed at $790k
$25,000Deposit on exchange at 5%

Works budgets include fees and contingency. They are desktop rates, not quotes. Holding costs are 6.5% interest plus rates, water and insurance. Selling costs are 2.2% commission plus $8,000 marketing. Stamp duty at $500,000 is $25,070.

Option 1, renovate and sell
6Comparable sales

What has sold nearby

Two bed houses, last six months. Hover an address for the source, hover a distance for how it was measured.

$400k$450k$500k$550k$600k$650k$700k$750k$800k$850k$900k$950k$1000kBought to renovateSold finished or updatedresale range361 Barkly $450k235 Gordon $610k4 Talbot $750k40 Adelaide* $780k51A Macpherson* $805k41 Adelaide $809k26 Fitzroy $818k37 Leander* $999k12 Buckingham $1001klikely buy $500k to $510k

* condition not checked

AddressSoldPriceBed/bath/carLandDistanceConditionHow it reads
Bought to renovate: what the site is worth today
361 Barkly St19 Mar 2026$450,0002/1/0200m²under 50mRenovator, readAlmost opposite. Same size, same frontage, no car. $2,250/m² of land.
235 Gordon St27 Jul 2026$610,0002/1/1185m²about 300mRenovator, readSide street, one car space. Paid $160k more than 361.
4 Talbot St11 Jul 2026$750,0002/1/0not listed1.14kmOriginal heritage terrace, readBuyers paid for the facade. Outer edge of the radius.
Sold finished or updated: what it sells for after the work
41 Adelaide St9 Jul 2026$809,0002/1/0not listed416mPresented, updated, readClosest match on the finished product: no car, same pocket.
40 Adelaide St10 Jun 2026$780,0002/1/0189m²449mCondition unknown, not checkedSame size, no car, across the street from 41 Adelaide.
26 Fitzroy St8 Aug 2026$817,5002/1/2183m²515mRenovated Victorian, readTwo car spaces lift it above what the site can get.
51A Macpherson St16 May 2026$805,0002/1/2not listed425mCondition unknown, not checkedTwo car spaces.
3 bed sales: the resale if it is sold as 3 bed 2 bath
Barkly St, same street28 Aug 2026$960,0003/1/2413m²under 200mEdwardian, updated kitchen and bath, readSame street, same Mixed Use Zone. Double the land and lane access for cars, so it sits above the site.
67 Hyde St7 Aug 2026$880,0003/1/0not listed1.21kmCondition unknown, not checkedNo car, like the site. Edge of the radius.
34 Chatham St2 May 2026$842,0003/1/0not listed630mCondition unknown, not checkedNo car, like the site.
216 Gordon St15 Jun 2026$750,0003/1/1not listed385mCondition unknown, not checkedFloor for a 3 bed nearby.
Top of the market, close by: shown, not used for the resale range
12 Buckingham StJul 2026$1,001,0002/1/1not listed298mUpdated Victorian, carport, readClosest finished sale. Off street parking, quiet street near the station.
37 Leander St30 May 2026$999,0002/1/1224m²623mCondition unknown, not checkedCar space, residential street. Same ceiling.

Left out: 6 Coward St at $681,600, on 129m² it is too small to compare against. For context, the 2 bed house median is $791,250, and local agents say buyers are paying for renovated, turnkey homes.

Option 1, renovate and sell
7How the resale is set

Where the resale sits

As a 2 bed, $790k is the middle

The two closest finished sales without a car space, 41 and 40 Adelaide St, got $809,000 and $780,000. 26 Fitzroy got $817,500 with two car spaces. This one has no car and sits on Barkly, so it lands at or under those.

The Barkly Street discount is real

361 Barkly and 235 Gordon sit 270m apart, same size, both sold as renovators, and $160,000 apart on price. That gap is the main road and the missing car space.

Selling it as a 3 bed is worth more than the finish

A 3 bed on this street, under 200m away and in the same zone, made $960,000 in August, though it had double the land and lane access. 3 bed sales with no car ran $842,000 to $880,000 nearby, so $860,000 is the middle of that.

There is upside, just do not bank it

12 Buckingham St, 300m away, made $1,001,000 as an updated 2 bed with a carport on a quiet street. A really good finish here could push past $820,000, but nothing on Barkly Street backs that up yet.

Option 2, rent by the room
8The conversion

Six rooms, one new passage

Clause 52.23 lets you run a rooming house with no planning permit for the use if it stays under 9 bedrooms, 12 people and 300m², with a shared kitchen and living area. This house clears all four at six rooms. The passage is building work though, and it sits in the overlay, so that part still needs a permit.

