The renovation begins...

In Q1 2023 we planned a day of property viewings in and around the Mansfield, Nottinghamshire area. A typical day of viewing consisting of multiple properties with varying characteristics. Often during these days we pick a selection of properties including flats, apartments, terraced, semi-detached and detached properties. Our single strategy however is always the same, target under valued listings.

The day started with us ranking the properties based on the online listings, best to worst in terms of value add and quality of opportunity, something we typically do, it adds a bit of competition, we then circle back to this after the day is complete and assess.

Our least favourite property in our pre-day ranking was a 2 bed flat, whilst the pictures clearly showed a property in need of significant renovations, we couldn't quite put a number on the value add opportunity, instead favouring a 2 bed mid terraced house coming out of an estate.

Once we concluded the viewings we sat down for a debrief and to chat through each opportunity presented to us. It turned out we actually really liked the flat, whilst the pictures were accurate showing the works required, what they didn’t highlight were some of the characterful features of the property, such as a double height ceiling in the kitchen living room with rustic beams adding that country cottage feel. We crunched the numbers  and decided that evening that it was worth an offer as we felt that if we could get it for the right price we were on to a great deal.

Our offer started low, very low, we knew the property was a repossession and was listed with 2 agents as is the norm for public notice listings. The offer was quite quickly rejected however we put a second offer on the table and advised the agent we wouldn't be returning with a third. The offer sat on the table for 3 days but eventually came back rejected. We walked away from the deal but advised the agent to contact us if it was still for sale in a month or two.

A couple of months passed, we were scheduling our next viewing day and to our surprise we saw the same flat still for sale. At this point it had been on the market for 6 months with no sale. We decided to contact the agent and resubmit our previous offer, cash purchase with a 21 day exchange. Within 48 hours we got the news, ACCEPTED!

We secured the property at £54,000 (asking price £60,000), taking into account legal fees and stamp duty £3,100 our commitment before renovations was £57,500. We budgeted £8000 for renovation works taking our total outlay to £65,100.

In June 2023 we exchanged and collected the keys, ahead of the exchange date we had lined up a number of local tradesmen to attend and provide quotes for the work. Whilst we are happy to get hands on, there are limitations to our skills. Top of the list was a bathroom fitter and electrician. We quickly selected our tradesmen for this job and got to work ordering all the materials we required to refurbish the property.

We turned this around in 4 weeks from completion and were able to tenant the property a short time afterwards for a monthly rental income of £725. The quality of the renovations on this project were put to the test as another 2 bed flat in the same building was listed for rent at £650 per month, however the quality of finish didn't compare and we secured a tenant much sooner than the other listing which pays testament to the works carried out. 

After 6 months of ownership we mortgaged the property for its true market value after renovations and achieved a £100,000 valuation. This enabled us to release £75,000 on a 25% equity buy to let mortgage. This not only pays back our initial investment we also release an additional £10,000+ which we cycled on to the next project!