Hey Emma, thanks for your kind words! We came in a bit over the expected budget, but we had chunky contingencies and bought at a good price too. It's been an amazing project to work on - 5⭐ - Would build again! In terms of advice, if someone is taking on a similar project having not done something like this before, I'd always recommend getting ongoing support from someone with the experience as there are so many things that could trip you up e.g. VAT, S106, CIL, Capital Allowances, English Heritage & its requirements, general tax / business structure and the list goes on! We're part of the Prosperity Network if that helps - we coach for them and there's also so much valuable content there to support property investors 🙂

Thank you Miles that's very helpful. I will research very carefully!

Hey Danny, It's in Wakefield - we've just launched our sales websites www.LangtonLodgeWakefield.co.uk if you want to follow updates :)

Hey Ashley, thanks for watching! Unfortunately we couldn’t make a capital allowances claim on purchase as the vendor had already claimed it all - we were limited to £1! The second opportunity to claim is once the work has been completed. As this will be residential, we can only claim on the areas that aren’t apartments - so communal, plant rooms, basement etc. We’re also unfortunately quite restricted on what we can do to improve the thermal capacity of the building as the conservation officer has the final say. The rear building overlooking the road is newer and so has double glazing fortunately, but the rest is single glazed. We’ll be applying for an exemption just in case we don’t meet the minimum EPC requirements which is pretty common practice for listed buildings. For another listed building we recently converted, we were able to put timber framed double glazing in (which was more expensive than the standard uPVC) but made a positive difference. Hope that helps!

@@milesbulloch thanks for the info. Hope it works alright. At least your vat for the conversion isn’t as high. Still contemplating my own conversion - extra planning costs and a hmo bedroom still needs to be feasible if next to a road.

If there's one hanging around on one of your yachts, I'd happily use it! 😃

You make a shit load of money with all that realestate! Buy one... 😂👍

Hi Sergio, thanks for watching and for your comment. It will depend on which country you're in - by the looks of it, you're in Canada? It will differ quire a lot across countries, but on the whole the most important thing is working with the right professionals to make sure the job is done correctly - that can be: - Architect - to draw up a proposal for the building, to work with the local planning authority to get an acceptable design approved and to oversee the conversion works - Broker - to help fund the property. Development finance for the build and longer term mortgages if you're planning on retaining the building for rental income. - Builder - VERY important to work with reliable builders who have done similar projects. They will work with the architect to build the approved plans. - Marketing - To sell or rent the units once they're finished - this process starts as soon as you find the building! - Accountant - To make sure you're optimising the project so you don't pay too much tax - Bank, Private Investors, Energy companies, Designers, Solicitors, Letting Agents, Estate Agents, Project Managers, Surveyors.... There's a lot to learn! If you let me know which country you're in I can hopefully point you in the right direction for appropriate resources - if it's the UK - we offer 1 on 1 coaching through the Prosperity Network and there are tons of really useful videos and guides also Here's a slide from a presentation we recently did that lists out some of the professionals we work with: www.propertunities.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Who-we-work-with-Our-Team-Propertunities.jpg

Hey Gamblersruin, thanks for watching! You're pretty much on the money - these were the steps: 1) Offer made subject to obtaining planning for 9 bed HMO (Sui Generis use class) 2) Architect given the go ahead to draw up the plans of what we want 3) Solicitors drew up legal documents referencing the architect's plans / planning app 4) We exchanged, putting down a refundable 10% deposit 5) The exchange contract specified: a) The longstop date i.e. if we pass this date and we haven't completed, we no longer have the automatic right to purchase the property. b) If planning is granted at any time before the longstop date, we are obliged to complete within X days from planning approval c) If planning is refused, we can EITHER walk away taking our refundable deposit with us (but we would have lost architect fees and legal costs) OR we could appeal / submit a slightly different app or just complete at risk as long as all of this happens before the Longstop date. At first glance it may seem like quite a big risk, but because we were working with an architect and builders that know the planning system and build costs and challenges it makes it easier to take on a project like this. We also always build in financial and time contingencies and make sure that there is a backup exit strategy to the deal if the primary exit strategy doesn't come about. I hope that helps! Feel free to ask other questions - your questions help others too!

@@Propertunities Thank you for the detailed response, it makes a lot of sense!

@@gamblersruin no problem!

Hi KHUB, thanks for watching! It will vary hugely depending on area, spec, density and exactly what you're including in the cost per square meter. What you plan to convert a building into also has a bearing e.g. 10x 1 bed apartments will need 10x bedrooms, 10x bathrooms, 10x kitchens and 10x living rooms. Whereas a 10 bed HMO could have as little as (for example) 10x bedrooms, 3x bathrooms, 2x kitchens and 1x living room. There's a big cost differential between the two. Things that can get left out of that £psm for example, is accounting for more bathrooms / ensuites, CAT 5 cabling throughout, asbestos removal / treatment, planning costs, planning conditions, furnishing the property (we have used long term furniture finance on other projects), replacing / upgrading the services, treating / replacing the roof and the list goes on. Because of this your cost psm could be a lot higher than any of the standard £psm prices people use. The standard figure that a lot of people work to for office to resi is about £650 - 750 psm. We have spent more than that on this project and others because of the reasons above. Make sure you get multiple quotes from builders. Always add in contingency spend, and assume the project will over run. Hopefully that's helpful!

