Gladys Avenue

A purchase price of only £57,000 for a two bedroom flat in Portsmouth, meant I really couldn’t walk away from this one, even though it meant putting one of my other projects temporarily on the back burner.

The seller had had lots of problems with the tenants and when I called to see it, there was even an 800cc motorbike upside down in the middle of the lounge! Keep in mind this is a top floor flat and there’s no lift. He was also tied into a long lease and since he’d moved away to Plymouth, just wanted to get rid of it.

I made it clear to him the best way to ensure he got the most money for the flat was to take it to a local agent, but by this time, he’d simply had enough and so we agreed I’d buy the place, wait out the long lease and ultimately evict the tenant. As it happened when the tenant ultimately left, he had completely cleaned the flat and even repainted the lounge!

At approximately 35% below market value this was a great little buy. Sure, I had a bit of work to do, but compared to some of the projects we’ve taken on, it really wasn’t a big deal.