A Flipping Success: Insights from Award-Winning Property Investor Emma Fielding

In today's episode, Athena sits down with Emma Fielding, the 2023 Property Investor of the Year, for an insightful discussion on the ins and outs of flipping properties. 

Emma takes us through the highs and lows of property flipping, while Athena delves deep into Emma's journey, uncovering how she turned an initial investment of £20,000 into flipping 11 projects and generating over six figures in just over three years.  Emma also shares the project specifics that earned her the prestigious award, revealing how she orchestrated a complete turnaround in just over 50 weeks—an incredible achievement. 

To top it off, Emma shares a fascinating story of overcoming a property disaster by flipping the script & revealing how she transformed this setback into a winning formula. 

Tune in and enjoy the episode, and if you find it valuable, don't forget to download and subscribe for more!

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Transcript

0:01

Good morning everyone, happy Monday and welcome to the Girls in Property podcast. Today I am joined by the amazing Emma Fielding. Hi Emma! Hi, so glad to be on here. I'm really excited for this. Yes, I can't wait for everybody to hear you. Like it was such a shame that we couldn't get this recording out last time. Cause I know that you were run well, but it's so great that you're here now. I can't wait for everybody to kind of hear you and hear what you've been up to, which sounds incredible. Like just before we came on this podcast, you were like, I've done this and I've done this and I was like, hold it, hold it. Let's, let's wait for the podcast so that everybody can hear like all the amazing things you've been up to. So before we begin with everything, do you want to do an introduction to yourself? Who is Emma Fielding? What are you currently doing? And what have you got as exciting things to take you forward? Yeah, so hi everyone, I'm Emma Fielding. I'm based in Yorkshire in my hometown of Barnsley. My main strategy is actually flipping houses. So, you know, buying very derelict, unloved houses, turning them into something, you know, amazing for local families and obviously flipping them on for a profit. I've been doing this actually for the last three years officially, where I left the corporate world behind me in January 21. And yeah, everything is moving forward at a incredible rate. I work with investors now. I also mentor people as well. And just most recently, one young property investor of the year as well. So. which is an amazing achievement. Like how many people were you up against for that young property investor? you. Quite a few to be honest. You don't really get to find out the official numbers but at the awards ceremony itself there was like over 700 people there. So there's a lot a lot of people in the mix of everything but in terms of the category I think it was quite a full category. cut screen. well, but it gets whittled down to kind of three of you actually on the awards evening and obviously I was one of the three and then I ended up winning as well. That's incredible and just out of curiosity, the other two people with you, were they male or female? Both actually, yeah, one was female, one was male. So I guess there was more women in that category, which is obviously really, really nice to see as well. Amazing, two to one, fabulous, amazing. Well, I definitely wanna be asking you about that deal. I'm gonna be asking you about that and for you to talk us through it and wanna hear more about it, absolutely. What am I, what am I, oh no, we were, sorry, I've just lost my train of thought there. We were just saying about you introducing yourself. So in terms of your celebrations in that case, do you wanna just talk us through something that you were celebrating in addition to the Young Property Award? Yeah, yeah, actually, just this week, actually, we've had an offer accepted on a flip renovation that I've recently done. So that's actually going to be sold in the next couple of months officially. And more recently in the last week or so, my big, big project of the year, which is a four bed detached farmhouse, we actually had a pre auction offer accepted on it. We're actually very close to completing in the next four weeks with it. So I cannot wait because that project is going to be something really special. Wow and are you doing that sort of on your own or have you got a joint venture partner for it? How's the structure? Yeah, so the structure is I'm actually working with a brand new investor. He's actually a high net worth individual CEO of a company based down in London. I got speaking to him about a year ago now, and then I put this deal forward to him last April time. We actually had the offer accepted in May last year, and obviously now we're going through legals. It's been a hard slog, not on our part, by the way, actually on the vendor's part, because they've had quite a few things to sort out. But we are very close to completing. So he's putting in for the purchase price and all the other expenses, the renovation costs, the stamp, the legal, everything else, that is down to my expense, my costs basically. So yeah, we're actually buying that property at 275. The reserve price was 325. So obviously we've done quite a bit of negotiation on it, but obviously it's because of the condition of the property. And GDB is about 600. Yeah, and just for our listeners, what does GDV stand for? So gross development value. So basically that's your end kind of sale value of that project. Perfect, perfect. I have so much I wanna ask you. Like my goodness, I'm here like thinking to myself, I've got this question and I've got this question. That sounds incredible. Like particularly like a farmhouse as well. That's very unique and that must have like its own challenges, let's say, to it, I imagine. It does, it does. To be fair, the farmhouse route is a new one for me, but I've definitely liked it. Every renovation go up a level, you know, go up a step. I've done kind of extensions, I've done new cosmetic refurb, I've done knocking down walls, all that kind of stuff. But this particular property is actually just over 100 years old. So you can imagine like, you know, the woodworm, you know, beetle infestation, you can imagine the rising dam, you know, it's got no central heating, you know, different roof tiles everywhere. It's going to be a lot of work, but actually putting a lot of love and care and attention into this house. If you thought my other projects had been really good, this one is definitely going to be a different level. It's in a really fantastic, affluent area of Huddersfield as well. So, yeah, it is really exciting. Okay, perfect. I'm coming back to this. I'm not, I'm gonna park this for the moment so that I can do the correct order for the podcast, but I'm coming back to these questions. Perfect. So let me think about something that I am, that I'm celebrating. Well, I'm celebrating that we are now in February. So January for most of us was just so busy, like so, so busy. And I put a recent post up on Instagram, just kind of talking about my wins for January. my challenges, and my lessons. And do you know