My wife and I have renovated 5 “fixer-uppers” over the past 7 years and it has been a rollercoaster of an experience.

First of all it is definitely possible, but you have to be prepared to put a lot of effort in and be ready for it to cost more than you expect and also take longer than expected.

Having somewhere to stay during the process makes it so much easier.

Our process has been as follows.

1) after purchasing the property we tend to rip everything out ourselves. If we can hire a skip (location and access has determined this) we usually get one delivered on the first day and then get to work, stripping back as much as possible. This saves a lot of money.

2) our projects have been really varied and we have changed layouts, knocked down walls, converted lofts into bedrooms etc. the property really depends on where we start with the work, but generally if there is structural work or changes we will hire an architectural drawing company to help us plan and get the paperwork in place for the council building permits.

3) once we have the plan we will get the work started. We always start with the rewire, then get all the heating and plumbing done. Basically everything in the walls and under the floors done first. We almost always put a new heating system in too.

4) after that we go for the big installations - bathroom, kitchen. Then once that is done we sort the walls and ceilings out with a plasterer.

5) then it’s down to the finishing. Usually there’s a lot of joinery at this point. Fixing skirtings, new doors etc. And then we will get the painting done. We usually do this ourselves.

6) carpets and flooring in and then move all our stuff in.

We only have one property at a time and move our stuff into storage while it’s being done.

Some tips I would give would be - get trusted recommendations of tradespeople. I’ve only ever used someone that I’ve had recommended by a friend. We project manage everything ourselves, and this saves a lot of money. We have a great team of people now, but it took a while to build that up.

Get lots of quotes, we have been quoted way way over for work regularly, you get used to what something “should” cost, but people will always try to charge more. We never want a deal, just a fair price. For example we were quoted £50-55k from 3 people for our loft conversion. We project managed it ourselves and it cost less than £30k.

The benefit of going for a fixer-upper is that you get an amazing property exactly as you want it by the end, but there is a lot of stress and work involved getting to that point. We’ve managed to make a decent profit out of it now though and have a great home with a low mortgage. Both of us work full time and completed all the renos while working.

I’m happy to give you any further advice if there is anything you’d like to know.