How to avoid these common fixer-upper mistakes and add value

How to avoid these common fixer-upper mistakes and add value

September, 2018

When it comes to buying a home, you may not necessarily be looking to live in it yourself – it may be your mission to buy a “fixer upper” and sell it on…and hopefully make a profit!

Buy a house, give it a lick of paint and put it back on the market in the hope to gain a profit of £10k – unfortunately that’s not exactly how it works. There’s a lot more that goes into it – otherwise, everyone would be doing it!

Today, I’m giving you three top tips on how to succeed at property renovation and increase your potential profit. Here we go!

1. Set a budget and stick to it

When it comes to buying a fixer-upper, you need to set yourself a budget, and you’ll need to be strict with yourself. Not only should you set yourself a budget, but you should set yourself a contingency budget in the event of something untoward happening that you had not planned for. For example – any structural problems that you were not aware of during the purchasing process, or even something like a leak during the renovation process – all this could add up significantly, reducing the potential profit in the end.

       2. Location – do your homework

Anyone giving property advice will always remind you of the importance of location – usually this usually because you need to ensure the property is in an area suitable for you and your needs.

However, in the case of a property renovation, location is important from the point of view of your potential buyers. Just because you may not need a school in your area, doesn’t mean your potential buyers won’t - especially if the house you are renovating is a family home.

Think about all the local amenities, access to the motorway, local schools etc. because these are all things potential buyers will be considering when they come to view your house.

      3. Know how much you’re prepared to do

When you go into property renovation, you should know how much work you’re prepared to do. Are you equipped to take over a building site and have the resources and help to do so? This could reward you with a larger profit – if done sensibly (and not forgetting, sticking to that all-important budget!) but without the right support financially and team wise, you could risk losing money.

Or, is this project more cosmetic? Rather than completely gutting the house, you’ll lay new flooring, paint the walls, install a new kitchen and bathroom suite and then get it valued again to put up for sale. Whatever you choose, make sure you have the resources and manpower to do it properly. You can’t afford to cut corners as this will impact your profit when it comes to resale.