Buying for both herself and her London-based syndicate, which pools small amounts of money (typically, less than £10,000 per investor) she sources properties in northern cities.

Inspired by York’s healthy capital appreciation (22% in the last 18 months) she arrives in York ahead of the Ascot race-goers to see if there are still bargains to be had in this historic city. Square Foot asked Jan to keep a diary of her day…

9am: Start the search at Bairstow Eves. Have found a potential bargain! (A rare thing in York.) Ext shot Nic St A bay-fronted, forecourted Victorian terrace is being repossessed. Located just off the Hull Road in Nicholas Street (which leads to the ring road for access to Leeds) it’s in a great location for renting to university students/staff. York University is growing – it has just had plans for a 50% expansion approved – and will become a leading employer in town. Offers in region of £110,000 are asked for.

10am: View the property. Looks ok from the outside – roof not too bad, front windows don’t look rotten. Inside is very different picture. Looks as if Wayne and Waynetta lived here with a chain saw for company. Still, got to look beyond the horrors. Nic St Living rm Living/dining room knocked through – plenty of space – could sand floorboards which seem sound.

Kitchen too scary to mention. Deserves its own Channel 4 series. Needs ripping out and starting again. (Although new central heating system put in very recently. Good, that saves a couple of grand!) Move through to downstairs bathroom. Bathroom shot Bit of a disadvantage being downstairs but acceptable. Again, too scary to look closely – whole thing needs putting in skip. Back door is smashed in. (Not by burglars apparently.) Hmmm.

Outside: nic st yard small yard, with bike shed. Can see now all windows at back are rotten. Five need replacing here. Can’t tell about roof without proper survey. Evidence of blocked drains. East facing – no sunspot!

Upstairs: first bedroom has two doors. Bizarre. Ah yes, was once subdivided. (Why?) So need to block off one door. Big enough to be marketed as double bedroom? Yes. Damp on ceiling – need to send a man into space (!). Front bedroom large and blinding: pink and red walls. They’ll have to go. All original fireplaces and doors have gone. Real shame.

Conclusion: Space seems ok but can’t tell without getting full survey done. Call local letting agent who have three properties on same street. They estimate £600+ pcm rent. Need to do sums on renovation: just under £19k if we assume roof needs doing. So, if we offer £110k and have 85% LTV we have mortgage of £90,100. Interest-only repayment around £417pcm. Even with management fee and insurance we’re still quids in.

We need £22k to buy: deposit, fees, mortgage application and survey. And we need £19k to renovate. So, that’s £41k from the syndicate. Could offer 4 investors in at just over £10k each. Let’s look at potential equity in 12 months. House is on at £110k. What is ceiling price in this area. Local knowledge suggests £155k. So, immediate value once done up, less mortgage, leaves us with potential equity in the property of nearly £50k. (Not to mention capital appreciation.) Some room for future options there. Let’s offer the asking price on condition property withdrawn from market.

Offer asking price. Offer rejected. Vendor wants to put it to sealed bids by noon. Now it will go to a battle between local builders and first time buyers. The profit margin will be squeezed by the ensuing fight. It’s still worth a punt. The phone goes. It’s the agent. Something else has fallen through that morning. It’s two streets away, do I want to view it? Seems sensible.

11am: Hilda Street: another forecourted terraced property. Street vista Sale has fallen through (again). It’s on at £124,950. Some viewers are leaving as I arrive. Apparently needs less doing to it. Not sure I agree. Looks as if it needs man in with flame-thrower and large skip. Has had new pvc windows throughout. It’s vacant now and was clearly old person’s house. Wiring looks pre-war – someone’s had a go at electrics with surface-mounted sockets. Hmmm. Obviously multiple occupancy in recent history, as Yale locks on dining room door indicates. No bloody original features – oh, hang on! Could be some behind these boarded up doors. But no fireplaces. What’s this? A packet of condoms? Nice. If only investors knew what I go through!

Kitchen needs replacing. Outside – yard is bigger and brighter, but there’s evidence of neighbours needing to secure backs of houses – jagged glass on walls a giveaway. Could be a problem with house break-ins. No alarm fitted – more cost. Upstairs, two large bedrooms and someone’s had a go at updating bathroom. Could be left as is, but the dolphin wallpaper will have to go! The hatch to attic is missing. A skylight in roof illuminates an untouched area of potential horror. Need timber specialist.

What do I think? Need to do comprehensive list of renovation over coffee. Sit down and work out what needs doing and, no surprise, come up with list as long as that for Nicholas Street. The renovation’s adding up to £15k. (That rewiring will make a big dent into the budget, as will putting in central heating.) Ring and offer £118k. Too late, it was sold 30 mins earlier to investors viewing before me. Pah! 11.45: Put in offer on Nicholas Street for £115,380. Wait to hear when bids are opened at noon. Go for a drink. 12.20: Mobile goes – we didn’t get Nicholas Street. (Seems as if we weren’t a million miles off the mark; it really wasn’t worth more to us than the price offered.) Still annoying to lose a bid!

2pm: Goodramgate Living 2 On to a studio flat in a medieval building which backs on to York Minster. A developer’s done it up already and wants £110k. Great location, but no parking and no separate bedroom. View from living room Don’t think we could get more that £450 pcm rent, so it won’t work as short-term let, but might work as holiday let. Has good feel; kitchen and bathroom both fine for holiday let. Goodrmagate kitchen 1

Goodramgate Gallery 1 Tiny converted space in attic won’t fit a double bed and has world’s most dangerous staircase made from oar-shaped treads with half wood carved away. Pretty tricky when sober. No hope after visiting the 5 pubs in this one street alone. Could get an architect in and see if it could be redesigned, but dealing with listed buildings is a nightmare. Plenty of choice for visitors to York anyway, so probably a bad buy. 3.10: Phone goes again. It’s Barratt; they have new build in York and are offering investors incentives to purchase. Drive out to Sovereign Park development 5 mins from city centre. Look around show home. Assume 2 pix here

There are five tempting deals for investors on offer – from a 10% guaranteed rental return for 12 months, to a 6% guaranteed rental return for 2 years plus a ready-to-go designer furniture pack and carpets thrown in! We could buy a 2-bed apartment for £159,995, put 20% down and receive a guaranteed return of £1,333 per month (£7,368 a year). That would cover the £719 monthly mortgage repayments and leave cash to reinvest.

Once the 2 year guaranteed rental income runs out, what we can achieve in rent on the apartment (an estimated figure of £600 - £650 pcm) may well have risen to cover the monthly mortgage payment. And that’s without factoring in the capital appreciation! Think the syndicate will be keen on this idea. 5.15: Head back to station to catch train to Kings Cross. Interesting day and much learned. Plan next trip north.