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Hi folks, I'm looking for some guidance from some experienced property developers please. The Buy Refurbish Refinance (BRR) model is an appealing one because of the capital recycling, however, after SDLT, refurb costs and fees etc. from your prior projects, what is a realistic percentage of your capital that you have been able recycle? Thanks!

Hey, just looking for some advice/guidance....I have the opportunity to purchase a property at c. £110K cash (which I can do), its on the market for £150K, desktop valuation shows £149K, so definitely BMV. It is a 2yr old build surrounded by older properties, so at the top of the list in terms of value when compared to other local properties. There is no work/refurb needed, just a motivated seller - But, I dont want to leave all my cash tied up in the deal and therefore would look to mortgage the property at around the 6 month mark. My concerns:- How will I get the valuation at c. £150k if I brought the property for 6 months earlier at £110k. I cant evidence any work that I have done or value that i have added. The property is in a postcode that has had 7 sales in 12 years, so there no real comparable (the only evidence will be the £110k I paid 6 months earlier) At a valuation of £150K it is at the top of the list in terms of values of the property in that area Would appreciate any advice/thoughts on what to do with something like this.....??

Hey all, I'm in the process of planning a new venture in property development. Over the past few months I've visited properties, built myself a comprehensive budgeting spreadsheet (that factors in all purchase, finance, holding and remortgaging costs), and gathered enough data to be able to run a simulation of my intended BRR strategy. The result has been discouraging! It would appear that given my starting capital of £100k, I'll run out of funds by my third purchase. Would an experienced developer sanity-check my simulation and confirm this? If this is indeed true, what would you suggest as a more realistic strategy to build a portfolio? A mix of BRR and flips? The BRR Simulation (this is based on figures from an actual property visited, costed, estate agents approached and comparables found) I have starting capital of £100k I buy Property A (a two bed terrace) for £120k. I use a 70% mortgage of £84K, and I put in £36k Purchase, renovation and holding costs for 6 months are a further £36K Hence, my total investment is £72k I have £28k left in the bank The house is remortaged after 6 months redevelopment for £190k The 70% mortgage releases £133k ·After paying back the first mortgage there is £49k equity released I own one property and have £77k capital left in the bank I use the money to complete Property B, which is identical, buying for £120k, again investing £72k I have £5k left in the bank The house is remortaged after 6 months redevelopment for £190k The 70% mortgage releases £133k After paying back the first mortgage there is £49k released I now have two properties, but only £54k capital remaining in the bank, which is insufficient to buy Property C BTS Conversely, if I were to use a Buy to Sell strategy, this 'model' property would make £23k after sales costs and corporation tax on my business, so things are viable. However, my goal was to build a portfolio as quickly as possible, not to flip, as this is intended to be my pension. What would you advise in terms of strategy? Flip for a while to build more capital, then revert to BRR, or to alternate between the two? Many thanks!

Hello & Happy New Year to you all! I am considering the Buy, Refurbish & Refinance strategy and in this scenario would be using a bridging loan for the purchase (along with my own savings for the refurb). Whilst I know predicting the market is nearly impossible, I would like to be able buy with some confidence that the local market would be in a good position in the short term so I could continue with my strategy and refinance, pay the bridging loan off and pull out some (or hopefully all) of my money. Are there any market indicators I should be looking for? Is there ever a "right" time, or is it best to just go for it as long as the fundamentals are there in my chosen area? I am wondering if anybody with experience in this strategy could give me some advice? Thanks a lot, and happy investing! Ed.

I'm looking at purchasing properties using the BRR model, but I will want to refinance them before the so called '6 month rule' of ownership. However, I would rather avoid buying the property using 100% cash through bridging finance if possible (due to the expensive nature of short-term finance). The podcast mentions Day 1 Remortgaging where you buy the property (typically BMV) and the surveyor agrees in principle what the house will be worth when refurbished to a high standard. Using numbers to illustrate: Purchase price: £90k Value once refurbished: £140k Refurb cost: £20k Other costs: £5k Realistically the only other alternative appears to be standard bridging finance or a bridge to let, with the latter looking quite similar to a day 1 remortgage. I will also be purchasing through a SPV ltd company - Can anyone who has actual experience with this shine some light for me please? - Which brokers have you used in the past for these deals? - Failing the above, which lenders understand these requirements? Thanks in advance!

