Adele Bradley Makes £85k A Year Using D.I.Y Knowledge

Tonnes of people use YouTube as a source of information to either complete simple D.I.Y tasks or even fix something in their own household. Adele Bradley has taken it to a whole new level, proving that you can be the inspiration to your own future.

Adele Bradley, 38 years old, always had a dream of renovating properties. When she got divorced, she believed she needed something new to spend her time. Post-divorce, Adele and her other half sold their house, a three-bed semi in Rothwell, Leeds, for a grand sum of £136,000.

Adele decided on getting a mortgage, of which the deposit was £36,000 and forked out £20,000 on making the house look better. It was only sixteen weeks later, the house was gutted as well as all the work being finished, of which by the time this had been completed, it sold for £180,00, generating a profit margin of £24,000.

Inspired by her own success, Adele used her influx of funds to acquire house number two, which happened to also be a three-bed semi in relatively the same location for £182,000, with a deposit of £20,000.

This house in particular, cost £20,000 more to renovate (£42,000) and took slightly longer at 32 weeks, yet its now up and available on the market. This house has now been evaluated at £285,000. Adele will make a nice profit margin of £61,000. Which means her profits from the both houses are a grand total of £85,000 for effectively twelve months gruelling work.

Adele claims that “You can find out how to do anything on YouTube, such as how to knock down a wall or how to rewire an electrical fireplace.”

She also states “I’m not a plumber or electrician so I’ve had to get tradespeople in. As well as YouTube, it’s really helped that I sit there watching them and pick their brain about how they’re doing the work as well as getting involved.”

Adele’s first project required a completely new bathroom as well as kitchen, re-doing all electrics, plastering and carpeting in and amongst every room. Adele managed to create more space by demolishing a wall, creating one large bathroom out of two rooms that were opposite sides of the wall.

In house number two, Adele re-did all of the electrics, took all appliances and fixtures in the kitchen as well as the toilet too, then this enabled her to install modern ones in their place. Adele managed to demolish another wall, to create a more spacious kitchen and living room with an island in the middle. She then took down another wall in manipulating a large shower room of which you can walk into and this generated extra profit by landscaping the garden at the back as well as creating a room in the loft.

Adele has documented the amazing transition process on her Instagram page, which has already gathered more than 32,000 followers, all this whilst working full-time.

“I got trades in to do the essentials, and I did all the ripping stuff out, the back-breaking work, and the décor.”

“In the second house I started ripping up the kitchen floor and discovered there was six layers of flooring on top of each other so that took some going over with a claw hammer.”

“I even broke my toe dropping a brick on it. It’s hard work and you have to deal with living in chaos – living with no kitchen etc – but I got a buzz from it all.”

Adele searches for properties that require the work being done so there is an instant profit margin once the job is done and has mentioned that she stays well clear of full structural requirements, damp or if the house’s foundations aren’t even.

More advice from Adele, she recommends looking at local planning guidelines and doing your due diligence on areas as well as already renovated properties in the area, specifically what they are going for. “I have a good relationship with the manager of my local estate agents who gives me lots of insights. Researching and tapping into other people’s expertise is invaluable.”

Conducting this type of business model is very difficult, especially when you have to work on a tight budget although this can make you more of a resourceful candidate for future projects. 

Adele exclaims that she has a very good relationship with a specific estate agent and 10 very reliable sources when it comes to tradespeople, although she is trying to learn more of the processes regarding DIY. Her next project she looks to renovate four more houses, hoping to gather £300,000 to £400,000, of which she will use to purchase land and of course, build her own dream house.

To find out information yourself on D.I.Y tips and tricks, check out our YouTube Picks (add on link to YouTube picks) page for either inspiration or knowledge on certain materials.

Check out Adeles Facebook Page here: https://www.facebook.com/designbyadele/

---

No comments yet