Sway - Take the time to read a few of these books by Sarah Beeny, and pay particular attention to the mistakes made by the ‘developers’ and how the rising market (at the time) bailed them out – then rework the sums for a falling market (now) and try to get an idea of how tight the margins are and what scope there is left (if any) for a profit.
In reply to Fran Tick the area is south wales. And thanks for everyones advice. I not going to give up on the whole idea, because its something that i really want to do, but maybe i'll wait a few years.
Just read these posts and would just like to add that in my area the local college run evening classes in some different trades. On a Wednesday night these classes are for women only. I am just completing a carpentry and joinery class and will be starting the plastering course in a couple of weeks. So you don't need to worry about struggling to learn things in front of guys or whatever and you can learn just how much you can achieve yourself.
I don't know whether to be impressed or appalled that you would think of starting a business in an area where you admit you have no expertise, no capital and no desire to learn the necessary skills...
What money will you live on if you are using your combined salaries for the mortgage on the property for development? And lenders won't give more than the property is worth, you can only borrow more on your mortgage if you have equity, so where does the money come from to do the renovations?
I would seek to find someone (preferably a relative) to invest. You obviously wouldn't get a huge profit that way, but then on a property of the price you are thinking of the profit after spending on the repairs and renovation would be small anyway.
The idea is there, but you need to get some serious capital and if you are admitting you barely have enough to live on now, I can't see you being able to save up.
*It is not necessary to understand things in order to argue about them. -- Pierre De Beaumarchais
Hi Sway, Don't forget that as well as needing skills in plastering etc., it would also be extremely useful to have some project management skills before you start. Your renovation will be a big project, and you will need to run a team of people, manage the timescales, manage the budget, do quality assurance etc. On the plus side, project management experience is to some extent transferable - so you may have plenty of experience from your current job. For example, I run medium-scale software projects for a living, and the experience in project management was genuinely useful when we did up our house. In fact, if I did it again, I'd manage it much more like I would do my work!
Sway, if you're planning to buy property in S. Wales ask yourself this - what will happen if house prices start going down in S. Wales?
If it's anywhere other than Cardiff (and even Cardiff is starting to get iffy) be prepared for a drop in prices as there are lots of places with very over inflated prices. A lot of people are of the opinion that when prices really start falling it's going to be the areas that have seen the most growth in the past year or so (Bridgend and Port Talbot are two examples that have been given) that will fall first and quickest.