Hi all, Hoping I can get a little help here on my first post. As I don’t have a great deal of capital for my first investment I am looking to do a BRR on a flat locally first. In people’s experience have you been able to add enough value for the refinancing? I am looking at £100k purchase price, £7-10k refurb (Bathroom, Kitchen, Carpets & Redecoration throughout). Aiming for a £130k valuation (running the numbers of a worst case scenario at £115-120k). Recently sold comparables at £127-132k and a couple of outliers at £145k. Obviously these are sold prices though not a surveyors valuation. Any thoughts on this? In general do people think it’s harder to add value to a flat than it is a house e.g. 2 bed flat vs 2 bed terraced house? Any thoughts or advice would be great to hear. Thanks Dan

Hi All, I've been using 14days in an isolation hotel to research, educate and prioritise my investment strategy, to ensure a secure and free future. This forum has been trailed, books read and umpteen brilliant Podcasts listened to, so thanks firstly to Rob + Rob for their inspirational effort and to everyone else involved on this forum! Background: I'm a single 34yr old expat, but although I live abroad it's not essential to my job, so I now intend to move back to the UK at the end of this tax year. Seemingly a hard decision to ponder, but when taking advice and simply writing a page of pro's and con's... Blighty was the clear winner at a score of 8/2. I work on a month on / off basis when the going is good, I'm a sparky by trade, useful and experienced in a site environment, plus my brother is a builder. I currently have no property to my name and will have 200k - 230k in cash savings by the time I get back to good old GB. My salary is meant to be just north of 120k but is currently chopped due to the obvious. Now... onto the strategy (in brief form) Short Term Goals (2.5yrs) Move back to the UK and purchase a modest private residence with the aim to refurbish, create equity + keep until I feel the need to upgrade Purchase x5 BTL properties (each 60-80k) using an SPV by means of directors loan(s) and BRR strategy Continue working away + reinvest all SPV profits Mid Term Goals (5yrs) Have purchased x10 BTL's using compounding rents / BRR / directors loan model Upgrade private residence, be building good equity and overpay mortgage if possible (life may get in the way here) Continue to enjoy my away job + reinvest all SPV profits Long Term Goals (10+yrs) Company owns 20+ BTL's with a mixed spread of high yield / capital growth focus Primary residence has low mortgage repayments / high equity Option to scale back my day job from being staff to contractor and pick my jobs as and when At this stage I hope to be able to re-evaluate my portfolio and either press on investing or take some equity through sales, pay off chunks of finance to move closer towards a monthly passive income of 5k. I will adjust along the way and the numbers are not set in stone... ie If some of the portfolio has gained some capital growth and the money may be better elsewhere, then I intend to be as fluid as I need to be, because at 45 - 50yrs old, yield will be priority. I have the rest of this year to fine tune this plan but that's the general strategy right now. I would really appreciate some general feedback, thoughts, experiences, criticism and anything you this is good for me to hear. Thanks for reading and good luck. Jon

Hi, I’m starting my BTL journey and want to understand how everyone goes about assessing multiple BTL opportunities. Some people seem to work on a 7%+ gross yield basis, while others drill down into net ROI which gets pretty complex when comparing lots of properties. What’s the best approach? How do you assess your investments? Thanks folks

Hey guys, After some opinions on the scenario below. I am currently purchasing a flat in my company that after a BRR I will leave 22.5k of my own money that will yield 20% if rented out. Total equity left in the property £44k. I also have another flat in my personal name that I could sell that has 38k equity ready to release. (Initial investment 41K) My current return on cash in that property returns 13%. I am looking to release funds to carry on building my portfolio / pot of cash. Which option or other strategy would you consider and why?? If you have any additional ideas, please also share Many thanks James

