Investing in the town - continuing discussion

[susie123]

This thread is to continue the discussion begun by GEaston in his introductory thread following advice from Mick the Moderator. Any further comments on that thread now belong here.

[susie123]

Originally Posted by GEaston

Suzie - I got a great job for that money. Building was structurally sound and internally dry. Was thus only cosmetic. Property had the following done to it:

- New Locks
- A few tiles replaced on the roof, gutters fixed
- External rendering and painting to rear
- New double glazing and bars at rear
- All carpets removed and replaced
- New bathroom, all old removed, tiles out, ceiling out. Was replaced with new lighting, new bath, new sink, new toilet, tiled to ceiling, new floor.
- All wallpaper removed (whole property was covered in the padded type, that was originally white but brownish with smoke and age), entire house repainted internally.
- New heaters installed in all rooms
- Boiler replaced
- Electricity supply and wiring upgraded
- Certs for Electric, Water, and Gas obtained as required by law.

Job was entirely outsourced to local contractors in the town. These are skilled honest tradesman and yes it also amazes me how reasonable the quotes were. Take the bathroom for example, total cost of stripout, new units, tiling, and a week's labour to do it - all in cost of that was 2.2k

Local lad, born in and still living in Accrington, highly skilled and very reasonable.

Well if you got all that for £12000 you did very well. You were lucky that not much in the way of wet trades were involved - plastering can come expensive. Mind you if you find a good plasterer they are worth their weight in gold.

We are not in Accrington (it's my home town or was 50 years ago) but moved to Morecambe for work (40 miles from Accy on the coast) and are renovating our house, slowly. It's our fourth refurb as we have lived in different parts of he country, done most of the work ourselves previously but age and time take their toll so this one involves more tradesmen who are hard to find when you are new to a place. The plasterer mentioned above came via contacts of my partner at work and others followed from similar sources. We have been very lucky in those we have found but costing us more than your lads! Mind you this is a slow piecemeal job so bound to be more than a one-off blast. But we're getting a nice house from it all, eventually except I am now unwell so a temporary halt has had to be called.

Enough about me - if the traders in Accy are in good supply, property is reasonable and labour relatively inexpensive (I won't say cheap) - then crack on. I suspect your hardest job may be moving the properties on once finished may be your toughest job in the current climate in the town. Good luck with that.

[Michael1954]

Bossy Boots! I bet you were the milk monitor at school! :-)

[GEaston]

You are right about the tough part being to move them on. Fortunately I don't need to move them on, because as totally refurbished places they are fairly easy to rent.

Yet again I found a very solid and trustworthy estate agent (must be in the Guiness book of records as the only one) in the town - an independent running a site called http://www.rentaunit.co.uk. Seeing as I'm buying at auction and getting refurb at good prices I can make 10-15% annual.

I would far far rather do this than put money in a bank where they'll give me 3% and then lend out 10x the deposit to people on 25% credit cards.

[Margaret Pilkington]

If you can afford the initial outlay and get the work done by local people that is good for our local economy...it means one less person out of work...and one more person with a little spending power....good luck to you.
Long may you prosper.

[davemac]

Originally Posted by GEaston

You are right about the tough part being to move them on. Fortunately I don't need to move them on, because as totally refurbished places they are fairly easy to rent.

Yet again I found a very solid and trustworthy estate agent (must be in the Guiness book of records as the only one) in the town - an independent running a site called Rent A Unit - Welcome to RentAUnit.co.uk - www.rentaunit.co.uk. Seeing as I'm buying at auction and getting refurb at good prices I can make 10-15% annual.

I would far far rather do this than put money in a bank where they'll give me 3% and then lend out 10x the deposit to people on 25% credit cards.

Thats a nice thing to say, the person you speak of is my Godson, and yes, he tells me of shady practises that he sees, but will not be part of.

[Restless]

Quite a coincidence that the pic of the tram was one uploaded to flickr to an accyweb member

[susie123]

Originally Posted by Restless

Quite a coincidence that the pic of the tram was one uploaded to flickr to an accyweb member

Pleased to see I wasn't the only one who noticed that Rob! At least someone else is awake.

[GEaston]

That's interesting Davemac, and as stated all true.

He's been excellent. Undercuts all agents in the area by some margin, and provides a service they can't match. He moved my St James place, and he's even taken on places that are really miles out of his way - like this one I have in Thorne, Doncaster Rent A Unit - 8A Market Place, Doncaster, DN8 5DH - www.rentaunit.co.uk

Internet stuff is my bag so I can help him get to the top of Google. To do that I'll use this forum. There'll be loads of Accrington locals here who have or have access to a local website that can link to rentaunit.co.uk. If they link to your godson's site with the phrase "Accrington Commercial Property" then he'll rise to the top of Google for that search term. I'll spend more time on this from July onwards when I get the time.

Not a big deal, but easy for people to do, and I expect most people here would like to support a local lad than a big company like Rightmove....

[Restless]

If Davemac backs up your story then I'll buy it for sure(-- no need really. I have grown respect for this user since I first offended him with a post of my own)... and then if rightfully so then you might accept my apologies. Like Less stated. We have had a few oddballs

[GEaston]

That's ok Resty. Apology accepted. By all means contact Jonathan at rentaunit.co.uk and ask him if he deals with a guy living in Singapore who owns buildings in the town. I guarantee there will only be one!

Would be nice to get some trust going on this forum :-)

[Restless]

Too much effort

[Eric]

Originally Posted by GEaston

That's ok Resty. Apology accepted. By all means contact Jonathan at rentaunit.co.uk and ask him if he deals with a guy living in Singapore who owns buildings in the town. I guarantee there will only be one!

Would be nice to get some trust going on this forum :-)

Hey, bud. I trust everyone on here ... from a distance .... most of which is ocean

[Margaret Pilkington]

In some instances I am incredibly cynical.....but, I feel that this poster is genuine.
Lord knows why anyone would invest in Accrington, thet state it is in.....and yet in my heart I know it is a town with hear....and the heart of the town ist its quirky idiosyncratic residents.

From a business point of view.....I can see it is an attractive proposition.........properties are often run down, therefore cheap......and a profit from them is a business viability. Accrington has reasonable transport links and an easy access to the motorway.
GEaston, if you continue to buy up properties and use local labour to renovate them you do the town a favour.......and I applaud your business sense.

[Wynonie Harris]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

and the heart of the town ist its quirky idiosyncratic residents.

...a fair selection of whom can be viewed on here! Well said, Margaret, you've just put in a nutshell one of the reasons why I still love Accy, despite its current problems. I too have a good feeling about Mr Easton and hope he has a positive effect on the town!