This was a really sad story with a kinda happy ending. Owner never lived there but his mother in law did. The owner suffered double bereavement (wife & brother) in separate RTAs. He also lost his commercial diving business due to investigation when one of his divers falsified
Yew Tree Farm Felton BS40 9YF, 16/03/2015 I’m told this property originally received an offer of £2.3m in 2007 but the owners refused and asked for £3m. £2.3m would have been a fair price in 2007 but we all know what happened next. So I think the buyer
90a & 90b Bedminster Down Road Bristol BS13 7AF, 21/05/2014 This is a two for the price of one deal I did last year (2014). It came through a professional sourcer who was having trouble shifting it, he’d heard I’d buy anything at the right price but was
SUBSIDENCE (NOT!) 33 Mayfield Park Bristol BS16 3NQ, 08/07/2014 I love subsidence – or rather peoples’ fears about it, and I’ve done very well out of it. But when is subsidence not subsidence? The asking price on this was £140k, we bought for £95K, did absolutely no work
93 ROBERTSON ROAD AUCTION FLIP BS5 6LA, 19/03/2013 The first auction flip deal I did was a probate house at 93 Robertson Road BS5 6LA. We completed the purchase on 19-12-2012 and completed the sale 19-03-2013. It had a GDV of about £195k and went in the estate
I often get asked what is the best way to sound-proof ceilings when newly converting flats? In my experience independent ceilings work best. You can remove old ceiling to put new joists between old to save space but that means you lose the soundproofing of the old ceiling.
Richard Greenland This is something I would never get involved with now as I’m no longer a “keyboard warrior”, it’s not good for business. But back when I was starting out I was shocked at the way some obvious crooks operated with apparent impunity. There is quite a
There has been some confusion recently where someone on Facebook assumed I was the same person linked to a mortgage fraud. For the record my full name is Richard Edward Gibbs Greenland not Richard Granville Greenland, my DOB is 18/08-1960 and I have never been a mortgage broker.
Please note that I am NOT a surveyor, the following is a property investor’s take on valuation. There are lots of ways to do it, but this is what I do: First go to http://www.mouseprice.com/ and type in the post code. You might need surrounding post-codes if it’s a very
Actually it’s not hard at all, but it takes time. First I built a short column with 4 concrete blocks on each layer. Then I used rollers to wheel the steel into place on the column and balance it across the middle. Next it was just a case
Here are a few photos of the reordered and refurbished flat almost complete. We are interviewing tenants as I write. Bathroom where the kitchen used to be in a windowless room!
Richard Greenland I’m onto the final few days of the refurb, odd jobs like finishing the paneling on the bath which needed doing after the décor, and getting rid of the old carpet which had been protecting the floor from splats during re-plastering. The skirting boards can now
The refurb is nearly finished but we can’t yet sell to a mortgage buyer as there still is no management co. in place. I love buying leasehold properties as I can get great deals because they are far more prone to title issues than freehold houses. But then
I mentioned a couple of weeks back I was going to talk about the highly unusual neighbour next door to the flat we are refurbishing in Weston SM. The first time I saw Madelaine she towered over me in skyscraper heels, wearing a tight black dress displaying a large and
The last blog was about fitting the bathroom and the kitchen. I normally decorate before fitting the kitchen as it’s easier and less messy that way, but I fitted the kitchen carcasses and worktops first this time as the new plaster was still wet. I’m onto the finishing-off stages
The existing bathroom suite was white and fitted straight into the windowless room where the old kitchen was like a hand into a glove. I can’t imagine why the original designers put it anywhere else. It’ll need a good clean and perhaps the taps replacing, but everything works
Having neutralised the dry rot in last week’s blog, I’m onto the first-fix wiring and plumbing. First-fix means everything that goes in before the plasterer, and includes most of the pipework and wires that are hidden in walls and ceilings, but not the final connect up at the
The refurb of the flat is continuing with the eradication of the dry rot, the completion of the first-fix (before the plastering) electrics, and the building of false ceilings beneath the existing, to provide sound-proofing. I use an unorthodox method to deal with dry rot, and link to
Like any refurb, the first thing to do is rip out all the stuff you don’t want any more. In this case there were a lot of tiles to come out of the old kitchen and bathroom, which came off easily enough. But the adhesive was very thick
Last week I wrote about how we bought a one-bed flat about 30% BMV (below market value), when the cost of all works are factored in. I’d been trying to contact the owner of the two top-floor flats, as to make it legally lettable we’d have to install