@@Propertunities Thank you for your very helpful response. i found a 2 bed flat ontop of an office. The office is approx 50 sqm i wanted to buy and live in the flat above and convert the office below to a 2 bed flat so its not a big job!.

@@nassah2010 Sounds like a great project - depending on the area and what's involved, you can potentially do this without needing planning permission i.e. through permitted development / prior approval - this is a bit easier and cheaper to go through than full planning. Best of luck with it!

@@Propertunities Thanks i'll look into this more i've subscribed as well!

@@nassah2010 Thanks for the subscribe ❤️

Hi Kevin, thanks for watching, and thanks for your question! Because of our proximity to the university and the spec we fitted the building out to, we've fortunately done well letting the rooms out. Online courses and video chats are definitely a risk to all student accommodation, but nothing beats in-person lectures, especially as it takes a lot more discipline to study through online learning. A study by the Open University (online university courses - link below) found that distance institutions have less than one-quarter of the graduation rates of conventional institutions. Because of this we're not overly concerned for the longer term, but that's definitely not to say we're going to ignore it! OU Research Paper: oro.open.ac.uk/39195/

Hey Light-upon-Light - thanks so much for your comment! You'll be pleased to know that all 7 parts to the refurb are available to watch now! Here's the playlist link: kzfaq.info/sun/PLawKn-tVSl9gh6W7lRwzM5P8esxjcROkd The basement had quite a few hidden windows which we opened up, and once the room was finished and painted white, together with inset LED spotlights, it's a lovely light room. Have a look at the final video to see what the final product looks like.

Hi Richard, thanks for your comment and kind words! You're definitely right, and the government has recognised that by shaking up the planning system and widening the scope of what types of conversions can fall under permitted development / prior approval instead of full planning permission. This one actually went through full planning permission as the previous use was actually D1 Place of Worship believe it or not.

Hey Reiss, thanks for watching! Our initial budget was £65k - we haven't yet finished the work on this one, so it's subject to a slight variation, but shouldn't be too far away. How's your business coming along?

Hey there, for this project our offer was initially made subject to gaining planning permission. That way if we didn't get planning for what we wanted we weren't obliged to complete the purchase. However, if we did get planning, then we were obliged to purchase. A pre plan (pre app) is a good idea to get some guidance on what would likely be acceptable by the planning dept. before submitting the full blown application. Depending on the project, a good planning consultant and / or architect should also be able to guide you as to what you could achieve on the site. Hope that helps!

Thanks Ben!

Thanks Andy! This building was in such a bad state when we took it on. All property developers had overlooked it for years as none of them could make it work financially. It took a lot to get it to this state with some great minds contributing to it. We're very happy with the end product :) Love your channel too - some great views!

When you find building that lends itself to this type of conversion, then you can do well, but you may have to kiss a few frogs along the way! This particular property we had to apply for planning permission as permitted development (PD) wasn't an option. We bought it subject to obtaining planning permission to convert from D1 (place of worship) to Sui Generis (18 room HMO). We worked with a sourcing agent to find this deal, which is one of the ways you can find one. Some other ways: - Walk the streets, look for buildings that could be easy to convert (shallow floor plate, lots of windows), look it up on the Land Registry and contact the owner - Use an online tool like LandInsight.io or Nimbus Maps and identify properties that way - Speak to local commercial agents - Search on Zoopla and Rightmove Commercial, or Estates Gazette Property Link Hopefully that helps :)

Hi there, thanks for watching! It's a multi step process: 1) Using publicly available data and our experience, we work out roughly what we can do with the property. Using our ball park numbers, we get build cost estimates from local building companies. If the deal works based on this (making sure to allow for plenty of contingencies) we'll firm up our numbers. 2) We'll work with a surveyor and an architect. The former will highlight any issues with the building currently such as damp or structural issues. The latter will map the building out to scale and work out exactly what we can fit in. The architect will take into account any local planning restrictions / guidelines, window locations, load bearing walls, circulation space etc and will come up with a scheme. Based on that we can properly tender the project out to building companies and if all still looks ok, we'll press on with getting the deal done! This particular project had various damp issues: 1) Water coming through the very old windows. Solution: we replaced all the windows. 2) Water coming in through the roof. Solution: we relayed the roof. 3) A bit of penetrating damp in the basement. Solution: we fully tanked the basement. We have really good ventilation throughout the whole building as well which will keep any moisture levels from showers, drying clothes and cooking to minimum. I hope that helps!

Propertunities thanks for the very detailed response- it looks like a brilliant project!

@@sirxenon6855 Thanks very much! If you're in the area and you want to have a look around - get in touch through our website. (Alternatively, there's a link to a more up to date video in the description above)

Hi Peter Jackson , sorry about this, the audio recording wasn’t too good on this one - I’ll look into getting subtitles for this. There will be another update on this property released on Wednesday that has slightly clearer audio. Thanks for watching!

Hi Peter, the next video is live here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/otlmY92buZnahqM.html

Hey Raushan Ali! Thanks for your comment. It's in Stoke on Trent in the UK

@@Propertunities thank you for your swift reply. I wish you all the best with this great project.

Thanks johnny! Our email address can be found on our website: www.propertunities.co/contact/ Looking forward to hearing from you

Thanks Johnny!

Thanks Logan! Let us know if there are any videos you'd like to see