On the face of it, this property would make a nice refurb project.
Unlike most properties I look at, once done, it could equally be a BRR buy to let, or it could be flipped on to an owner occupier for a cash lump sum profit. Most of my properties tend to be just one or the other.
There’s enough that needs doing to it to make it feel like we are adding (a lot) of value, but the reality is, a lot of the work required is superficial, like redecorating.
When we get it cleared out, we might find it needs more. And I think the kitchen and bathroom will need some TLC, although not necessarily whole scale renewal. We might be able to use, and add to, what’s already there.
Things like windows have already been done.
With a property like this, which is scruffy and cluttered, it’s easy to get a bit carried away by interpreting the clutter as meaning “this house must need a lot of work”.
But when it’s cleared, and we can see ‘the wood for the trees’, that’ll probably not be the case.
However, having said that. there is one thing which concerns me.
And that is the crack to the front elevation near the corner with the flank wall.
It’s unusual to see a vertical crack like that, and it doesn’t look like it’s been caused by normal movement or settlement.
And we can see a small crack in the exposed brickwork to the flank which goes into the foundation, and I don’t like that at all.
And on the inside, we can see a corresponding area in the hall where the paper’s peeling. Perhaps rain is getting in through the crack in the render and causing damp problems?
This will need to be checked out.
What is happening to that front corner?
Unusually I’d probably get another opinion, preferably by a local surveyor, because I’m wondering if this property is of non-traditional construction.
That might explain the strange vertical crack.
I’d expect a local surveyor to know the area and the method of construction used on this estate.
Shame, because part from the unusual crack, this would be a fun a project.
Here’s to Successful Property Investing.
Peter
Peter Jones
(ex) Chartered Surveyor, author and property investor
https://www.ThePropertyTeacher.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:
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.
63 Common Defects In Investment Property And How To Spot Them