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Property Development: A Marathon Not a Sprint

Gloucester based developers Alan and Dee Day talk with Kelly Lemon

Experienced investors can sympathise with the statement; "You have to put an awful lot of money in before you see anything come out, and it takes time. And what people don't understand is time costs money" - even  when HMOs and commercial conversion projects are seen by some as quick wins in the property investment world.

For Alan and Dee Day though, property investing isn't just about the money, they've spent their lives falling in love and restoring properties to their former glory. In recent years though they've managed to turn their passion into a cash flowing portfolio that allows them to do what they love; restore neglected properties.    

"Dee started developing property when she was given a homemade dolls house when she was five years old by her Granddad who was an architect. She remembers carefully painting, wallpapering and carpeting it and also remembers asking her Granddad if he could make her a 'lean-to' conservatory for it as it wasn't big enough!"

Seriously though, Dee was developing her own house when she first met Alan and he helped her do some of the DIY. Alan explains how the couple combined their skills to continue adding value to the houses they lived in. "We bought our first home together, which was a two hundred year old cottage that had a bathroom in a shed, no central heating, boiler or kitchen. It was basically a wreck and when my parents came to see it we thought they were going to cry and they thought we were crazy. We lived there for four years and renovated it slowly and had two babies during that time. We've continued to buy below market value houses that needed work doing to them, primarily because we enjoy the process of restoring them but also it was the only way we could afford to buy the houses we wanted."

It is clear Dee enjoys the process of bringing properties back into their former glory, but for Alan, it's not just about the long-term game. "I enjoy trading properties and I was buying flats at auctions when we met and selling them on the open market for a profit.

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