Savvy first-time homeowner adds £20k value to her Blidworth house
£5K RENOVATION GIVES LISA QUICK PROFIT AFTER MONTH OF HARD WORK
A SAVVY first-time homeowner managed to add up to £20,000 to the value of her property having spent just £5,000 and one month of her time renovating it.
Lisa Allison, who works for Nottingham City Homes as a media and digital content specialist, bought the house in Blidworth in October of last year.
She had just £5,000 and four weeks to transform the house, which had been described as a “wreck” by her dad.
However, the 33-year-old managed to finish the renovation in time for Christmas while also tripling her modest investment.
She has now shared her tips and a budget breakdown on Lastestdeals. co.uk, Birminghamlive reports.
“I bought my home for a good price due to all the work it needed, so I knew that by doing it up I would add some value, but I was surprised by how much,” Lisa said.
“I thought that I may just cover my costs, but an estate agent has informed me that the renovations have added around £15-£20k to the property’s value.
“I’m over the moon with the result. It means that down the line, when I do sell up, I will have that extra money, my deposit and any equity I have built up in the home as my reward.
“I’d been saving for a house for a long time and while I was in no hurry to buy, I was on the lookout for properties,” says Lisa. “I didn’t mind a bit of painting, but I certainly wasn’t looking for a whole house renovation.
“Then, this house popped up in the perfect area and for a great price. I saw it the day it went on sale, immediately put in an offer and after viewing the home another three times my offer was accepted.”
Lisa says she had not quite realised just how much work was required to renovate the property, and she could only take two weeks leave from work to invest her time into the project.
She worked weekends and employed the help of friends and recommended tradespeople for the more difficult jobs, with a new kitchen taking up most of her budget.
Despite this, she managed to transform the entire house, including the garden, within a matter of weeks. Lisa says she began with choosing a colour scheme to inspire her ahead of the new project.
“It wasn’t a house you could just move into,” she said. “I knew it would take a lot of work, but I had fallen in love with the property and started thinking about all the things I could do to turn it into a home. I thought it would be easy, but I was so wrong. I don’t regret it though.
“Originally, I wanted to use grey with ochre or mustard, but I soon fell in love with rose gold accents. Yellows don’t blend with rose gold, however, so I was stuck for a way to move forward.
“The turning point was when
I popped into Homesense for some kitchen inspiration and spotted some stunning scallop shaped blush pink breakfast bar chairs. Even though I’m not usually a fan of pink, I bought them there and then and that’s how the pink, grey, rose gold theme was set.
“I needed to get the whole house turned around in four weeks to get it ready in time for Christmas, but I could only take two weeks’ leave from my job, so most of the work happened then.
Lisa’s two weeks off work were used to finish the new kitchen and decorate all the different spaces of the house: The master bedroom, the living room, kitchen, dressing room/office, conservatory, and garden.
Tom Church, Co-founder of Latestdeals.co.uk, added: “Lisa’s £5k home reno has netted her a fantastic £15k profit in the space of a few months. It goes to show that you can achieve anything when you put your mind to it.”