Hey all, Can anyone clarify how Yield, Equity & ROI should be calculated when following a Buy, Refurbish, Refinance strategy? Most online resources only discuss these in terms of purchasing a property and letting it out / selling it, rather than refinancing it. I want to make sure my metrics are comparable with everyone else's! Theoretical BRR Scenario: I buy a property for £120k using a bridging loan and a deposit of £48k I spend 6 months renovating it, with the finance costs & renovation totaling £25k I then refinance onto a BTL mortgage with the property valued by the mortgage co at £180k and a deposit of £72k (mortgage £108k) This releases £35k once the original deposit (£48k) & costs (£25k) are deducted The net rental income of the property is £4.5k pa Yield = Net profit / Cost But is this the original purchase cost (£120k) or the valuation (£180k) 3.75% or 2.5% ? Equity = The market value of a property - the debts secured against it I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, but confirm that 'debts' does not include debts to me (ie. the £25k) It's simply £180k value - £108k mortgage = £72k ROI =Annual profit generated / money invested Am I right in calculating it like this: 4.5 / ( 48 + 25 + (72-48)) 4.5 / 97 = 4.64% Thanks for the help, it's much appreciated!

Hi, I am a qualified Surveyor with over 20 years of experience and after setting up my own Chartered Surveying practice i have decided to embark upon a new journey into property investment. My main objective is to build a investment portfolio that will support me in later life, and which i can pass on to my children when my time is up. Giving them the freedom to choose how they live their lives. My plan is to do this by starting off with BRR & flips, as i currently have limited funds but 20 year of construction knowledge, with the intention of reinvesting the profits in order to acquire a wide variety of investments (to give stability). I would welcome any advice and/or the opportunity to interact with anyone and am happy to try to help with any surveying or construction related questions. Kind regards Westley

Hi, I am a new investor doing my background work for my first BRR and am looking for some advise on areas to consider and/or introductions to trustworthy property sources in the area. kind regards

Evening everyone, I'm Adam, I have always been floating around in the back ground reading forums, listening to podcasts but never wrote into the forum myself. (first time for everything I suppose). I see a lot of helpful people and answers all over the forums, I'm hoping now I have the courage to write a comment myself that this will give me the kick I need to just go for it. Right so hear goes. I have a annual salary of around £30k and I currently have one property which I am deciding to rent out after a light referb, due to moving in with my girlfriend in her property. My property is currently on a residential mortgage as I used to live there but I am hoping to change it to a BTL mortgage in June 2019 when the fixed rate is up. My property is currently valued at £105,000 and I have £60,000 left on the mortgage come June, I am wondering what the best route forward would be come June….. do I go into flipping... do I try take equity out to use as a deposit on another BTL... I am split after reading all the info on the forums, I would be thankful for any info and advice. Thanks Adam S.

Hi everybody, I thought I’d write this to introduce myself and also to provide me with a little bit of motivation, as I expect this community will be great at holding me accountable for my goals. I’m currently in the middle of a live-in refurbishment with my wife and 2yo daughter. We’ve been hit by some tough times over the past three years since we moved in, so nothing has really gone to plan. I’ve been doing most of the work myself-I’m a civil engineering project manager by day and a DIY dad by day-off/evening/occasional weekend. It’s been hard balancing work, dadding, husbanding and DIYing. To date I’ve rewired the flat (had a sparky connect/test and sign everything off), had the external walls insulated, extended the kitchen units to accommodate a dishwasher that I plumbed in (relationship depended on it), stripped out, insulated, plasterboarded and redecorated my daughter’s bedroom, redecorated the dining room, stripped out and rebuilt a nightmare of a shower room (never doing a bathroom again!), had a wood burner installed and have future plans to extend, through the only way possible, with a purpose built garden office room. Admittedly, we bought the house with a naïve perception of how much work it would take to bring the house to where we wanted it to be, but the learning I’ve experienced on this project has helped me understand my strengths and weaknesses, which I now aim to put in to practise with property investments. Our saving grace with our is that we bought well below market value, so everything we do is adding value. We currently live just south of Edinburgh, so I’m interested in investing in the Lothians and into the Scottish Borders. My family home is in Sheffield so I’m using local knowledge and contacts to explore there and the surrounding areas. I also have my eye on Nottingham, Newcastle and my mum’s home town in the North West. Due to the shock death of my dad in 2018 we have a reasonable sum to invest from his estate, with the view to building a business that will support his (currently) four grandchildren as they grow up. More immediately though I aim to provide an income for my mum so that she can afford to retire to where they always planned to, but without tying up all the inheritance by purchasing with cash. The second benefit of a retirement income for my mum will be the ability to release equity from the family home by refinancing and renting out. It’s currently owned outright by my mum, so seems sensible to leverage it to increase income and allow its value to increase over the next period of growth. My plan is to take a BRR strategy utilising my project management and scope definition skills to provide clear requirements for a builder/contractor. Using this with cash purchases, I aim to be able to buy BMV, add value and then release a 10% ROI back to my mum (who will be the main investor). Where I stand right now is research, spreadsheets, research and more research. I have a goal of purchasing the first property in the first quarter of the year with another to follow in the third. I’m basing this on the minimum 6 month period for refinancing, however with buying in cash and refurbishing I expect this period to be shorter, however need to recruit a mortgage broker to discuss this with first. It’s been great reading about everyone’s journey’s and experiences on here, so will keep this updated with my progress. Please feel free to get in touch with advice, questions, critique of my strategy, or just to say hi. Thanks for reading this far! Dan

Hi guys, I feel I have found a great deal local to me. The property is currently listed at under 40k but I think it could sell for less. However, properties in the same area, even on the same street, are selling for 70k+. The property is slightly run down and so would need refurbishing, but would this boost the value to that 70k mark? My numbers at the minute are: 10k deposit 30k mortgage (or bridging loan) 10k renovation refinance at 70k 52.5k mortgage -30k first mortgage/ bridging loan -10k deposit -10k renovation = 2.5k which covers fees, interest and council tax etc while the house is being renovated. If these numbers add up then I have a no money in property with 17.5k equity. However, how can I tell if the value of the house will reach 70k? There isn't a huge amount of work to do to it and I feel it is currently being sold at below market value. Yet with new carpets, an extra bedroom added (in the loft which is practically ready to be made into a bedroom), possibly a cellar conversion, would this increase the value that much? A 75% increase in value seems a lot, yet if this is below market value and its possibly worth 55k, that's only a 28% increase. Any advice would be much appreciated. Just lacking confidence as this would be my first investment.

