Refinancing Your Investment Properties
If you want to keep your property investments long-term, you’ll likely want to recoup some of that money once the property has been renovated.
You can refinance onto a new mortgage if you have added value to the property. But what do you need to consider before you arrange your valuation?
Timing is Everything
You’ll want to book that valuation as early as possible to get your hard-earned money back to put into your next investment. However, don’t be tempted to arrange it until all your snagging and finishing touches are complete. The easiest way to ensure a ‘down valuation’ (where the valuer gives you a lower valuation than expected) is by showing them a poor finish!
Give yourself at least 2 weeks of contingency (ideally 4) to allow time for work to run over and work through your snagging list.
Show Your Property at Its Best
I find it helpful to imagine your valuer as a buyer- let them see the property at its absolute best. Of course, that means the furniture is staged, and the whole place is photo-ready!
Now, if you plan on renting the property out to tenants (rather than a housing association, for example), you’ll most likely be looking to furnish the property regardless. So, again, timing comes into play here. Get that furniture in place before your valuation!
If you aren’t furnishing, I would still recommend you consider staging the property for the valuation and any viewings. If staging isn’t your thing, then at least ensure you have floorplans showing where furniture would be placed. Staging and floorplans demonstrate how people can make the most of the space in your property.
When staging, you should also consider ‘soft staging’. This means all your soft furnishings, artwork, ornaments, and anything that makes a property feel ‘homely’. We offer staging services where investors can rent furniture and soft furnishings- something we always recommend to investors who need help selling or renting their properties. The bonus of renting staging equipment is that you save money and a lot of time- you don’t have to source everything, set it up, and then find a place to store it all once tenants are in situ.
On the Day of the Valuation
If you can be there on the day to meet your valuer, we always recommend you are. That way, you can ask questions directly and build a rapport with the valuer.
If you have a tenant already in the property, you’ll ideally want to arrange for them to be out whilst the valuation takes place. So try and book it around their workdays so that you have the property to yourselves for the valuation.
Prepare a Revaluation Pack
So, your property is finished, snag-checked, furnished, and your valuation day is fast approaching. So, what else do you need? A revaluation pack, of course!
A revaluation pack is your chance to show the valuer everything you have done to get the property from the condition you bought into the finished home you showcase on valuation day. For us, that means showing the changes we’ve made, where we have spent the money, how the property has transformed and the idea of what we expect to achieve and why.
Here is our list of recommendations to include in a revaluation pack:
An Introduction To You
Provide some information about your experience in property investment. Provide a brief ‘property CV’, if you will, and mention any training you may have received.
The Property
Share plenty of information about the property itself, what it was before, and what works have been completed, and keep in mind where you might have added value.
Schedule of Works
Provide a detailed schedule of works with an outline of costs for each line. This shows the valuer what you have done between buying the property and now. It also helps to show the valuer how and why you have been able to add so much value to the property in such a short time.
Before & After
Show both the floorplan transformation and photos of some of the main rooms. But, again, this shows the difference we have made to warrant the uplift in value.
Marketing & Demand
A section about how you will market the property and the demand in your area will give the valuer confidence that it will rent. This is particularly important if you are looking for either a hybrid valuation (bricks and mortar, plus a little extra) or a commercial valuation which relies on the rental figures.
Comparable Properties
Always provide a small number of comparable properties along with your thoughts on what the valuation should be similar to other homes or sometimes why your valuation should be higher (the quality of finish might be different or the size of the property).
Appendix
Always provide an appendix with any documents you feel are relevant. This is a chance to show that your build is to the correct standard, so think about any building control certificates etc.
If your property has been rented out already, you could also provide the redacted tenancy agreements here (ensure you protect your tenant’s data).
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That’s it! Once you have your refinance pack ready, you can either send it via email ahead of the day or have it printed to hand to them on the day. Some like this more than others, but we have found it has proved helpful over the years, so we continue to make them.
