UK Landlord Forum / Life

Thought I'd share this with you all as I wish I'd really confronted it earlier.

As you know, I'd been planning on doing up this flat properly so I could let it as a "professional let" and have it 'looking the money' ... and/or live in it myself at some future time. I've held off doing much with it for a long time, because I've not yet saved up enough money and other sources of funds I'd thought might have been available by now have failed to materialise - and I'm a firm believer in doing things once and doing them right, rather than spending money twice if at all possible.

Now its clear I have a timescale to make the place either decently rentable or saleable, and my financial restrictions are unlikely to change between now and that time. All of a sudden I'm full of ideas about what I could do ... and here's the crunch ... had I done them, say six months ago, and then got that extra injection of cash I'd hoped for, most of them would not have resulted in duplicated effort.

Things I've put on hold are things like knocking an odd-shaped archway into a different shape I prefer, putting in a new kitchen and bathroom, removing wallpaper in a large room (instead of just sticking down the bits that have peeled over the last 20 years behind a hot radiator, and painting over it), moving the radiators - changing them for new ones. These are all things that if I work on, my work may have to be "undone" again at a later stage ... but most of them won't cost much extra where I do have to do a job twice, or won't make enough difference to really make the place look drastically different. The kitchen and bathroom I can fit later (a shower + install will be 250, 300 quid tops but I can't afford a bathroom for the next few years anyway, and if I suddenly can the chances are 300 quid won't matter), and I can just as easily fit new windows when I've already installed blinds, or re-do the lounge and take the wallpaper off, or move the radiators or put new ones in.

In fact, had I stuck to the original plan I may well have ended up over-developing a property it may not be in my interests to retain after the next 3-5 years, which would be a mistake. Possible tenants (and visitors/guests!) will be more likely to look past an out of date kitchen if the rest of the place looks smart and functional, and they're getting it for a decent rent.

This kind of perfectionism is something I promised myself I'd never do - its what I grew up with. Perhaps I can let myself off a little bit for not having immediately broken a habit I was exposed to for 18 formative years with my first property purchase! Being a perfectionist not having managed that does still nark me of coures I've got caught up in all the dependencies involved in doing that full rennovation. As pfag 'tactfully' pointed out in another thread, some of my stuff is still in boxes; I've held off buying some furniture because it doesn't make sense to do that when you're going to put down a new floor. I've been here 18 months now but there's still no new floor.

In my mind right now I'm seeing the decorating I'm about to do more as a consumable, a wise maintenance choice given that decor deteriorates over time and by the time I have the money for a full rennovation it may well be ready for another brush up anyway. I'm thinking about pragmatic solutions, like tile paint. I'm thinking about painting over horrible pine towel rails and toilet roll holders. I'm thinking I've lived in much, much worse rented places myself, and that really it wouldn't take much to make this at least (if not more) presentable, even if it is a bodge job. For some bizarre reason the "art of the tosh" is something that suddently feels very natural to me!

Time to go shopping for materials .....


V

Hey V,

Do you still plan on eventually  letting the property? Also, what are you basing your timescale on, personal preference?

You're definately right, if you're going to do something, do it properly, otherwise you'll forever be patching things up.

True in some cases, but sometimes a quick * this is all i can do * is all that is needed,
V you said something in your post about renters looking past the old kitchen, you have to remember that you kow the place like the back of your hand, and you notice everything as its yours, most people will just look forward and to the side and will not notice the things that you have seen.  Look hard and you will find, but to be honest most tenants are just glad to have somewhere to live.

You can project manage and do things over time, but its a skill knowing what order to do them, eg, its not worth changing the rads without doing the plastering first, there are so many situs like this when doin gup a house, but like you say to have the money to do is the ideal but most of us work outside the ideal and go with what is right for us now.
I know people V who would give you a good rent for your flat in the condition that it was in before you started work on it.

Is there a right or a wrong way to refurb a place ! is there more than one way to skin a cat !

I think do what ya got to do that feels right at the time.

Quote from: propertyfag on February 25, 2008, 09:05:09 AM
Hey V,

Do you still plan on eventually  letting the property? Also, what are you basing your timescale on, personal preference?

You're definately right, if you're going to do something, do it properly, otherwise you'll forever be patching things up.

My timescale is dictated by my life plans - so I guess there's an element of personal preference but its more than that. I'd like to be imminently travelling to a different continent this time next year, and the place needs to be presentable for sale or let by that time.


V

Quote from: Badger on February 25, 2008, 09:17:51 AM
True in some cases, but sometimes a quick * this is all i can do * is all that is needed,
V you said something in your post about renters looking past the old kitchen, you have to remember that you kow the place like the back of your hand, and you notice everything as its yours, most people will just look forward and to the side and will not notice the things that you have seen.  Look hard and you will find, but to be honest most tenants are just glad to have somewhere to live.

You can project manage and do things over time, but its a skill knowing what order to do them, eg, its not worth changing the rads without doing the plastering first, there are so many situs like this when doin gup a house, but like you say to have the money to do is the ideal but most of us work outside the ideal and go with what is right for us now.
I know people V who would give you a good rent for your flat in the condition that it was in before you started work on it.

Is there a right or a wrong way to refurb a place ! is there more than one way to skin a cat !

I think do what ya got to do that feels right at the time.

Thank you. You're a star ... with or without that tiger-skin thong.


V