The end (of 2024 at least) is nigh.
Hello and welcome to my new website and new-look newsletter/blog!
I’ve been developing some web-design skills and you’re looking at the outcome - take a look around and let me know what you think! I’ll be adding more content over the coming months so please excuse me if parts are a little bare for now!
Having a website will allow me to host more content and provide more regular updates on my projects and the property world in general. Having looked up the differences between a newsletter and a blog I’ve decided the latter is what I’m aiming for. So from now on, this will be known as a blog, not a newsletter.
“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.”
Anyway, it’s the end of the year and a fantastic time for reflection. And what a year it’s been for my property business!
In recent months I’ve renamed the main company (now McArdle Property Limited, rather than the clunky Freshfield Properties (NW) Ltd) and created a group structure of companies.
This means projects can be housed within more specific limited companies - McArdle Commercial Property Limited for commercial projects (offices, industrial units), McArdle Property Developments Limited for developments (flips and new builds) - and allows plenty of room for growth in future years. It also seemingly means significantly increased admin and accountancy costs but I am reassured (and not just by my Accountant with a vested interest) that the new structure will pay off in the future.
This year, we have worked on conversion projects totalling £1.8million in Gross Development Value (GDV), creating 11 new homes in the process. We have also brought a new high-end 4-bed HMO to the rental market on the Wirral and completely refurbished another HMO in Liverpool, adding an additional bedroom and two bathrooms in the process. In doing so, we have paid out more than £50,000 in interest to private investors which is something I’m particularly proud of and keen to grow in 2025. It’s been a year of huge growth and certainly hasn’t been easy at times but it’s definitely been worth it when I look back at what we’ve created. Take a look at a couple of project-specific updates below.
Project King (above) is all but completed over in Oxton. The driveway and garden works are being completed as I type and the flooring fitters are booked in for 23rd & 24th December - just in time for Christmas!
That means the three new apartments can hit the rental market at the start of the New Year. I showed our letting agent round them recently and he was very complimentary of the finish - and rightly so if I say so myself - so I’m hoping they won’t be on the market for long.
I’ll get some photos of the finished articles ready for my next update so hang tight for those.
Project Alex is progressing well in Southport too.
As you can see from the gallery above we’ve got lots of lovely fresh new plaster on the walls and ceilings (one of my favourite sights!) and the kitchens are being fitted. It’s this stage of the project when I start to get excited as you can really start to see the vision coming to life as new homes are formed, rather than just feeling like you’re spending a fortune just to knock down walls!
All being well, the builders should have all eight apartments ready shortly after the Christmas break. Then I’ll be getting them marketed for private rental and refinanced so I can redeploy some tied up funds in to new projects.
There’s a little video below showing part of Apartment 8. I took this on site last week as it’s one of favourite spaces in the building - full of quirky nooks and crannies!
Take a quick look at the kitchen and living area in Apartment 8 in Project Alex.
Whilst all of the above was going on, I took a week away in snowy Lincoln to attend a project management training course run by the inspirational Paul Tinker. I learnt so much in such a short space of time and I really can’t wait to implement my learnings in the new year.
Paul’s systems and advice will undoubtedly help me to run my projects - and the business as a whole - more efficiently and professionally so I’m looking forward to seeing some great results in 2025.
It was also really valuable spending some time with three other like-minded developers as property can feel like a lonely place at times! They were all experienced in different way so having the opportunity to pick their brains and share my learnings in a small group was of real benefit.
That’s all for now and for 2024. I hope you have enjoyed the new format and the new website. I’ll be back in January with some more general property market updates and insight.
Thanks for all your support throughout the year and I hope you and your families have a fantastic Christmas break!
John