Rented normally, you'd make about £31 a month.

Will it pay?Calculator

£31 of every £688 is yours to keep, each month

You keep 4p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 28p.

+£688−£195−£455−£7£31

Rent inMortgageRunning costsTaxProfit

Rent £688, modelled from 128 nearby lettings within 1 km

□ service charge not published2 empty weeks a year assumed

What if I change my assumptions?The dials

At the asking price, 25% deposit, 6.25% charged

Try your own numbersLive

You keep£31/mo

All-in cash£26,237

Payback71.1 yrs

Offer−+

Deposit−+

Mortgage rate−+

Rent−+

Worked at 6.25% — 5.50% quoted plus a company premium.

◧ worked out from local rents

What will it cost me to buy?Breakdown

£18,750 + refurb costs

£6,250 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£18,750 to buy it

~£7,487

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · feeswe haven’t been inside

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?

Nothing — it works at the asking price

The rent covers the mortgage, the running costs and the tax at the £50,000 asked, so there is no discount this card has to name. A lower price would be upside, not a condition.

◧ worked back from the rent

Is the price right?The deeds

Last sold for £33,500 in 2001

Nothing nearby is comparable, but asking is 49% more than the £33,500 paid for it in 2001.

□ this address’s own deeds, no comparable saleHM Land Registry Price Paid Data

Can we trust the rent?Rent evidence

Nearby lettings, all asking more

Every one of the 3 nearby asking rents we hold is higher than the rent this page uses.

+118 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

what 3 nearby lettings ask£750–£800/mo

our own middle half£642–£737/mo

■ 128 lettings within 1 km□ below every nearby askAdvertised rents, not signed tenancies

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries the whole loan — it could fall 49% and still cover it

Your deposit is what limits this one, not the rent. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£340 needed

of £662 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £662PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

The rooms are on the plan; the total is not

The plan is on file; the floor area is not.

□ no floor area published

Is it a good location?Open the map

Walsall, WS2 9JT

2 of 5 schools in this postcode area rated Good or Outstanding and flood risk checking… — open for the map, the schools and the rest.

Article 4Planning permission required to let by the room

■ postcode area, not this address

What could kill thisThe checks

£1,250 a year in charges for the building, owed even when nobody is living there

The contract the property is sold under sets these charges, and they can go up over the years.

2 problems found · 1 came back clear · 4 we could not check · 2 do not apply to this property

■ from the listinglisting last seen 16 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Short-stay let, but only by £4 a month over Standard rental

Short-stay let also ties up the least cash, £26,237.

Short-stay let+£35 · £26,237 in

11 nearby short-lets within 11.1 km · medium confidence

Standard rental+£31 · £26,237 in

Housing-benefit rent−£7 · £26,237 in

Each row: money kept a month, then the cash it ties up. Not compared: Rent by the room (only 1 bedroom) · Do it up, then remortgage (pays back at the remortgage) · Guaranteed council rent (no scheme in this borough) · Buy, improve & sell (pays out on sale)

◧ 3 ways, one measureranked on money kept each month, at the asking price

What would you walk away with, after 5 years?The five-year sums

−£2,677 after five years on the cash you put in, before tax on the sale

Less than the same cash would have made in a savings account, after tax on the interest. The savings account’s capital is not at risk; the property’s is. A fall of about 30% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £26,237 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

−£26,237+£60,577−£1,514−£37,500+£1,998−£2,677

Cash you put inSale valueSelling costsMortgageRent keptYou are down

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed