NEWS & ARTICLES

 Suburbia wins DIY's main prize as Michael Lynch takes out the 2011 series of The Renovators   

Despite dismal ratings and audience animosity towards Channel 10's timeslot-shifting of the DIY series, Lynch revealed the community spirit of Sydney suburbia was the secret to his reality show win.

Transforming a fibro cottage in Blacktown into a resort-style retreat, Lynch said he maximised his profit of $68,000 by tapping into neighbourhood know-how and local bargain buys.

The fibro house, bought and renovated for $371,988, bettered more fancied properties at auction, selling for $440,000.

It beat Luke Pollard's inner-city terrace at Glebe to score the winner-takes-all-profit prize.

Pollard's terrace sold for $925,000, returning a profit of $25,732, while a weatherboard house in Parramatta only managed a return of just $2000 above the $573,000 reserve.

In a Block-style auction shocker, three houses - a half-done house at St Peters, a 1960s suburban at Castle Hill and a shop conversion at Marrickville - all failed to make a profit, with Ten forced to top up the prize pool by about $5000.

The real estate dive adds to the woes of the series, which was attacked for its over-extended production and cookie-cutter approach in this Masterchef-style format.

But a beaming Lynch was celebrating the positives, paying credit to his western Sydney "neighbour" for helping him win. Hailing from regional South Australia, the builder said working on the Blacktown site was "like the country town I'm from. Your neighbours want to help you out ... they were all such good people".

And the help proved profitable, with one local offering his concreting services for $100, while nextdoor neighbours Veronica and John "did everything from make me lunch to hook me up with turf contacts".

After surfing the net, Lynch also found discounted supplies from Renovators Auctions at Liverpool, where he sourced most of the materials for his team's makeover.

 source: DAILY TELEGRAPH (http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au)

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