Existing, as drawn in 2012

Existing ground floor plan, 2012

Conceptual, 6 room rooming house

BED 113.3m²BED 212.2m²BED 314.6m²SHAREDkitchen and living16.5m²BATH 1bathSHOWER 2was the laundryWCWCBATH 3BED 48.7m²BED 57.9m²BED 69.8m²kitchenette outPASSAGENEW ENCLOSED PASSAGE, 1.0m WIDEGreen: kitchen to Bed 4 through the wet core. Orange: kitchen to Beds 5 and 6 along the new passage.BARKLY ST

Same scale, lined up wall for wall with the plan above. Nothing moves inside. The orange strip is the new passage, roofed and enclosed over the existing 0.9m side walkway, so every bedroom is reached from inside the building.

ChangeWhereWhy
Front rooms become Beds 1 to 3Rooms A, B, CThe three biggest rooms at 12.2m² to 14.6m², so they get the best rent. Attic stair boxed in and the attic stays as storage.
Kitchen room becomes the shared kitchen and livingRoom DYou need a shared kitchen and living area to keep the use exemption. 16.5m² for six people, which is tight but legal.
The laundry and basin room becomes a second shower room1.91 x 1.60m, off the corridorOne bath and one small shower will not do for six people, and this room is already plumbed. Laundry goes back in as a stacked machine in the same room.
The wet core stays a through route, not a dead end900mm corridor, 2 WCsThat corridor off the kitchen is how you reach Bed 4 and the wet rooms, so nothing gets blocked up. Both WCs stay where they are.
A new passage runs down the sideOver the 0.9m walkway, about 11m longRoofed and enclosed, 1m wide, off the kitchen door and along to the back rooms. It is the only way to get six bedrooms without walking through one to reach another. $45,000 including permits.
Rear rooms become Beds 4, 5 and 6Rooms E, F and G8.7m², 7.9m² and 9.8m², all over the minimum. Bed 4 comes off the wet core corridor, Beds 5 and 6 off the new passage. The kitchenette in G comes out so the room cannot be read as self contained.
Class 1b fire safetyThroughoutHardwired interconnected alarms and whatever else the building surveyor puts on the list. It is in the $207,500.
Option 2, rent by the room
9The cashflow

What six rooms pays

You hold this one, you do not sell it. The $300 a room is an average. The back rooms at 7.9m² to 9.8m² will let for less than the front rooms at 12m² and up. The 5 room columns are the fallback if the passage does not get up.

6 rooms, $500kwith the new passage6 rooms, $510k5 rooms, $500kno passage built5 rooms, $510k
Works, own funds$207,500$207,500$162,500$162,500
Of that, the new side passage$45,000$45,000nilnil
Rent at $300 a room, 95% occupied$88,920$88,920$74,100$74,100
Management at 12.5%$11,115$11,115$9,262$9,262
Rates, insurance, utilities, maintenance, land tax$14,300$14,300$13,800$13,800
Interest at 6.5% on price plus costs$34,535$35,224$34,535$35,224
Cashflow a year after interest$28,970$28,281$16,502$15,813
Gross yield on all money in12.0%11.9%10.7%10.5%
Cash in, costs plus works$238,810$239,410$193,810$194,410
Cashflow if rooms let at $270$21,189$20,500$10,019$9,330
Cashflow if rooms let at $330$36,750$36,061$22,986$22,297
$16,5025 rooms at $500k, a year after interest
$15,8135 rooms at $510k
$193,810Cash in the deal, costs plus works
$28,970If a 6th room ever happens, at $500k
10The site and the other plans

Due diligence, and dead ends

CheckResultWhat it means
Special Building Overlay✕Identified, overland flowInternal work needs no planning permit. The new side passage does, plus a Melbourne Water referral, because it is building work in the overlay. That is the one permit in this plan.
Zone!Mixed UseA rooming house needs no zone permit under Clause 52.23. Commercial building next door.
Heritage and character✓NoneNothing protects the facade or the finishes, so you can do what you like.
Easements!None in digital dataConfirm on title in the Section 32.
Bushfire, erosion, vegetation, flight paths✓NoneNothing.
Asbestos!Assume yes50 years untouched, so assume it is there. It is in every budget.
Bedroom and bathroom minimums✓Met at 6 roomsSmallest bedroom is 7.9m². After the works there is a bath, two showers and two toilets for six people, inside the one per ten rule.

Ruled out

PlanWhere it lands
Renovate and rent as a houseBleeds about $15k a year on $600 a week rent. Only worth it as a long hold.
Knock down and rebuildDead. About $608,000 to build, under an overland flow overlay, and it loses over $200,000.
Commercial or mixed useToo small to carry the permit and the build cost. The commercial building next door is the natural buyer for this land, not us.

Every number here is a forecast. Nobody has been through it yet, the floor plan is 14 years old, and 50 years untouched plus squatter damage points at the full gut rather than the light reno. Occupancy and the 12.5% management fee need checking with someone who actually manages rooming houses. Interest at 6.5%, works paid out of your own cash. No tax, GST or depreciation in these numbers.