I'm just getting into this property thing, having been an accidental landlord in London. We sold the house last year to release equity for various reasons and are looking at re-investing some in the Notts area. I am currently looking at a 2/3 bed townhouse in an area that I have long considered to be a growth area. It is currently going through a regeneration program (that links in with others such as 'the gateway to the City') and has seen investment from private p. development companies buying up plots of land for eco housing etc. The schools are improving, its located near the river, new tram link, great road links, business parks, city and hospital. It is also next to the town which I live, that is extremely popular (with property prices going over the 550k mark for a 4/5 bed semi) and becoming rapidly too expensive for many. The ripple effect has already started with house prices having increased 50-60k over the last year. Those selling in the 'old' part don't hang around and prices have been driven up 20-25k since the start of the year. Wish I'd been able to get in earlier! Anyhow the property I am looking at is in the 'newer' part, which is currently not so sort after. However it is on a lovely, quiet and well maintained cul de sac with lots of off street parking. It is less than 5 mins walk to the tram stop, riverside and there is a bus stop around the corner. The City Centre (and train station) is a 10-15 mins walk and it has castle views! There is easy access to the ring road and other main link roads and motorway. All of which, I think is great. The property itself is approx 30-40 years old. It's a 3 storey townhouse with off street parking and a car port/garage on the ground floor. It is marketed as 3 beds "with flexible living" but in reality the room on the ground floor has the only garden access, is small and isn't really suitable as a bedroom. The kitchen and lounge are on the first floor and the bedrooms on the top floor. The garden is a decent size and probably too big for rental, as lets face it tenants don't look after them! My thoughts are to offer cash BMV, put in some carpets and paint then rent out whilst planning etc., is obtained and a builder becomes available (long waiting lists!). I have been told £675 pcm. Then when the planning comes in turn the car port into a double bedroom and extend into the garden (no planning) making another proper double, with a separate hallway and access to the garden. There is also a downstairs toilet that I'd look into converting to a shower room. I have had one quote for a builder for 40k (inc VAT) for this. The work would be solely to the ground floor so it is possibly feasible that I could rent as a 2 bed at a reduced rate whilst the work is completed, as the top 2 floors would be unaffected (other than noise and inconvenience)? My question is whether the figures add up and how to calculate the ROI after refurb and refinance. I'd be buying cash. We would also have the cash for the refurb or could do a company to company loan at 3%. I have had a go at using a BTL BRR calculator but unsure I have filled it in correctly? Property is on the market at 120k. Screenshot below. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

So. I’ve finally managed to figure out what the right strategy is for me once my deposit is saved. May father did tell me that he was willing to borrow me £20,000 towards my first project but as much as i have a great relationship with him I feel borrowing money from him for a first project is not a good idea. I can currently save 1,500 a month so it’s a better idea to just wait 17 months for a healthy pot to start. My strategy is for my first property to get a BTL mortgage and buy a house with the BRR model in mind as it’s slightly less risky than getting bridging for my first project and then for my seconds, when I have more confidence, use bridging. My question is where are the best resources for the flipping strategy? Can anybody recommend podcasts around Flipping? YouTubers? Books? Anything like that? Many help would be really appreciated. Thanks in advanced, Martin

Hi all, Up until now I've been following a simple slow and steady investment strategy of buy properties in my local area and letting them out and every few years remortgaging to free up the equity to buy additional property. The problem is that I live in the South East and the yields are pretty poor (At least relative to many other areas in the UK), and having ready Rob Dix book (Complete Guide...) and listened to The Property Podcast I realised that we should be doing much better. What I'd really like to do now is use a Buy Renovate Remortgage (BRR) strategy so that we can keep recycling (At least some of) our deposit so that we can buy properties as a faster rate than if we simply had to save a new deposit for each property. However as already mentioned, we don't live in a good area for investment, which means that we need to look further afield and that's the challenge. Whilst I think I'd be comfortable finding a good 'normal' investment property in a remote location, I'm wondering how practical it is to find and manage a renovation project from a distance? I guess the first challenge will be finding a renovation project in an area that I don't know well. That probably means finding a reputable sourcer who specialises in renovation projects, which could be a challenge given the number of sharks out there. The next challenge will be finding a main contractor to carry our the work. Locally I've built up a bit of a team of trades people I've used and trust, but obviously I won't have that when investing in a new area. So what do people think? Is this a sensible and doable strategy, or does BRR only work if you buy properties in your local area (Or an area you or trusted friends\family know well)? Has anyone actually tried this? If so was it a success? And what advice could you give? Thanks in advance. Ben

Hi all, I currently have 6 properties that I let (5 personally and 1 in a limited company), and I'd like to continue to build my portfolio. We inherited a couple of our properties when my mother died and to be honest the ROI isn't very good, so I'm wondering if we'd be better off selling these and buying elsewhere where the yields would be better. Obviously the down side to this is that we'd need to pay CGT on the sale and Stamp Duty on the purchase. So here are the actual numbers for one of the properties: Original Purchase Price (Actually the price when inherrited): £185,000 (2014) Value now: £290,000 Mortgage: £147,000 Equity: £143,000 Annual Rent (Gross): £10,200 Annual Rent (After Mortgage): £7,128 Annual Mortgage: £3,072 (Rate 2.09%) LTV: 50% Gross Yield: 3.52% Gross ROI: 7.13% Net ROI: 4.98% As you can see it's not a great investment. Note that the rental cover means that I can't increase the LTV! But if we sold we'd need to pay CGT, so that's: Value increase = £105,000 CGT Allowance = £23,400 Subject to CGT = £81,600 @ 28% = £22,848 So after repaying the mortgage and CGT I'll have approx £120,152 left (Minus legals etc). I guess the question is, can I take that £120k and buy something else that provides significantly higher returns? Surely the answer must be yes? With £120k we should easily be able to buy a single £400k property at 75% LTV (Or two 200k properties) with a total rental income well over £1,500pm on with mortgage of around £700pm. Are there any blinding errors or omissions with the above? Another option is to use the money and go down the BRR route, which actually appeals to me as I want to build up my portfolio a little more rapidly. Thanks in advance for any feedback. Ben

Hi Everyone I've spent the last 6 months renovating a very tired 2 bed terrace. You can see some before and after photos here on instagram. (click the smaller arrows within the photo to see 5 more images) Its currently on the market for £105k with me happy to accept £100k. Some rounded sums for you to see the position I am in: Bought for £48.5k All, fees, refurb, materials etc: £33k Total: £81.5k The market in North Wales seems very flat, or perhaps its my specific area, or perhaps I am asking to much. Maybe a combination. I am no longer hopeful of achieving a sale price of £100k (Its been on the market 2 weeks no viewings yet) and I am luckily not in a position to have to sell (its all cash, but obviously now tied up) I would like to flip it so I could do another one and build my investment pot. However its not crucial and its a quality refurb so I am starting to think I should keep hold of it to rent out. I've set up a Ltd company so could get a mortgage on it? Rent would be £500-525. I run another business full time outside and I am using the profits from this business to put into property. Its as much a hobby as a knowledge that I can make my money work much harder in bricks and mortar. Eventually I'd like a BTL portfolio. Maybe I start it earlier than I thought. Would really appreciate some thoughts on next steps?

Hi, Just looking for some guidance/re-assurance around the BRR (buy, refurb, re-finance) strategy with a specific deal I'm looking at, also keen to understand if this would be deemed a good deal or not. Purchase price = £115k Bridging loan = £80k (75% ltv) Finance fees = £6.5k Legals & SDLT = £4.5k Refurb cost = £10k (costs plus 20% contingency) Re-finance after 4 months @ £150k Pull out £32.5k with new mortgage 75% ltv Leaves £37.5k equity after paying back bridge loan So I've invested £56k of my own cash Total equity and cash out would be £70k I've generated £14k plus a house that would generate around £300 per month rental Interested to understand if my calculations are in line with what I should be looking at or have I missed anything glaringly obvsious? I can see how this strategy would have been great in past years minus the SDLT and obviously the bridge is expensive so eats into profit, however for me the figures still seem to look OK as it generates £14k for 4 months work that I'll be mainly project managing (maybe some ripping out) and then results in £300 a month with an asset that I'd hope would increase in value over the coming years based on it's fundamentals, plus I'll have £37.5k to start my next project.......... Keen to understand peoples thoughts. Thanks, Royce

Hi guys, Looking to hear from investors who adopt a buy - refurb - refinance BTL strategy. What are your expectations and experiences in terms of the % of money you can get back out of a deal? I'm looking at 1970's terraced, 2/3 bed, requires light refurbishment (£10k max - maybe a new bathroom or kitchen) and buying around 15% - 20% BMV. Refinance as early as possible (6 months but my broker believes we could do it earlier) and recycle deposit. You may not be able to judge my deal without more area info etc, but keen to hear what normal returns are. Are you getting your deposit and refurb costs + a profit back? Thanks, Sam.P