BRR Case Study: Rotherham Terrace Bought for £71,000, Under £5,000 Left In

Around £102,000 went into a tired Rotherham terrace. After the refinance, under £5,000 of it was still in there. The rest came back out, ready for the next purchase. This case study shows how, number by number.

The opportunity

A tired terraced house in Rotherham, listed at £80,000. Dated throughout, in need of a full refurbishment, and priced like plenty of others on the portals. On paper it looked ordinary.

The sold prices on the surrounding streets told a better story. Once refurbished, houses just like it were selling for around £130,000.

The numbers

• Asking price: £80,000
• Agreed price: £71,000
• Refurbishment: £20,500
• Total money in, every cost included: around £102,000
• End value after refurbishment: £130,000
• Refinance at 75% of end value: £97,500
• Money left in: under £5,000
• Rent, long term let: £850 a month
• Equity left in the property: around £32,500

What made it work

The price. The offer came from the numbers, not the listing. Working back from a cautious end value showed where the purchase had to land for most of the money to come back out. It was agreed at £71,000, £9,000 below asking.

The refurb. £20,500 turned a tired house back into a good family home: the kind of house a lender's surveyor values against the best comparable sales on the street, and the kind a long term tenant wants to stay in.

The end value. £130,000 came from genuinely like for like sold prices nearby, not from the best sale in the area. Had the valuation come in lower, more money would have stayed in.

Every cost counted. The £102,000 includes the purchase, stamp duty, the works and every fee. Leave any of those out and money left in looks better on paper than it really is.

What I checked before any offer

• Sold prices for genuinely similar houses within half a mile, matched by floor area
• What the same type of house actually lets for, from live listings and recent lets
• The refurb, priced line by line before the offer, not after it
• The purchase price needed for the money to come back out, worked out first
• Whether the house was habitable, which affects both stamp duty and lending

The lesson

The money is made when you buy. A listing price is where the conversation starts, not where it ends. Read the opposite story next: the viewing that saved £25,300.

Your next step

Every investor's numbers are different. Get your free Personalised Property Plan: a short form, then a call with me to talk through your budget, goals and the areas that suit you. Free, and no obligation.

Risk note: Figures are from a completed opportunity. Every property is different, past results don't guarantee future ones, and you should take independent legal, survey, mortgage and tax advice before buying.