Our Buy to Let Portfolio
Property 1 was purchased in June 2003 using our savings and cost £28,000 when purchased.
The previous owner occupied it for several years and left sofas, a bed, basic wardrobes and a cooker, fridge and washing machine.
The Living Room
Not too much to do in this room in order to get it ready for rental. Over the years, the sofas and curtains have been replaced and it been decorated a few times.
Kitchen 
All white goods came with the property, so the Kitchen just needed a good clean and repainting. Over the years, the fridge and cooker have broken and have been replaced.
Bathroom / Shower Room
The wall paper in the bathroom was truly disgusting to look at. After a good clean, the bathroom was painted white and a new shower curtain was fitted. This tidied up the room. A few years later, the bathroom was fully renovated, with a new white bathroom suite and floor to ceiling tiles.
Bedroom
The carpet in the bedroom was quickly replaced by wood laminate. The inexpensive canvas wardrobes were replaced by proper modern wooden wardrobes.
How much money have we made our Buy to Let property 1?
In November 2011, this property is worth in the region of £50,000 to £60,000. At the peak of the UK housing market around 2008, similar properties were selling for as high as £67,000. Not bad for a property which only cost £28,000 in June 2003!
How much is the monthly rental on our Buy to Let property 1?
Property 1 originally rented out for £290 a month in 2003. It’s current rental is £350 a month. Similar properties in the street are recently being advertised at £375 – £395 a month, so potentially we could be charging more.
However we have a good, hassle free tenant who has lived there a few years. We will probably increase the rent if the leave. You need to remember that if you try and charge £395 a month and it takes two months to get a new tenant, it would take 17 months to recoup the lost rental income compared to renting it out on day 1 for £350 a month.