To want to share my shock at this?

I would say 5 months was about right if you have got an experienced team of workmen.

My parents sold our childhood home about 20 years ago, the people who bought it turned it into an amazing property and sold it for double, but it did take a bit longer. My DB was really cross about it (but he is very odd) I just thought good luck to them.

The only thing is they knocked on the door on spec and begged DPs to sell it as they desperately wanted their DCs to go to the local school. In fact DPs were already planning to sell as they were relocating to be near us. They couldn't have cared less what the buyers wanted to do with the house, they just wanted a quick sale, so I did feel it was a bit low of them to tell a totally unnecessary lie.

This is happening all over the place in my area. Same company buying up old empty houses that are in need of renovation. They do a wonderful job, very quickly and sell the house at double the price. They have a distinctive style and enough cash to get in quick, turn the property around and sell.

That’s not quick at all. The house next door to me was sold to developers and it was about 4 months. Auction to sale board going up. They worked round the clock and were annoyed they didn’t get it done more quickly. It had been empty for almost 5 years due to a hideous divorce next door involving the woman fleeing out of nowhere. The guy had actually destroyed some of the house internally, removed the bathroom and kitchen completely. They sold it for double what they paid for at auction, they were chatty and even after costs had still made a huge profit.

Your sold it for a price you were happy with.
The rest is not your business unless you were intentionally deceived by estate agents on price

I agree with this.

Reality TV shows will have us believe that every renovation involves a couple who go £1000s over budget, have tradespeople that let them down, need specialist equipment hauled down a country lane, get pregnant halfway through the work, live in a caravan for several years, decide to have a unique kitchen shipped in from Nova Scotia which then gets lost on a boat, and and have Kevin from Grand Designs wandering round the garden every week shaking his head.

Eventually they'll make £3.50 and declare it 'absolutely worth it'.

The professionals get in, get it done, get out quickly, make a profit and move on to the next project.

OP isn’t upset at what’s happened. She has actually explicitly stated she is glad to see it redeveloped. Did you read her post, or just the title?!

You don't need to do the work yourselves initially though, just have a bunch of reliable trades you can call on. As you watch and learn, you can do more and then your profit margin will increase over time. Start small with a cheap terrace while you build your confidence.

If he’s got trades, just do it.

Could you secure planning permission for the extension? That can be attractive and open up a new group of buyers.

It's worth sitting down and doing the sums - what can you spend vs what can you get. Run down houses are hard to sell because people doubt their ability to do the work - even minor cosmetic changes can make a fairly substantial difference.

This doesn't suprise me at all. My judgemental opinion is that people tend to be very stupid about houses - they'll pay way over the odds for what essentially amounts to a lick of paint and some new doors when they could do it themselves for a fraction of the cost. DH and I own a four bed with no mortgage because the first house we bought was a shithole that no one wanted - it took no time at all to do it up to liveable state before we sold it on for almost double what we originally paid. We then bought a house that came with substantial land to one side and built a huge extension, which is way cheaper than buying something ready-built. It is hassle but it's totally worth it.

I have considered flipping houses but I'm too busy with other things at the moment. Maybe one day.

The new builds in our area have been built up from a plot of land to fully kitted, three floor houses in about 5 months. If you have the money and sophisticated machinery with a builder decorator team, anything is possible.

Will be interesting for you to keep an eye on what it actually sells for.

This is really interesting OP. My in laws house is currently on the market and we're being messed about with offers and people pulling out. It needs completely gutting and renovating and huge potential for an extension.

DH and I discussed doing it ourselves (he's a tradesman and knows lots of other tradies) but we weren't sure about the profit involved these days. Might be worth rethinking.

That's nice! I had the opposite - put my heart in to making my first house beautiful and sold it, only to see it a year later looking so rundown. Rubbish all over the front garden and stinking of weed 😢

I agree with this.

But that's the thing. You couldn't have done it without the experience, network of contacts and skilled tradespeople that the developer has. They know what works and what the market demands and get the best deals on materials and things like new kitchens because they buy in bulk.

It would take you five times as long for not as much profit.

Maybe this developer could be employed by local authorities to build more social housing 😂
It always amazes me how countries like Japan for example, can rebuild after earthquakes/sinkholes in no time and yet our gvmnt can't manage simple potholes.
No doubt we have many competent builders etc, it's just our gvmnt do not employ these.😮

Have you never watched Homes Under the Hammer?! Experienced developers will have all their plans and trades lined up before completion and crack straight on so that they aren’t incurring higher costs for loans etc.
It is nice to hear you’re impressed with their final result, it’s heartbreaking when people are upset their old homes are modernised but it’s inevitable.

I'd be really shocked by the price leap of 300k in five months, OP.

Being experienced developers they will have a network of people they work with to get the jobs done quickly so they get it turned around a lot quicker than the normal home rennovation.

It can be done in weeks rather than months sometimes.

A house selling 8 YEARS ago has zero bearing on now.

Property developers always turn houses round in under 6 months otherwise they have to pay a tonne of fees of their bridging loans (used to get mortgages) or because the investor wants the fastest return on investment and they have to keep them happy to get future work. Also due the adding up costs of ongoing bills like council tax (you usually only get 6 months grace period on an empty home renovation before you pay double empty/2nd home tax) and utilities.

For my forthcoming lottery win :)

I have / had a bungalow by the sea in Cornwall on watch, however I realised that it has been sold and is back up for sale !
£2,5000 June 2024 £875,000 July 2023...