What This Project Is About
We’ve just invested in a 2-bed mid-terrace in a great area.
The goal?
👉A full back-to-brick refurb and a successful BRRR exit — aiming to pull out as much capital as possible.
To make that happen, three things need to align:
- A tight, realistic refurb budget
- A reliable timeline
- Strong comparable sold prices (comps)
Getting the refurb wrong can kill your profit, delay your refinance, or stop you from pulling your money back out.
High-Level Refurb Timeline (Phases)
We have done lots of these back-to-brick refurbishments and every one becomes more efficient than the last. On every one though there are obstacles we overcome and lessons we learn – that’s all part of the game. If it was easy everybody would do it
From experience we knew it would take approx 10 weeks (it wasn’t just a new kitchen and new bathroom and paint refurb, this was a detailed project)
Heres a brief breakdown of each week:
- Week 1–2: Strip Out & Prep
- Rubbish removal (3 skips) – don’t underestimate how much it is to empty a house with furniture
- Rip-out of kitchen, bathroom, woodwork, etc – this was another large skip
- Week 3–5: Core Works
- First fix electrics – deciding where new sockets where going
- First fix plumbing – decideing where new radiators where going
- Structural changes – stud walls up to separate the bathroom from the main bedroom (it was all one room). We also had to create a false ceilingupstairs because the ceilings had sagged 4-5 inches
- Ordering kitchen and woodwork
💡 Want help managing your own BRRR refurb?
Apply for mentorship here — learn from someone who’s actively doing deals:
👉 https://dervishdervish.com/property-business-education/
- Week 6-9: Second Fix & Making Good
- Plastering – this delayed the job because the plasterer we always use wasn’t available so we had to wait an extra 10 days which slowed things down
- Knocking through wall for new bathroom window
- Kitchen and bathroom fitting started
- Week 10-11: Finishes & Staging
- Decorating, flooring, final clean, staging (if applicable)
- We were struggling to get a decent roofer so the chimney was taken down later than we would like.
- We did not stage this property because we believed based on recent sold prices and the standard of our finish we should achieve our £140k goal
Key Decisions We Had To Make
Back To Brick; We decided to go back to brick because the property was in an unkept state. It had home made electrics and no GCH so we wanted to do a deep refurbishment
Bathroom; There was no bathroom when we purchased the property so we had to build new stud walls and create a separate bathroom including new window – this will really add the value
Chimney Breast; We decided to remove the chimney because when we can and the budget allows this is best practice. The photos of the chimney showed the pointing to be non-existent so it was best to just drop itt
The project was delayed by approx 3 weeks because our plasterer wasn’t available and then our valued carpenter was in hospital. These things happen which is why you always need to have a contingency in your budget cost and time frame
🚧 Lessons from the ground matter.
You don’t learn this stuff from watching — you learn it by doing (or by working with someone who’s done it).
👉 Want to be mentored through your own deal? Click here.
Unexpected Issues (and How We Solved Them)
This builds credibility — people trust people who don’t pretend everything goes perfectly.
Upon our first viewing we realised the gas was in the cellar and since it had a plastic cap we ‘wrongly’ assumed it was live. This was not the case. The gas was dead and had been turned off since 2015. We needed to get intouch with Cadent to fit a new supply – this cost approx £800 which was not budgetted for (hence why you need a contingency)
We could not see the condition of the chimney on the viewing because the houses are fairly close so without having a ladder we built in £500 for the chimney but this was more £1100 when complete.
The main electrical feed was very corrosive and this meant we needed to get intouch with Electricity North West who replaced it
The main thing new investors need to understand is that things go wrong, you do come up against obstacles and its our job to overcome them. Don’t get stressed when things happen – work out a plan to overcome them (this is why you need a good support network of people who have been there). If it was easy everybody would do it.
Having a network (or a mentor) can save you thousands and months of stress
What I’d Do Differently Next Time
✅We will have a closer look at the main incoming electricity feed to the property
✅We will ask the vendor if they are connected to gas or if it has been cut off
✅We will set aside +£1000 for chimney/roof works
✅We will budget £500 – £800 for removal of furniture from a full house
Videos of the Project Week by Week
For weekly project updates check out these videos on our YT channel – you will see it take shapr and learn how value is created;
Part 1 = https://youtu.be/WpAPM49PLBw
Part 2 = https://youtu.be/LTT8rCjJ_2I
Part 3 = https://youtu.be/W8-4oB1bngc
Part 4 = https://youtu.be/Io5ZxWRtzrg
Part 5 = https://youtu.be/5ZnIBhQsneQ
Part 6 = https://youtu.be/dluAMa9SNbU
Part 7 = coming soon…subsrcibe to our channel;
https://www.youtube.com/@Dervish_Dervish/videos
A Couple of Tips
Time-saving tip…..the refurb will take longer than expected so arrange your finance for much longer than you believe you need it for. Always go for 12 months even if you think it will only take 5-6. If you think it will take 9 months then go for 18 months.
As you complete more and more projects you should start to build up a reputable list of contacts. If you are investing in various locations then ALWAYS go for recommendations.
Want help planning your next refurb — or your first BRRR deal?
I work with a small group of property investors through my mentorship programme.
If you’re serious about doing this right, you can apply here:
👉 https://dervishdervish.com/property-business-education/
You’re going to hit bumps – that’s normal.
But if you learn from each project, surround yourself with the right people, and take consistent action — BRRR can transform your portfolio.
Good luck — and see you in the next blog or in the mentoring programme.
Dervish Dervish 🥋🏠📈
p.s. you’ve read this far, you’re clearly serious about learning — and that’s the kind of investor I love helping.
Whether you’re planning your first BRRR or want to scale with less trial and error, you don’t have to figure it all out alone.
👉 Apply for mentorship and let’s build your next deal — properly, profitably, and with purpose:
https://dervishdervish.com/property-business-education/