Anyone made the leap from 9-5 to property development?

[CerbitonFlyer]

I'd be really interested to hear from anyone who has made the leap from a secure 9 - 5 job into the world of property development.

I have a job in an industry that I love, but somehow it's just not giving me enough. I need more of a challenge, more risk, more excitement.

The last three house's I've owned I've transformed from run-down unloved places to homes that definately have a sense of wow-factor about them. I love the hard work, I love seeing the finished product, and I love it when the estate agent comes to value it, but the best bit is when it sells and you move onto the next one.

I am totally confident that I have the skills and tools to do this but I do have concerns about what the market is going to do. I have always done the majority of work myself and hence have been able to keep costs to a minimum.

I'd love to hear from you if you've actually made the leap and done this. Your experiances good or bad would be very interesting to hear.

[anonymous-user]

I would love to do it! I have all the skills and experience but not the capital!

[Arese]

So you've been doing this in your spare time as well as your full-time job? Maybe continue to do that until you've built up enough cash to give you the confidence to go for it full time?

[KenBlocksPants]

Arese said:

So you've been doing this in your spare time as well as your full-time job? Maybe continue to do that until you've built up enough cash to give you the confidence to go for it full time?

+1 Its all about the capital investment. You will need to build that up first from your initial projects.

Also the biggest margins are in the South East, which will come as no suprise.

[CerbitonFlyer]

Arese said:

So you've been doing this in your spare time as well as your full-time job? Maybe continue to do that until you've built up enough cash to give you the confidence to go for it full time?

Correct yes, basically it's something that has kept me busy over my weekends / time away from work. I have approx £250k equity in my current property, so not enough to fund anything entirely by cash, so I'll need to keep some kind of borrowing going. I'm not looking at anything major to begin with, so places that need general redecoration and kitchen / bathroom refit would be ideal. Once I've increased my capital doing a few of them I'd look for something more challenging i.e. extensions / loft conversions.

[CerbitonFlyer]

KenBlocksPants said:

Also the biggest margins are in the South East, which will come as no suprise.

That's handy that that's where I am based then

[Pvapour]

yep, well sorta..

used to fit doors internal and external doors 9-5 many years ago (good money though)

bought a house with potential to extend, 4 years later we doubled its size (whilst i was still fitting doors) made enough to buy a 2nd home at which point I stopped the doors, developed the 2nd home then a 3rd and finally a 4th, sold both and moved abroad just before recession.

It can be done but for us it would have been impossible without my practical background.

Now developing a leisure Gite complex in France, moving into property was the best thing we ever did but I'm not sure in todays UK market

[CerbitonFlyer]

Pvapour said:

It can be done but for us it would have been impossible without my practical background.

Agreed, and I've always taken a very hands-on approach doing much of the work myself.

Pvapour said:

moving into property was the best thing we ever did but I'm not sure in todays UK market

that's really my only reservation. I wonder if my specs are a little to rose tinted. Saying that, development is a very different game to buy-to-let, and in theory a depressed market should mean more distressed sellers which surely has to be an oportunity for a developer?

[herbialfa]

I've not done it, however, one of my clients has.

He was a journalist and gave it up to become a property developer (Norfolk)

Hes looking to becoming a millionaire and hes getting there.

He buys a run down property, gets me to do the plans and as soon as he has the paperwork then all systems go!

Great finishes to the job and they sell pretty quickly!

He started with a terraced house and is now on his 3rd house in 2 years and I can't even afford to buy that one, as I reckon hes near the half million pound mark now!

[Pvapour]

CerbitonFlyer said:

Pvapour said:

It can be done but for us it would have been impossible without my practical background.

Agreed, and I've always taken a very hands-on approach doing much of the work myself.

Pvapour said:

moving into property was the best thing we ever did but I'm not sure in todays UK market

that's really my only reservation. I wonder if my specs are a little to rose tinted. Saying that, development is a very different game to buy-to-let, and in theory a depressed market should mean more distressed sellers which surely has to be an oportunity for a developer?

I think if your cash rich and no chain this will have more sway than the climate, saying that.... now is still the time to be the buyer

when you come to sell? the creme will ALWAYS rise to the top and there is always a lazy someone with lots of money out there who will pay anything for what they want, you just have to know you customer very well and tailor things to meet their needs, if your confident you can buy, design, build and decorate to a standard beyond others then you will always have a buyer IMO.

you have experience & so, know what your capable of, if you can sit there and honestly say to yourself that you can build something better & more cheaply than anyone else then go for it.

Sarah Harding has no idea she has a B&Q kitchen in her million pound house just because we mixed to different styles & dressed it with Granite or that all her oak windows were an unclaimed job from a local window maker

If we were still in UK & in your climate we'd still be doing it, just pushing very hard on the buying side to safeguard ourselves.

Edited by Pvapour on Saturday 14th August 07:07