what? It's really important because it's almost, dare I say, therapeutic because I'm almost holding myself when I do it on Instagram accountable because then I get to see and I get to be like, oh my goodness, look at all my wins in January. Like there was quite a lot. And of course there were... self-reflection process, isn't it? Self-reflection, absolutely. And there were challenges as well. And I think it's really important to be open and honest and say, you know what, January was also a really, really tough month. Like for example, our service accommodations in January, I mean, I'm supposed to be talking about celebrations here, but I'm just saying in general, like the service accommodation world was quite tough in January for most people. It's a really, it's a hard month, really hard month. And you know, we were quite fortunate that in one of our properties, we had a long stay booking until the 30th. It's going to be until the 31st. It was still the 31st of January, but at the same time, the other apartments literally just like broke even. So it's very tricky. It's very difficult. Um, and I think that's really important to, to say. So, um, I guess my celebration is going to be kind of one of reflection, thinking actually how well January went and how much more I've got to now push in February. Like for example, I did my first ever webinar in my live webinar in January, which was terrifying. Have you ever done like a live webinar before? Uh, no, I really haven't. I probably should, but like I've done like Instagram lives and they're like, freak me out a little bit. Do you know what I mean? Like with all the questions coming in and stuff. Uh, but I probably should do like webinars. So I'll definitely come for you to you for some tips. Honestly, I can give you tips. I can, like, so the worst one's always the hardest one, is what I would say, but I spoke for 90 minutes. Like, can you imagine just people looking at you for 90 minutes whilst they're eating their supper because it's 7.30 at night and you're like, oh my God, this is absolutely terrifying. And what was really funny, and I think it's important to mention this, I had quite a few messages from people saying, you know, you're so natural. Like, it's like, you've been doing this for ages. I can't believe you weren't nervous. And I was like, no, all of those. points you have just made are not correct. I was terrified doing that and they came back to me and they said, I'm so glad that you said that to me because it makes me feel so much better to know that you were terrified. So I'm just telling you, I was terrified to do that webinar. You know what, I definitely would be terrified as well doing that. Yeah, but also it's such an exhilarating thing to do where you have a fear and you overcome it because Now now that i've done my first one I know that I can do so much better for the next one that I do which I will be hosting at the end Of february because so many people have asked me about it So apologies for the long-winded answer on this one guys But my win for before I think january and what i'm celebrating is the fact that I had a fear overcame it Had some great wins in january and looking forward to february and taking that forward. So Thank you a top win to be honest. I got there in the end, apologies. So Emma, what I'd like to do is just to let you know, we have different types of listeners for the Girls and Property podcast. We have some listeners who have been in the property world for like quite a long period of time. They know everything that's going on, but they love tuning in to kind of hearing about what everybody's doing. But then we also have a different type of listener who is also trying to look to get into property. And so might not understand certain terminology that we use on a day-to-day basis and that type of thing. So just... so that we all get on the same page. Do you mind kind of just explaining about flipping, what it is, how it works, and maybe talk about like the type of flip projects that you work on and we can kind of take it from there. Yeah, so it's kind of flipped really is that you buy something that is, you know, very derelict, it's very run down, you know, it's very old, it's very dated, you know, you're kind of essentially looking at the worst houses on a particular street, basically. With that, you'll then want to add value. How you add value is actually through a renovation. And that renovation can consist of many things, if it's just a simple cosmetic refurb, you know, ripping out a kitchen, putting in a new kitchen, bathroom, et cetera. Or it could be, you know, a bit more kind of structural, knocking down some walls, changing the internal floor plan. Or from that, it could be, you know, doing extensions, adding to the square footage. And then obviously when you've kind of done your renovation, it's actually about... putting that house back on the market, ideally as quick as possible really, because what you want to be doing with the flip, you wanna be in and out of the deal as quickly as possible basically, because it's all about turning over your cash or your investors cash as quickly as possible, so then they can get a return on their money or you can then go again and buy another flip. But actually what is really great about flips is that, you know, essentially you can do a flip, you can buy a property, renovate it, and sell it within six months. And then from there, you can then buy another one and you can obviously grow your pot of cash. Now, when I started in property, I only actually had 20,000 pounds, which obviously isn't a lot of money at all. But the more times you do flips, the bigger pot your pot becomes basically. And then from there, where I'm at now, you know, I'm- just over 10 flips, I think I'm at 11 now, and I'm going to push this goal to 15. When I get to 15 flips, I'm then going to go into another avenue of property, you know, that might be HMOs, it might be commercial to Rezzy, or it might be land and new builds. So really for me, when I was starting out with property, it was all about growing my initial pot to basically ended up giving me more opportunities and more kind of, you know, chances to really have a good go at property. So that is why I chose flipping over your standard vitalettes or hatred, and anything like that. Do you know what, I love that. And a couple of points I love about what you just made. The first point I love is that you chose a strategy that worked for you. So you're saying you've done now 11 flips. So you're like, look, I concentrated specifically on flipping. So just to double check. So you talked about the fact you might move on to kind of HMOs and SA and commercial to resi. So at the moment, is it kind of your standard residential three, four bed houses by Tollettes? Yes, so I deal with anything from kind of a one bed terrace, turning it into a two bed terrace or three bed semi, you know, changing that around, or kind of a detached bungalow that's a two bed, turn it to a four bed. So there's a whole mix of kind of flips that I do from your very simple cosmetic refurbs to your more intensive, you know. adding 55 square metre extensions onto a bungalow. So there's a whole mix of kind of development there, but