From Bridging Loan to Exit Strategy Make Money with Property Restoration and Renovation in 2018

by | Feb 12, 2018 | Finance

Property restoration has been one of the great investment opportunities in the last 10 years with many property development companies turning a tidy profit from the sale of the property after the work is done.  Running a sort term property development company that specialising in bridging loans, short term finance to purchase the property, in need of work, we are experts in financing operations but also in providing the restoration themselves we spoke to restoration expert  James Stevenson about what is needed for a fantastic end resulting property that can be sold for a good profit.

The basic project plan

Tony told us that having spent many years in the trade with hand on tools so to speak there are many good tips I have picked up along the way.  Some from the stage of a derelict building and others from a refit prospective every project is different depending on many differing factors as well as what you are trying to archive at the end of the day with your property.

Investors purchase property to sell on once the job is finished while others want to split the building into separate flats to rent out or sell on making a tidy profit at the end of the day.  Once all is said and done before you begin you have to get the “vision” of what you will be doing before you start the job.

Vision and implementation

Once you have found your property as detailed the next step is combining what you want the place to look like and what the purpose of the refurbishment is going to bring you in return.  Once you have the planned operations firmly fixed in your mind the next step is to bring in the right people to go over the plans with you from a professional prospective so it is always good to start with your fully thought thru plans and if at all possible you will need all planning permissions placed together with specification drawings and designs ready for the costing to be done.  This is the point where you can start work on getting the restorations priced forming some kind of a good idea of your budget and time aspects.

To rip out or not to rip out

Some people want to go with a complete refit while others want to restore the building and there are many factors to this alone not just the amount of cash you want to spend.  If you are going to restore a Victorian house for example you might like to take the doors away for dipping (to remove paintwork) and refit them into the original places and in some cases this can even be a requirement due to building regulations such as in the case of listed buildings for example.

In other cases you might want to have a modern contemporary look to your finished look with some solid oak doors with shiny new fittings and both aspects must be considered before you start so they will be properly factored into the budget price and time for completion which are both extremely relevant to the job as a whole.

Budget

Once you have had the builders go over you documents and other permissions with the information you should be able to provide then they will help you with the other aspects of timing and pricing up but at this stage it is always worth either bringing in a project manager to help with this and the day to day aspects of your project.  This is the time to do this for the simple reason everyone on the job has a point of contact to verse the job and they must know exactly what you (the customer) is trying to archive at the end of the day.

Additionally, bringing someone in at the start means everyone is on point without having to go thru the plans again and again with contractors and workmen.  This is vital for a smoothly functioning and well timed project to work properly.  Of course there are the additional costs of both the bathroom and kitchen refits or restoration to be factored in which will be a major cost to the project is you are choosing to go down this route.

Insulation is also a key factor especially in today’s modern world with all of the relevant regulations and requirements for energy conservation as well as the structural alterations if there are any to be considered.

All associated plumbing and wiring cost will also be factored in at this point so as you can see it is all very relevant to the overall job especially as these need to be installed prior to works getting underway.  Plastering and finishing of both ceilings and wall is another aspect worth mentioning as is the kind of flooring you are going to be wanting.  Laminates seem to be the order of the day as does the “back to bare boarding” look.

Getting in a good firm to do the work itself is also a key component worth mentioning as if to pay peanuts you will get monkeys so to speak.  You may also want to factor in a “penalty clause” if things start to run over either time or financial budgets you have put into place and this is a good way of getting over any future  issues if they do crop up catching you by surprise.

Restoration or replacement

Depending on your requirement and all of the above factors you can now decide which is going to be the direction you want to go down and having an idea of the cost factors, your vision and the end result of the works you are undertaking to the desired result once the project is completed.

It is prudent to know whether you are going to rent, sell or move in as this will obviously reflect in your costs at the start so don’t lose sight of the vision you set out in the first place but inevitably there are always things that will crop up during the project you were not expecting so factoring in these things (as well as a time and money) financial float to fall back on is important.

Decoration and finish

Last but not least in come the finishing touches to your newly fitted out building with the decoration aspect.  Getting a good quality finish is not the simplest job and a lot of people misunderstand just what is involved with this.  There is a lot to getting this right with all of the filling, finishing of surfaces to be painted or other kind of surface coverage before the painters can get to work.  As detailed earlier in this piece it is best to get a good overview with the project manager and the professional painters in the first place which should be factored into your budget by now with pricing, time and contract all firmly in place.

If most of these things are done in the correct order then you restoration or refit should go to plan quickly and efficiently without too many hiccups to trip you over.

We hope this article was of use to you and you project and you will be pleased with the end result!  The more times you use a model like this (in the case of a property developer for example) the next project will have an even smoother aspect to it as you will have more experience in the field overall.  Thank you for your time and enjoy the results!

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