A weekend off

As all the big jobs are now complete I either need to get another project or look for another job. I went to look at 2 properties last week; both were total renovations but were priced accordingly. The first one was identical to the studio flat we have just put on the market for £89995 and only a couple of doors away. It has been owned by a single chap for the last 20 years and has not been looked after so it needs a new kitchen, bathroom, carpets, redec’ and even windows. It is on the market for £69995, a full £20000 less than ours. It makes us worried that the market has dropped more than I thought but my instinct tells me that it is still a bargain. If we sell ours quickly for anything near the asking price it would definitely be worth a punt.

The other one was a 3 double bed, 3 story town house on Neath Hill that has been repossessed. Another total write off, however, the windows wouldn’t need replacing. It also had a nice balcony that gets the sun from about 11am for the rest of the day. Trouble is, to increase its value significantly it would require getting an en-suite into the bedroom on the first floor. The only practical way to do this would be to switch the bedroom with the lounge and have the balcony from the bedroom. This is ok but it would make the lounge a bit too small. The stairs in this property takes up a large percentage of the total floor space on each floor and maybe it would be possible to recover something from this but already the knock on effects are getting out of hand. This is on the market for £140000 and I believe a cash buyer might get it for £125000 and pay no stamp duty. If this were possible then a straight revamp would be very worthwhile.

Just by looking at 2 random properties from the local paper it shows me that even in a falling marked it should be possible to make money. Claire doesn’t seem too keen and wouldn’t even look at them with me. I think she wants me back to work out of her space. I think this week will determine my future career, if nothing happens I will have to look for a paid job. Still, its been lovely working on our own house for a couple of months, I have really enjoyed it and now we have the benefits of our labour. The next big job here is to build a balcony from our bedroom but this requires planning permission so it couldn’t be started any time soon.

We had what would be considered by most people as a normal weekend. Yesterday I took Georgina to my parents in Melton Mowbray and Saturday Claire and I went for a walk to the Hub. We walked along the canal and through Campbell Park. It was very pleasant, the children, were playing in the water jets as it was a lovely hot day. We followed a similar path home and I impressed Claire when I got out some cutters from one pocket and a garden bag from the other so I could cut some bull rushes down for our garden.

Whilst walking through Campbell Park we could hear some African drums close by which got louder as we got closer. Just as we walked past them Steve had rung me as he is back in the uk for his Mum’s 90th birthday. Happy Birthday Mrs. Steve!

Our ‘normal’ lovely weekend was only spoilt by a phone call from one of our tenants. Water was coming in the kitchen ceiling from the flat above in our city centre apartment. This is the 4th time that this has happened to us in this property and we are getting fed up with it. The property above is council owned and is tenanted by a single girl called Lindsey with a baby. She has been there for some time and our problem is caused because her bathroom desperately needs replacing. Following some investigations it turns out that is exactly what has happened. The council has replaced her bathroom suit and the first time she takes a bath we get flooded out. It might be worth finding out which sub-contractors the council use, if only to be able to avoid them.

We rounded off the weekend with a jug of sangria with a difference. As we had no soda water I used white cider, vodka and calvados. No wonder Claire looks so guilty, I caught her peeping over the neighbors fence by standing on the wall to get an early look of their new garage conversion.

Watch this space, by this time next week, I expect to either be working or starting another project.