essentially what you're kind of doing is obviously increasing the value so much in a property to end up selling it on for a profit. Love it. Fabulous. So as I said, what I love about what you've just said is the fact that you focused on that strategy and therefore you went and you developed that and you learned. You didn't kind of go, oh, I'm gonna do a flip and then I'm gonna do a commercial to Rezi and then I'm gonna go and do, I don't know, like a rent to rent and then I'm gonna go and do this. You kind of picked your focus and you stayed with that focus and you didn't get like shiny penny syndrome in all sorts of directions. You learned, you grew, you learned, you grew. And I really love that. I love the fact that you focused. and narrowed almost like a tunnel vision. And you kind of just went for that. And I, yeah, absolutely. And I love the fact that I've got no doubt that along the way, I mean, in terms of like how you got into it, okay, so you said you had 20,000 pounds when you first started. So talk to us about the beginning. Like if we go back to the beginning, how is it that you went from 20,000 pounds to now having 11 flips? What did you do with your 20,000? So for me, kind of even before I had the 20,000 pound, I kind of got started in a kind of a family home that my dad inherited basically up in the Northeast. So that house basically enabled me to actually try a renovation myself. You know what I mean? Like in terms of like ripping off wallpaper, ripping off tiles, managing trades. And I did that renovation in six weeks while I was working full time. and I had £10,000 from my dad and I added 30 grams worth of equity. So for me, that was a light bulb moment. And I thought, actually at that point, that was in 2018. I thought, actually at some point, I'm gonna get into property in my lifetime, right? When that was gonna happen, I didn't particularly know. However, I then got a corporate job at Morrison's training to be a financial accountant, which was obviously really good, really exciting. And obviously with that, with the cop job, you can save up money and I was already saving. So that's what initially gave me the 20,000 pound. From there, I then actually ended up buying my first home that was actually my home that I lived in. So it was my first residential property. And with that, I bought it on a mortgage, you know, 10,000 pound was the deposit and then 10 grand was for the refurb. So I bought that at 96 and a half grand. did a refurb for 10 grand and I sold it for 143 grand in nine months just after the first lockdown of COVID. So house prices went quite high, so that was great. And that was just literally a three bed terrace house in Barnsley, in the heart of Barnsley. bought off market but anyway that's a different story but from there that actually enabled me again to grow my capital pot to about I think it was about 60,000 at that particular point so I then bought a bigger house on a better street in a better area of Barnsley and I put all that money into this house and again did the same thing to do. Did a refurb this time I knocked down a couple of walls I made it kind of a bit more family-friendly because that was a three beds Semi house and I then ended up selling that within six months again. It was so my house So it's so on a mortgage and I ended up doing that And yeah, I sold that within six months and again, I made similar amount of profit to be honest So I think the first house made about 36,000 pound My second house, I made about 33,000 pound. So at that point there, I was at a crossroads, so to speak. So like I've done three renovations, I've sold two of them. I've loved it, I've enjoyed it, buried in mind I've worked full time. I've managed all the trades as well. And I thought, actually, I need to get into this more. So I was actually at cross points in my career as well, thinking I don't wanna... you know, be in the corporate world anymore. I don't enjoy it. Three hours traveling a day, it wasn't my thing. So I actually left the corporate world. Luckily, you know, I had a six figure equity, you know, out of the two houses that I kind of flipped. So that six figure sum, I think it was about 107,000 at the time that I came out with. That basically was my cash pot to then take and basically use against with other flips. So my third house, I bought that cash that was in a really bad area of violence. It was a one bed cottage for like 52 grand. I ended up selling it for about 96 grand, something like that. But again, I still made more money than my corporate job wage. And again, in six months. So it seemed a no brainer. And then it was house number four. I then started working with investors. And then ever since I've worked with investors. So in terms of how I structure it with them is that they'll put in for the purchase price and then I'll fund the refurb, the stamp, the legals and all the other costs. So that's basically how I've scaled to where I am now. So that's fantastic. I really love that. And I love listening to your journey actually as to where you started. So some things I'd really like to just point out and pick up what you just said. A couple of things. Number one is you actually had a full-time corporate job whilst you were getting into property, which I think is a really important thing to know. I speak to people who say to me, oh, it's very difficult for me about getting into the property world because I have a full-time job. So I don't have a lot of time. You've literally just proven the fact that you can do it if you have a full-time job. You literally did this. I was traveling three hours to, so I'm based in Barnsley. I was traveling to Bradford every day as well. So it's about three hour drive every day. I was doing property. Ha ha. in addition to your full-time job, you also were driving to and from Brunsley as well. Right. Well, there you go. So if you can do it, anyone can do it. Like that's fantastic. The other thing I love that you mentioned was the fact that, so you started with this pot of cash. However, the first person who ever actually invested in you and technically was an investor and was your investor was actually your dad. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, it is absolutely it is. And I think what's so important to mention is the fact that I speak to a lot of people and they say, Oh, well, I can't get an investor, because I don't have any experience and I can't get an investor because nobody will invest in me. And I'm like, well, have you spoken to your friends and family? Have you spoken to people who actually know you like you and trust you? Because it'd be so much easier than trying to go and speak to a stranger. And they're like, Oh, no, I don't feel comfortable going to talk to my family and friends about money. And I'm like, but you're doing them. you got to see it as you're actually doing them a favor. You're bringing them an opportunity. You're bringing them a deal to make money. That's a good thing. And sometimes again, we come back to this idea of mindset of actually starting and getting into it and growing. So I just wanted to point out those two points, which I thought was so fantastic. The fact that you started actually with, you know, creative ways of funding the projects and you didn't go straight in at the deep end. You started small, which is so important. I sometimes see people running. got to stress when it's your first kind of three, maybe four, you know developments You've got to play safe, you know stick to an area, you know stick to a property that you know Well, you know do a little as possible to make maximum money And that's what I was doing on my first kind of four five really Yeah, so fascinating. And do you know the other thing just to mention also is because this is quite a recent conversation I had with somebody and I just wanna get your opinion about this. So we're down in the South. So I live down in the South as it were and of course you're up in the North. And what's really funny is a lot of people will say things such as, oh, well flips tend to work better in the South. The bi-refurbished rent refinance strategy is more Midlands and North. And of course your rental yields are higher in the North as it were. You've just flipped that on its head to say, well, I'm flipping. I'm flipping in the north. Yeah, in probably what people will call, you know, quite a deprived area, but actually Barnsley is not a deprived area. Yes, yes, it's an ex-mining town, but actually when you look at the details of Barnsley, you know, house prices are lower than the international average, but the only one way they're going to go is up, and in the last couple of years, they've gone up. So, yeah. it's fascinating. And something that you just said I'd really like to pick up on, which is you just said, look, the best thing to do when you're starting out is to invest in your area, know your area. So somebody messaged me the other day on Instagram, and they said, Hi, I've been speaking to somebody and they told me that the south is effectively dead and you can't invest in the south, which first of all, is a load of bollocks. But we'll come back to that. And then they said to me, so I'm thinking about going up north to invest now because they've told me to go up north to invest. And I straight away was like, stop what you're doing. Hold up, like, listen to me. And so it's really important, which is what you've just said, and I want to reiterate it please, is to invest in what you know, invest in your area. It's the best investment you can make. And I've always said, if you know your area and you buy at the right price, you can make a deal. Any deal, you can make it work. The saying that I always go with when I'm looking at any deal is that you make your money when you buy, not when you sell. As long as you get that purchase price right, and obviously it's got to be under market value, or you're gonna be adding significant value to the actual property to force that value to go up. You make your money when you buy, not when you sell. Love that. And actually, you've just led me on to another question, actually, if that's okay, which is when you're flipping properties, for example, and you're thinking about the end valuation, what I'd really like you to touch on is things such as, in your opinion, what adds the most value to properties? So in your opinion, what do you think is the best way to make the most money from a flip? Yeah, so for me, you know, my kind of bread and butter as a flipping business is your three bed semis because you know, you've got that demand, you know, families want them first time buyers attract them second time home owners want to be, you know, in them as well. They're going up the property ladder. So for me, it's about making those three bed semis, you know, as gorgeous and as friendly as possible as in user friendly as in, you know, knocking down a couple of walls to make an open or putting patio doors on, you know, you're creating a home that people want to be in for the next five to 10 years. So, you know, if you have obviously, or if you see, you know, a very derelict three bed semi, you know, putting new windows in, putting a brand new central heating system in, you know, brand new kitchen, brand new bathroom. I mean, you go in luxury, you go in high spec, all my renovations are high spec. You know, for me, I love to use color, I use the stage, the properties as well. So, you know, it's not like you're creating a home that's got white walls, gray carpets, because that's only gonna achieve a certain amount of, you know, selling price basically. But my renovations, they go above that kind of ceiling price on the street because of the spec, because of the standard. because of actually what we've done to the property. And also as well, I think it's really important to say, whatever work you are getting done in terms of having a boiler, brand new electrics, or knocking down internal walls, having that work signed off by the local council or having the relevant certificates is equally as important, if not more important, because when you come to sell that property on, obviously all that documentation backs up. valuation to a surveyor and to the estate agents and obviously getting it through legals as well. So you know it's quite it's quite a long process really you know when you're kind of looking at a flip and actually how much do you add value well in essentially it's the work itself whatever that work may be but again that's very dependent on the property itself but For me, three bed semis are the bread and butter of a business and turning them into something incredibly luxury in terms of, you know, it just attracts the right buyer. Yeah, love that. And I love the fact you mentioned paperwork as well, because I think a lot of people almost skipped that bit. And you're right, that bit's very important. yeah. And to be honest, I've purchased quite a few properties that have got re-extensions, but they've not got the building regs. So we've gone in for respective building regs. Now that is a great, great element there to actually be able to renegotiate on a purchase price, you know, because they haven't got the right documentation. And I've done that many times and it works really well. So again, you know, going back to that previous comment that I made, you make your money when you buy, you know, not when you sell. So, you know, every property has issues with it to whatever extent and it's about you finding those issues out and actually playing them to your advantage. Now, you know, if you're getting stuff signed off by the council or you're doing work to rectify, you know, somebody work that they've done previously, that all goes in your advantage when you're kind of negotiating on a potential purchase. Yeah, I think that's amazing. And I hope you don't mind me adding just a couple that I sort of found out about. So I was speaking to some value as recently about a couple of projects that I'm looking at. And, you know, they were talking about things such as, you know, if there's already a bath in the property, you know, don't take that bath out and put like a shower in, keep the bath, because then you're going to attract more families. And they were saying about the fact that also in regards to building on suites into the bedrooms, that adds the value. And of course, extensions, you know, building up into loft and building out. Whereas I've seen people, for example, who have done flip projects and spent so much money and I've literally seen this happen on the kitchens or lounges. And it's more cosmetic than I would say, like functional. And as a result of that, they might have spent, let's just use an example here. And it's a random example. It's not a true example, but ten thousand pounds on a kitchen. But then it only added like what, three grand, four grand to the valuation. And they're like, yeah, but I spent 10 on it. And it's like, yeah, but you don't understand. What you spend on the property does not equal what it goes up in value. And that's what a lot of people don't, they don't understand the correlation of you've got to spend the money where the value is gonna value it. Because it's the value at the end of the day who is going to give you that valuation as it were, whether it's a by refurbished rent for finance or a flip, it's the same thing. So that's important to know. you know, when you're kind of planning out your refurb, it's really, really important to actually look at the sole comparables, you know, that's on that street in a quarter of a mile, maximum half a mile really ideally. You know, what has sold, what is like for like, I mean, you know, you're comparing apples with apples, not apples and potatoes, for example. And for me, I don't really tend to put on tweets in, a three bed semi, because the sole comparables haven't got that. So it would be a bit odd if I did that. However, where I can maximize more value is actually the overall look of the property. Taking out the single wood windows, adding new PVC windows, 10 year warranty on a boiler, all that kind of stuff really, really adds up. So I think you've got to kind of look at the competition as well. But actually sometimes you don't need to go to the full extent of, you know, adding a loft conversion or adding an extension because ultimately what you want to do, you want to be getting out of that deal quite quickly, you know, and obviously a renovation can take time if you're doing more heavy, you know, manual stuff as in, you know, loft conversions or extensions, it's going to take more time. So sometimes, you know, just doing a simple refurb is enough. The really, really important thing there is that you've got to buy it at the right price to be able to have that margin. Yeah, you make an excellent point there, which is it depends on kind of what it is you're buying. And you're right in saying about the competition and well, what is the competition doing? And how do you be that little bit extra? Absolutely. I think I was thinking more about my HTML conversions with the loft extension and things as opposed to the three bed semis, but absolutely. And it's all about that. And can you think about like any, like people ask me all the time about utilizing like data analysis and tools online and the best ones to use. Like I'm thinking about net price search, obviously. you know, look at what houses are selling for and sold for in the area. Can you think of any others that might help? So for me, like I'm probably a bit of an oddball here. I actually don't use any of that. So, you know, for me personally, I focus on kind of two or three postcards in my particular area, right? And I know what each and every house has sold for within the last five years. And that's me just having a brain that it doesn't switch off. but also speaking with agents, seeing what house comes on the market, et cetera, and checking that data. I don't necessarily go to the full extent. That's only because I know what type of houses they actually are. So I've kind of already got that research. However, if you're investing in a very new area, then all them data platforms are very much relevant. But for me, just because obviously I've grown up in the area, I know it like the back of my hand. I don't necessarily do that, but maybe I should. No, I think that's a fantastic answer. And again, we come back to the same point, which is invest in your area and invest in what you know, because you cannot go wrong. Please, if you're in the South, please don't be listening to people telling you to invest in the North. Like just invest in your area. to our area, you know, you really, really come. Yeah, absolutely. So going back to what you were celebrating originally, you being sort of awarded the young property investor of is it the year young property investor? Yeah. That's massive. That's incredible. I salute you like amazing. Would you want to talk us through kind of why you won that and the deal that won it for you? Yeah, yeah. So actually, at the time, it was from my biggest deal to date. And that was actually a two bed detached bungalow on what local people would call the street as millionaires row. So this particular street, a lot of houses, the been very old, they're outdated, a lot of people have come in, knocked them down and they've built mansions on them, so hence why the street has got that kind of name and reputation. So actually with that is a really good thing because actually, you know, the ceiling price of the street increases a heck of a lot compared to the other local streets. But anyway, so the two bed detached bungalow was very dated, probably not been touched in about 60 years. And we ended up actually, well, it went on the market for 280. We ended up securing the property for two, six, four and a half. We were actually cash buyers, no chain as well at that particular time. And I actually worked with an existing investor that actually put into house flip number four. And I think this time it was house flip number seven. So I'd obviously got a really, really good relationship with them and things. So they put in 250,000 for the purchase price. I then made up the extra. And then the stamp duty was about 11,000 pound. And then obviously legal estate agent costs. The refurb itself, that was 120,000 pound renovation. So the biggest renovation I've done to date. I actually self-managed that renovation and we actually ended up turning the property from a two bed. one bathroom, 85 square meters bungalow to a four bed, three bathroom, 140 square meter bungalow. And it was basically a full wraparound extension of the actual bungalow. And it turned into something. what I would call, you know, a very high end spec. You know, we're talking bifolds, we're talking roof lanterns, you know, a handless kitchen, quartz work tops, you know, LTV flooring, it was wow, to be quite honest. So basically that renovation took eight months. I worked with a local team of young builders. They were fantastic. And then after they got the shell up of the extension, I then worked with my existing team of trades and I managed them right until the end of when we finished the renovation. And we ended up selling that bungalow for 4.95. And I think the thing that I'm probably most proud about is actually, I actually said to my investors, now I only take my investors' money for 12 months. and we actually ended up buying, refurbishing and selling that property within 51 weeks. So you know a big project like that is possible in that time frame. Do you know, that is incredible. No wonder you won the award. Like that is fantastic. And just thinking about that, I'm trying to think about being in your shoes. And the trick I think