When Lisa Greaves sold the first home she had ever owned, in March 2002, she
vowed to be mortgage-free within 10 years. But if all goes as well as it has
so far, she will achieve her aim in almost half that time %26ndash; thanks, she
says, to hard work, %26ldquo;barefaced cheek and good old-fashioned bartering%26rdquo;.
Greaves, 41, an NHS manager, is now ensconced in her latest project, a
five-bedroom former vicarage, valued at almost %26pound;900,000, in an attractive
East Yorkshire village. By renovating each house she has lived in as she has
climbed the property ladder herself, then selling for a sizeable profit, she
has generated enough capital to buy her next house outright.
%26ldquo;The greatest savings are made by rolling up your sleeves and getting stuck
in,%26rdquo; Greaves says. %26ldquo;Labour can amount to between a third and half of the
total renovation costs, so the more you can do yourself, the greater the
savings will be.%26rdquo;
Just 5ft tall, she is as strong as an ox after doing the kind of jobs most
would leave to the builders. She has learnt to drive a JCB, in order to
shift 60 tons of soil and rubble, used a heavy-duty Kango drill to dig up
tarmac and concrete, and climbed scaffolding to paint ceilings 12ft high.
Although she is prepared to call in the experts if she has to.
function pictureGalleryPopup(pubUrl,articleId) {
var newWin = window.open(pubUrl+’template/2.0-0/element/pictureGalleryPopup.jsp?id=’+articleId+’%26%26offset=0%26%26sectionName=PropertyInvestment’,'mywindow’,'menubar=0,resizable=0,width=615,height=655′);
}
Background
Why can%26rsquo;t we sell our home?
%26lsquo;I didn%26rsquo;t want a profit; I just wanted out%26rsquo;
How to sell your home in a hurry
Background
How to sell your home
Buying a property at auction
Home improvement
Eco homes
Step-by-step guide to buying your first property
Background
Overseas property: where, how and what to buy
How to get onto the property ladder
Guide to buying above a shop
%26ldquo;This hallway,%26rdquo; she says, pointing to the sweeping staircase of the former
vicarage in Kirk Ella, two miles west of Hull, %26ldquo;was a huge challenge. There
was a lift shaft slicing right through the middle. We had to get a
specialist firm to take that out, then the floors were reinstated before the
whole lot was plastered and decorated. Everything was on such a grand scale.%26rdquo;
The Victorian building, with its elegant proportions and large south-facing
garden, is a far cry from the three-bedroom council house where Greaves grew
up, and in which she and her younger brother continued to live after their
mother died when Greaves was 21. She bought it in 1992 for %26pound;19,000 and sold
it 10 years later for %26pound;75,000. The profit she made enabled her to put down a
%26pound;50,000 deposit on a %26pound;68,000 semidetached three-bedroom house a few streets
away.
%26ldquo;It was in quite a dilapidated state, and required gutting and renovating. I
knocked down a single-storey outhouse myself and commissioned a builder to
add a two-storey extension, which made the kitchen larger and created a
fourth bedroom with ensuite above.%26rdquo; The work cost about %26pound;30,000; Greaves
estimates she saved %26pound;10,000 by doing much of it herself. A year after moving
in, she sold for %26pound;156,000.
Determined to keep any future mortgage small, Greaves put all her profit %26ndash; bar
%26pound;12,000, to cover renovation %26ndash; into buying a %26pound;120,000 semidetached
three-bedroom home on the outskirts of Hull. There, she fitted a new
bathroom, removed a chimney stack, creating more space, and installed a
shower room, central heating and french windows out to a deck. By carrying
out so much of the work, she saved between %26pound;3,000 and %26pound;4,000 in labour
costs. She sold for %26pound;165,000 in 2004.
By now, Greaves wanted a bigger challenge. %26ldquo;A friend and I went 50-50 on the
Old Vicarage, a 3,500 sq ft, Grade II-listed property that we bought for
%26pound;460,000. Although it was a stretch financially, we knew we could add a lot
of value to it, especially if we did a lot of the labouring ourselves.%26rdquo;
Greaves put down a %26pound;160,000 deposit and allowed %26pound;150,000 for renovations %26ndash;
which it certainly needed. The 1839 property had been converted into an
11-bedroom geriatric-care home in the 1980s. First impressions were pretty
dismal, but she saw its potential. %26ldquo;Fortunately, many of the original
features had simply been covered up,%26rdquo; she recalls, %26ldquo;so it was exciting to
discover the original doors underneath plywood panels and the fireplaces
hidden behind tiles and boarding.%26rdquo;
Stud walls were removed and five double bedrooms, two with ensuites, and a
family bathroom were created. Again, Greaves did as much as possible
herself, but the size and nature of the job meant it also made sense to
employ labour. %26ldquo;Everything was so time-consuming,%26rdquo; she says. %26ldquo;I spent a
whole weekend stripping back one doorframe, and one week restoring a door.
Commissioning different teams and individuals to undertake certain elements
can pay dividends, as some firms prefer to take on small jobs rather than
committing to the full works. This kept costs down for us and provided work
for the companies, which they could schedule between bigger projects.%26rdquo;
When it came to removing a stone sill in one piece, however, even the
stonemason she hired had his doubts. %26ldquo;I said, %26lsquo;If I can take it out this
weekend without breaking it, would you come back on Monday, cut it in half
and turn it into part of a doorframe?%26rsquo; He said it was virtually impossible.%26rdquo;
Greaves proved him wrong, spending a weekend chipping away at the brickwork
around the sill until it could be lifted off intact.
The size and scale of the rooms proved a challenge. %26ldquo;We had to have
scaffolding, especially on the landing, where the ceiling reaches a height
of about 20ft. My sister hired me a decorator for a week as a birthday
present, which was a great idea.%26rdquo;
Greaves believes that her hands-on approach has saved tens of thousands of
pounds. Building works cost %26pound;80,000, a new kitchen %26pound;20,000 and garden
landscaping %26pound;20,000. She estimates it would have cost almost twice as much
if she had paid others to do all of it.
She suffered tennis elbow from tapping mortar off 1,000 reclaimed bricks and,
she says, ate %26ldquo;more than ever before%26rdquo; to maintain her energy levels as she
juggled a 40-hour working week and family commitments with the mammoth
restoration. But not once during the entire three-year project did she think
she had taken on too much.
%26ldquo;I loved every minute of it. It was hard work, and very time-consuming, but
there was never a moment when I thought, %26lsquo;What on earth have I done?%26rsquo; I
always kept my eye on the goal, which was to renovate, sell, then find a
smaller house I could buy outright. I%26rsquo;m still looking for the right place.
At least I won%26rsquo;t be worried about buying one that needs renovating.%26rdquo;
The Old Vicarage is for sale for %26pound;895,000 with Matthew Limb; 01482 669982 On the up and up
- Three-bedroom council house in Anlaby, near Hull; bought in 1992 for
%26pound;19,000, sold for %26pound;75,000 in 2002.
- Three-bedroom semidetached home in Willerby, near Hull; bought for %26pound;68,000
in 2002, sold for %26pound;156,000 in 2003.
- Three-bedroom semidetached home in Kirk Ella, near Hull; bought for %26pound;120,000
in 2003, sold for %26pound;165,000 in 2004.
- Five-bedroom vicarage in Kirk Ella; Greaves bought a half-share in the
%26pound;460,000 home in 2004.
-The property is now on the market for %26pound;895,000.
- So what%26rsquo;s next? A smaller property %26ndash; but one that she will own outright.
Tags:
elbow,
Landscaping,
reclaimed brick,
renovation,
rta,
soil,
tapp,
tiles
0
