I was thinking the other day about refurbishments and that it’s possible to overlook that refurbishing a property isn’t a one-off event.
Most of us think about refurbishing when we buy the property ,and then I think for a certain number of investors, the idea of a future refurb seems so far off and so distant that they don’t really consider it until it’s upon them, and then they find that they have to spend more money out of their cash flow to refurbish the property again.
Okay, I’m not talking about refurbishing a property every year or every couple of years, but in my experience I think it’s best to budget for a full refurb probably every 10 years. You’ll be surprised how, as you get older, ten years can seem to go by quite quickly. But 10 years is an average. If you have tenants who have above average wear and tear, you may find you need a refurb after five or seven years.
On the other hand, I’ve had tenants in properties for 20 years, and during that 20 years all I’ve had to do was occasional maintenance.
The point is that we need to be budgeting for regular, but not frequent, refurbs for our properties.
I’ve just had a tenant leave one of my properties who’s been there for many years, and I’m currently in the middle of refurbishing it, and I thought you might like to have a look.
The videos isn’t very long so please grab a cuppa and take a look.
You’ll see what a typical refurb is for me. In this instance, it’s going to include a new kitchen, a new bathroom, miscellaneous bits and pieces like new skirtings in a bedroom, new windows and doors, redecoration throughout, and new carpets.
You will see in the video that I spent more than I would usually spend on a refurb like this, but that’s because I want to give myself the option and opportunity of flipping the property on should I wish to do so. Although it’s a good little renter, it’s slightly outside of my usual investment area, and now might be the time to rationalise the portfolio.
We will see. I’m in two minds on this and it may just be that a future tenant gets an extra nice property if I decide to keep it.
Here’s to Successful Property investing.
Peter
Peter Jones
(ex) Chartered Surveyor, author and property investor
http://www.PropertyRenovationProfits.co.uk
PS. By the way, I’ve rewritten and updated my best-selling e-book, The Successful Property Renovator’s Workshop, will show you how to organise and undertake your renovations and guarantee yourself a profit every time – based on the more than 100 property renovations I have undertaken over the last 25 years.
For more details please go to: https://www.propertyrenovationprofits.co.uk/the-successful-property-renovators-workshop/
And, of course, there’s also 63 Common Defects in Investment Property and How to Spot Them, in which I’ll show what to look for when buying a property, and how I inspect my properties to give myself the best possible chance of understanding the structure and any repairs and improvements.