that you need in that situation is you need the best power team. The power team is the secret weapon in that. Yeah, yeah, I think, you know, I got quite lucky with my builders. They actually came through a recommendation of my plumber because they had already worked together on quite a few projects. But actually the builder itself, it was his biggest project to date. He was, you know, a similar race to me, I think a couple of years older. You know, he really wanted to get into kind of the bigger stuff. So I said, OK, well, this is your chance. you know, at the end of the day, you know, we've got the planning, planning was already granted before we purchased the property, which is obviously, you know, a big advantage. And, um, and I said, look, you know, I need this extension being built. You know, I've got some strict timelines. You know, the plan would be that you build a shell. We get it to that certain point. Um, and then I take it over and, you know, put my stamp on it, which is obviously the interiors and, you know, me managing that team of, of my, you know, individual trades. which is probably no different to a three bed semi, to be honest. It's just on a bit of a bigger scale. But luckily when you work with really good trays, get your vision, that understand where you're going. And also at that time when I was doing that particular project, I actually was managing two other flips as well. So I was managing three flips. So, you know, I was literally moving the trades from house to house to house and staggering them, which obviously worked really well for them because obviously they're getting a lot more work, obviously they're getting paid on time as well. So, you know, I definitely got the best out of my team. And I think actually what made the kind of the renovation successful is that I would always treat the lads kind of on a Friday, you know, it would always be fish and chips or it would always be cakes and cookies or, you know, beers on a Friday. So I kept the motivation and the morale really high throughout that renovation because I knew that, you know, it's a big renovation tackling that. And we had our challenges. Don't get me wrong in the renovation. You always do. But again, you know, to keep that morale high, you know, it got me the best outcome. Definitely invest in fish and chips. Absolutely. Yeah, you know what my one is? I always do, as long as I check they're not vegetarian, I always do bacon, butties for my guys. I'm like, who fancies a bacon, butty and like a coffee or a cup of tea? And they're like, oh yeah, definitely. I'm like, that's my secret weapon. So yeah, keep your trades sweet, keep them on side, pay, you know, within reason, pay them on time and things like that. But they are sort of the... a power team is crucial to a project such as this. And actually you answered one of my questions, which was going to be in regards to planning for that, the planning was already granted then on that property. Yeah. Yeah. So obviously, you know, statutory planning takes about eight weeks. The offer was actually kind of subject to contract, but I was really confident that we were going to get the planning. We weren't going in for something crazy. They're bearing in mind this street, they've built mega mansions on it. So, you know, something like a wraparound extension. Majority of it was actually in PD. There was only very, very small part of the actual extension that needed for planning because it didn't fall under PD. But ultimately it got passed, I think within, I think initially six weeks, we just had to change the position of the actual roof at the front. But overall it got passed within eight weeks, which was really great to be honest, because obviously you kind of, you were some nightmare is waiting on planning and luckily everything fell in the right time frame really. fantastic. It sounds like an amazing, amazing project. You know, and I'm sure people on will be able to see the project also on social media. Yeah, I've seen it. Yeah. I mean, it's beautiful. It's gorgeous. Absolutely. And so for our listeners who are out there at the moment, can you give them any advice in regards to let's say that they wanted to, to get into flipping like they're like, this is my strategy, I want to get into flipping how you know, are there any kind of things that you wish you would have known when you were starting out? or any mistakes that you made on the first one or things that you then, lessons that you took to the next one, what advice would you give for people starting out? Yeah, I think my main advice, like even before I got into kind of property, I was doing a lot of research really, you know, and that research contained a lot of YouTube videos of different developers, different investors. Um, you know, I went to kind of one day course as well, which actually wasn't that great at the time. Um, but you know, I surrounded myself probably with the right people or I was in the right environment, um, and things, but actually what I think really, really helped me. is that I had a clear vision. Now I think, you know, when you get into property, you necessarily don't know what avenue to go down, but I nailed to actually flipping was the one for me because I wanted to grow my cashbox significantly over the next couple of years. So I had that tunnel vision, you know, of flipping 10 houses. And obviously that's obviously where I'm at now. And it pays off really, really well, I think just to have that clear. you know, focus and that clear vision. So it's about understanding what do you want to get out of property? What are your goals and how do you want to go about achieving that? And actually with that, what are the other mini, you know, goals you've got to, you know, achieve as in raising investors or, you know, where to find your houses or, you know, what contacts in terms of agents, you know, have you got to get? Um, so, you know, for me, it's about setting that goal really early. that I think will push you forward in more ways than one. And I think, you know, when you've got an opportunity or, you know, when you think you're ready, go out and do it. Don't wait about, don't faff about, just literally go out and put everything in motion. And that's what I did. And three and a bit years later, to be honest, I haven't looked back. Yeah, I love that. And what a great, what a great lessons teach everyone, which is, you know, the hardest part is always starting and you will make mistakes. It's okay to make mistakes, but just learn from those mistakes and kind of push forward. And the other thing that I loved was the fact that you said, like, for example, on, on when I've, I've done solo episodes on this podcast before, and I talk a lot about letting the strategy choose you. And I talk about a 70, 20, 10 split and your, your strategy clearly is that you want lump sums. Mm-hmm. I love is you're out there promoting the fact that you don't have to leave your full-time corporate job. If you've got a great full-time corporate job, it's not about trying to leave that job, it's about, well, how can I buffer my income? I talk all the time about diversifying your income, you know, staying your job, get what you need from that and carry on with that, but then