Week 34: Costings

Opulent Diaries Picture Rozinas Diary .jpeg

Hey you all! Hope you guys had a wonderful week. My week’s not been too bad considering all the sums and number crunching I had to do. It's one of those dreaded tasks that you just have to do, even if numbers are not your forte. I on the other hand had to stop whining, grow up and just get on with it and I'm glad I did. There is so much clarity now and I am able to do rough calculations before I book my viewings. Early days I was a bit all over the place and kept booking viewings only to find with further analysis that the numbers didn't work. I did waste some time doing this however the positives is that I gained valuable experience, confidence and got good at asking the agents relevant questions. My advice to anyone who is starting out but can't quite get there is to just throw yourself into it and start booking some run-down properties to view. Forget about the numbers for now, just break the ice and get practicing. That way when you are finally ready to purchase you will be that expert negotiator. These days I am very selective with my viewings and only book once certain factors meet my checklist. This has enabled me to better manage my time. So, what does it take to make it onto my list?

Checklist

  • Location must me suitable for your chosen strategy (I wrote an entire chapter on this two weeks back if you are not familiar with my blog)

  • Property must not exceed 100k

  • Terraced or a Semi

  • 3 bed minimum 

  • Good size garden (preferably low-maintenance)

  • Medium level refurbishment nothing heavy-duty

Below is a list I have put together to give me a breakdown of costs involved when it comes to refurbishing a property. This is from asking around on my WhatsApp groups, talking to suppliers and obtaining quotes from various trades to give me a rough idea. Don’t take this as gospel because in certain locations labour is cheaper or your best pal may be Bob the Builder in that case you can get this reduced even further haha. If you personally know people in the trade (who are good) then do go with them first. Nothing will beat a friends/family discount. 

Tip:The bigger the house the higher the cost. If it's an end terrace then more windows…. you get the idea?

    • Double Glazing: £6000

    • Boiler: £1500

    • Radiators: £4500

    • Kitchen: £3000

    • Bathroom: £750

    • Painting/Plastering: £2500

    • Tiling: £1500

    • Rendering: £3000

    • Garden Tidy-up: £2500

    • Rewiring of Electrics: £3000

    • Carpets: £20 per square meter

    • Flooring/Laminates: £17 per square meter

    • Fire alarm: £25 a piece 

    • Fire-Doors: £150 each*

    • HMO Furniture Packs: £3000* 

    • White Goods: £1200*

To all you tradesmen/(women) out there, please don't cringe at my numbers. Yes, I have relied somewhat on search engines like Google. So if you're a builder and you’re thinking:

...“heck, I don’t get out of bed less than £££”….,hahaha, apologies in advance!

These figures are coming in at just just under £30k. However, please note not all houses will require a re-wire or rendering or a purchase of a new boiler. All this depends on your budget and it is very possible to get a new kitchen for less than £3k but you can quite easily add another zero to this if you include designer pieces and marble. Just be sensible and have some fun with it, bring out the creative god or goddess in you and let your imagination run wild (but not too wild) hahaha.

The Opulent Team Opulent Property Investors Comment