Singing Pig

Hi im buying 1 bed flat comprising of bedroom, bathroom, living, room, kitchen and small hallway. 

If you do nearly all the work yourself you may possibly meet this budget. I'd allow for at least double that to test if the deal still holds water, that way any savings you make are a pleasant surprise.

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the wise man is the one who knows how little he knows

Hello,hope this advice helps? best I could do on a refurb was an Ikea kitchen,yes! you buy,unpack and assemble, warts an all! £958,next the bathroom suite compliments of my local discount ware house £ 400, plumber to final fix £ 220 including some dodgy work by previous plumbers,double glazing for the four windows, not top spec, £ 800 c/heating no change from £ 1000,call it dec's for £ 500 and carpets/ floor coverings £ 400.

All up £ 4278/ my time and effort? cannot put a price on this? late nights and some weekends.
I think your calculation is about right,good luck.

Regards,

John

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cost of skips/location of skips/disposal of rubbish can cost much more than you think.

dont forget to factor in your interest payments on the purchase loan for the full refurb time plus void time afterwards before you sell or tenant into the final refurb costs.

if you are renting, Cloud 9 carpet underlay is expensive, but, fantastic, and will give cheaper carpets years more life.

Include at least 10% contingency on top of what you think is your highest budget figure.

Plumbers first - central heating in such a small place CAN be installed in 1 day - provided you have removed al lthe old system and they have a clear run at it.

Bathroom next
Kitchen next
Decorating next
carpets last

whats the wiring like ? new elec regs come in in 2005.

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Clottie the Positive. windswept and interesting !!

"The Lancashire Lady"

I'd ditch the double glazing (if it's not for your benefit, why bother) and double your budget, unless you are doing it all yourself. I've just spent £1500 on a boiler (no rads or pipework) for a small flat.

(1) How much you buying the flat for?

(2) How much do you think it will be worth after the work is complete? 

(3) How also much would it rent out for?

(4) Within YOUR remit, How long do you think it will take to complete the work?

(5) What % loan to value are you taking out?

(6) Any redemptions on the mortage?

(7) Do you plan to rent or sell? 

(8) Constigency of Time - hence the project takes longer than expected.... what implications does this have? (you might stick to budget but the additional time paying interest might screw you, also you complete into a quiet period to rent or sell)

The refurb cost is one part of the financial jigsaw.... can you provide us with the figures please.

Best Regards

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Post Edited (pieman) : 12/2/2004 8:29:03 PM GMT

Thanks everyone for your input.

John, as hard as i try i cannot get a quote for c/h for £1000. I am expecting to pay aorund £2000 for combi boiler and 4/5 radiaters.

Clottie, i had not thought about skips/ disposal of rubbish. Obviously that will have to sorted out to remove the old bathroom suite. Thanks.

Tony, leaving the windows; not a bad idea, it would be the only flat in the house without d/g though

Pieman:

Falt costs £58000

Should be worth around £75000-£78000. I own a one bed maisonette in the area which was valued at £87000 in August, but to be fair i doubt it would actually sell for this amount right now! 1Bed flats are currently on sale now for between £70 and £80k in the immediate area.

Rent is £385-£400 per month. Two flats on the road have just been let at these prices.

I estimate approximately 2 months work before completion

85% Ltv= £49300 @ 5.85% = £240 pm there is no redemption penalty on the mortgage and i intend to remortgage when the work is done.

The service charge is £50 pm and insurance will be £25. Thats an extra £75p/m.

Now I can remortgage upto £63000 which will leave me with a positve cash flow of £18 but i will only have £1000 of my own money tied up in the property (a portion of the rest will be on standby to cover voids, maintenance and interest rate rises)...

Or remortgage up to around £57000 which leaves +ve cash flow of £48p/m for an £8000 investment. A cash on cash return of around 7%.

Any thoughts on which value i should consider remortgaging for?

I actually feel that the work could be done within 1 month but have allowed two for problems. Should it run over this, at least it will give me time to find a tenant for when it is ready eh?

i've shown prospective tenants round my refurber 3 weeks before completion of buidling works, - they can see it will be brand new, and are impressed anyway. Yieldman suggested this. Worked a treat for me. First viewings, i got a tenant. Thanks Yieldy.

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Clottie the Positive. windswept and interesting !!

"The Lancashire Lady"