go and get yourself some lump sums, which is exactly what you did with the flip. So that's your main strategy. And everyone, it's got to be right for everyone. And I love what you said about creating a clear action plan. Whereas otherwise you end up just flapping around all over the place, don't you? Yeah, yeah. And I think like for me personally, like I get a lot of messages, you know, from people that how do I get started? Well, you know, your number one is like, actually, what do you want to get out of property? Like, you've got to ask those questions to yourself to then to be able to know which strategy to go down, because obviously there are so many strategies out there. And, you know, it's about tailoring what you want out of property to the. you know, strategy that you want to do. And I knew, I just wanted to grow my cash pot and I knew Barnsley was a great area to do that. You know, I was already looking at soul comparables. I was already thinking, you know, oh, I can't believe that house has gone for that. Oh, why has it gone for that? Oh, because, oh, it's got an en suite or because, you know, it's got an extension on the kitchen or because it's a great spec or it's in a, you know, a better street than the one behind it, for example. So I was already doing a lot of that kind of research and information, but... That research and information really said to me, okay, flipping is the one for me, because at the end of the day, bearing in mind before I even got into property, I didn't know anything about houses really, to be honest. I didn't even know how to change a light bulb. Obviously I know now, but that's how basic my knowledge was. And I also thought actually flipping is really good because I can understand a process of a renovation. Now, I know that process. I managed. you know, the refurb from literally start to finish. So, you know, for me, knowing that refurb process, it doesn't go much different if you add in the mix of HMOs or if you add in vital S or if you add in new build developments. So for me, understanding that kind of renovation process and streamlining that as much as possible, again, was another reason why I wanted to get into flipping before I did the more complicated stuff. you know, with HMOs commercial or, you know, land and new builds. Love it. You're walking before you're running, which is perfect. I love that. And I think also because the trays that I work with, they know that I've obviously, you know, managed refurbished, you know, I've got hands on, I've knocked down walls, you know, I can now, you know, replumb a house if I really have to, you know, so I've done parts of the renovation and obviously managed all that renovation. So actually you get great, much more respect. with a trade team or with a main contractor, then if you did, if you hadn't have done that first. Yeah, fantastic tips. Like that is such good advice for flipping. I think that that's brilliant. And I love the journey and I love what you've kind of gone on. Another thing that I think is really important to mention on this podcast, because it's all about kind of keeping it real and making sure that everybody knows about kind of what life can entail as well. Of course, I tried to get you on this podcast as well, like a couple of, I think it was last week or the week before, is it? And of course you run well. Yeah. Yeah, I would. Yeah. And what I really wanted to talk to you about also was, obviously you're doing fantastic, like you're so successful, like, as I said, I salute you, like, it's amazing. I also want to be really kind of have a conversation with you about that work-life balance aspect and being unwell and what that was like for you kind of taking you out of action and any kind of thoughts you had about that regarding sort of yeah. So I think for me, you know, my first kind of probably six flips, I again, I was very, very tunnel vision. So I wouldn't really see my friends. I wouldn't really go to the gym. I was like all on property. And I mean, I was laser focused. Now at times you've got to be like that, you know, to get them few steps ahead. However, you know, when you have kind of that momentum, and when I was actually ill, like a couple of weeks ago, I thought, actually, I need to take some time off. Like, you've really got to prioritise your health in property, because if you don't have that, like, what else do you have? Yeah, you might have a couple hundred grand in the bank or whatever. But regardless of that, you know, your health is the most important and actually understanding that actually, you know, I need to take a couple of days off because I'm not great and, you know, I'm not going to be great around either, you know, on the mix of a renovation. So, you know, actually just taking that time off, just prioritizing yourself, you know, you know, go for a nice walk or go for a coffee, you know, I really enjoy the simple things in life, you know, going to my favorite coffee shop, you know, taking my dog for a walk. spending time with my partner and things. And in those early days, I didn't really do any of that. And I kind of regret not doing those things. But then I always think like, what if, what if I did those things? Would I be where I am now? Probably, yeah, but it might've took me a little bit longer. But I think now, I look back and I think, yeah, I need to prioritize me a little bit more. I need to kind of put me first and things. So that's really what I'm prioritizing this year. So. and I think that's a fantastic goal to have, which is to prioritize yourself. And don't get us wrong, I'm also the same as you. I'm very much tunnel visioned. And actually another thing I thought I'm celebrating is, which is a massive deal for me, like I said, it's the little wins. And this is not, as people know, this is not like a common thing that I do. Yesterday was Monday, Monday morning, so we're recording this on Tuesday, the week before. And I actually went for breakfast on a Monday morning with my partner and took- like from 10am, from 9am until 11am, I just was with him, just nowhere, just with him. That's massive for me. That is massive because Monday morning is my most crazy time. The podcast gets launched, all my messages come through. Like don't get me wrong, I had slight anxiety as I was eating my bacon and sausages. But at the same time, like, you know, just one day at a time, isn't it? It's like, you know. yeah. And I think for me, like, you know, every morning I wake up, you know, I write down in my notes, in my phone, okay, what do I need to do today? You know, what do I need to achieve? Who do I need to email? Who do I need to, you know, get hold of and this, that and the other? And I think that really helps because actually that gives a lot of satisfaction to me when I've actually done it, when I look back on the day, oh, I've done this, I've done that, yeah, I've ticked that off, blah, blah. I very much like, I like, you know, the ticks. I like to take it off my phone as I've done it. So, you know, I think it's about understanding actually what makes you happy. And for me, you know, after I've done something, ticking that off or, you know, taking that off my phone as something that I don't have to do is really, really