2. Where To Buy?
2. Where To Buy? (Image 2 of 10)
Your first step is to get to know what the market is like where you want to buy, who lives there and who wants to live there. If you've got in mind a particular type of type of property you want to develop, you also need to establish that there's a market for it. Get to know an area. You can do a lot of research on the internet - websites such as www.upmystreet.com will give you the low-down on property prices and crime statistics, plus neighbourhood profiles on all kind of things, such as average earnings; www.dfes.gov.uk will give you information on the quality of local schools, and there are various sites, including www.hometrack.co.uk, which you can visit to find out what houses are selling for. There's no substitute for pounding the pavement, though. Even in half a day, you can find out a lot. If you're a first-time developer, it's easier to work with what you know, so stick to areas close to where you live.
Will it be a good investment?
It's important to build a profile of the property you're developing based on how it will be when you've done it up. This should involve location, number of rooms, layout and features. Contact local estate agents to find out how much newly renovated properties that match your profile have sold for in the last two months.
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