good. And I think, yeah, that can be quite healthy. to be honest. I love a tick list. I am here for a tick list. So just to finish off this podcast, Emma, what I'd love to do is also, which is one of our, well, majority of our viewers' favorite bit, which is the juicy bit. It's sort of a property disaster, property mishap, you might've experienced within your world of flipping and property life. So do you have one for us? Yeah, so you know what, when you actually were speaking about this, I was trying quite hard to think about it, you know, quite a good one. But anyway, I sort of thought about one. So I was, I had an offer accepted on a property. And actually, at first, I think this must have been renovation number kind of seven or eight, something like that. And it was only a two bed terrace, but it was quite run down, you know, no central heating, etc. Um, and actually, you know, I think the, I think it went up for 85 grand and I had the offer accepted at 82 something or whatever. So I actually thought, okay, I'm just gonna, you know, so, you know, put my money in. I don't need an investor for this one. So I'm just going to all do it myself. And then I had another project that was actually about to complete. So all that money that I was initially waiting and, you know, holding back for this other project, I then had to put in a new project. So what I had to then find, I had to find a investor for the original house, the 82 grand house. But actually the issue with that house is that we didn't know when probate was actually gonna be granted. Now probate, obviously you don't know when that's gonna be granted. But I said to this investor, look, you know, it's been going on for about six months now. I'm hoping it's not gonna be long, this, that, the other, you know, and hopefully it'll be fine. So the investor was like, okay, that's fine. You know, let's just sit tight anyway. We were sitting tight, sitting tight. And I think, you know, it was another six months till this house actually completed. And by that time, the investor actually said, look Emma, you know, I can put my money elsewhere with other, you know, investments. You know, I can get a greater, biggest lump of interest and stuff. So I was like, okay, no problem. But really, you know, it was a really difficult situation because not only was I in the midst of two other renovations at that particular point, I had this house, this 82 grand house that I'd been waiting on for about 12 months actually in the end, you know, that initially I was gonna fund, then actually I put the money elsewhere, so I had to get that investor on board. Bearing in mind, this investor was, you know, quite a big deal, you know, he was a high net worth individual, ex-CEO of a massive supermarket chain. So I was like, I really don't want to let him down. And actually he ended up actually walking away from the deal, which I don't actually blame him to be honest. I really, really don't. And actually we spoke about it since and I'll probably do some work with him at some point. But it was just the wrong deal for that wrong investor at the wrong time. And it was really, really frustrating. And I remember when I got the email from him and I was absolutely gutted. I mean, I was so, so gutted. But actually how I recovered from that. is that luckily, you know, I actually said to an existing investor, because he was a new investor at the time, you look, I've got this project, I need 82 and a half grand, can you put it in? Yeah. They were like, you know, they didn't hesitate. So luckily, it all worked out fine. And then I ended up doing a great refurb. It's sold well to first time buyers and it threw through Legals. And again, I sold that within five and a half months of actually purchasing it from renovation to selling. So really the back end of it, the my bit worked really, really well. But the before bit when we were still in legal so we didn't know when pro bit was gonna obviously be granted, obviously you need pro bit to be granted before you can actually complete on a purchase. That was a really difficult time, but it is what it is. So it was, it was. when you got the other Renaults going on as well. Absolutely. But what's great in that is that, you know, okay, you're allowed to be, you know, we're human beings, we're allowed to be sad in the moment and to think, Oh, do you know what, I can't believe I just lost that and to have that disappointment. But what you didn't do was you didn't let that eat, like eat you alive and kind of therefore not take it forward. You went, okay, I'm going to have this moment to be sad. I'm going to have this moment to understand that this is disappointing. it was about two hours. That's alright, you know what, that's not bad. I'd have given you a day, I'd have said you're allowed a day. But then you've got to put yourself back up again and say, okay, well what's next? absolutely. But I think the most important bit here is actually existing relationships paid off well because, you know, and actually the new investor wanted a really high amount of interest and he wanted PG as well. And I wasn't really prepared to give it, but I thought actually just get him on board, I'll go for it. But actually my existing investor was actually less interest and everything. And obviously it's straight through legal. So it was really good, really. and you know what you just actually made a fantastic point which I think is a great way to end this podcast which is the relationships build your relationships you might not need those relationships today but you might need those relationships in a couple of months a couple of weeks you just never ever know so keep them build them and keep going forward so actually was a property disaster that turned out alright Yeah, it was actually not bad to be honest really. But just in that moment, it was pretty stressful. Ha ha ha. Yeah, exactly. And I completely hear that. So in terms of what you're doing at the moment, I know you mentioned that people message you in regards to wanting to learn more about flipping and mentoring and that type of thing. So if you want just tell people where they can find you and how they can kind of work with you going forward as well. Yeah, absolutely. So mainly Instagram. So it's just Emma property developments on Instagram and it's same on LinkedIn and Facebook as well. Or you can find me direct just Emma Fielding. Yeah, perfect. Lovely. And I'm Athena Dobson, underscore official. We are girls in property on Instagram girls in property pod at gmail.com. And of course, if you haven't got tickets already to the girls and property retreat, there are now only 11 tickets left. We're down to 11 tickets. So, which is really, really exciting. And that's going to be on Friday, 19th of April. So if you do want to come, you haven't grabbed yours yet, then make sure you do because we're soon going to go into single digits on that one. But yeah. Thank you Emma so much for joining me today. I've loved it and learning all about flips and learning about how you got into it and just something different, which I think is so important as well. So thank you so much for your time and I hope the listeners really enjoyed it and we'll speak to you guys soon. Thank you, bye.