Bought for £197k - Sold for £418k

[@rickylafleur7378]

I’m so glad i found this . We are currently 2 years deep in to a big build and have run out of savings, so doing it as and when we have the money. I absolutely hate it when smug people ask hows the house going? Like it’s easy to have trades working full time on your site. Your doing a fantastic job mate keep it up

[@ambrosiad1588]

I've been looking at property auctions for properties I can flip, as a RICS surveyor I have a I have a good idea of what things cost. Looked at this flat which the lease only had 25 years left, I worked out how much it was going to cost to extend the lease and refrub the property, I wanted £30k profit and given the property's extensive problems I thought it would be worth £35k, it sold for £177, the ceiling price in the street was only £200k. That is just one example, Ive seen it happens over and over again, deal sourcing is the hardest thing.

[@ironpirate8]

I'm doing a similar thing, and I was nodding along to your rant. 😄 I got help digging foundations and pouring concrete, then I laid 1200 6 inch blocks for supporting walls (the house is on a slope.) Got help again with block and beam, then laid the dolly course. I had a timber frame company put the bare structure up for me, got help with putting the roof on, and since then have done (or planning to do) everything except plumbing. , although I did put in the underfloor heating pipes myself. I have now nearly completed the plastering, which is something I hadn't done before. Some people understand that there's a lot of work you don't see on the surface, some don't... "finished your house yet?" "when will you be in?"

[@peterwalton1502]

Aiden do it yourself mate 👏👏. If you ain’t worried about how long it takes take you time

[@happyglampers9053]

Happy New Year to you both Aiden. People asked me when our camper self build would be done. I always replied ‘when i finish it, no idea’. Those that do ask, have no real grasp of the task in hand👍 Re that property that didn’t work out. Well done for sticking to your guns. Knowledge is power😀 Stay healthy bud.👌

[@Gman4633]

I feel your pain and there was a great feeling as you were talking about the ‘just pay someone’ people. Nice to know I’m not alone 😊 My mum is the worst and when I point out the cost of getting a professional in versus me taking a longer time to do it myself she backs down for a week or two. The wife does the same occasionally until I tell her if she organises the trades and pays for it she can crack on - then she says can we do this project now but moans I haven’t finished others. It’s endless.

[@Steaky78]

Tidying up = perfect timelapse opportunity!

[@petestevenson3700]

Very relatable! The people who ask when it'll be finished have no concept of the enjoyment of doing it. I always quote your thing about "how do you eat an elephant?".

[@dzacace1]

Good video, it’s good to hear you rant with issues we all have doing DIY and pressure to finish it or to pay someone to do it for you. I love to do it myself it may take longer and be hard work but when you look back it’s you that achieved it and no one else. I love the “why can’t people just be happy with what they got”, you have got a wonderful place and there is so much more you can do. I never knew about council MoT centres, unfortunately my nearest is an hour away. I’ve swapped test centres now as the one I did use picked up everything as they had an overzealous tester, the new test centre is more realistic/reasonable. Keep up the good work. Happy new year. Hopefully all your plans and wishes will come to fruition.

[@sean003point5]

We've just moved into our new build that we thought would take a couple of years . . . that was over 7 years ago and I still have loads to do. When people asked "How long till you're finished" I always said 6 to 9 months . . .the funny thing is I believed it.

[@JurassicJungle]

I posted this time last year that I was confident I would be finished by Christmas. I am not......

[@rickylafleur7378]

Same mate , every year i say we will be in by Christmas! Currently starting our third year out the house

[@geowgeow]

Thanks for sharing Aiden. As someone renovating our house as well this really resonates. No one understands how many steps even the simplest of tasks takes. None of the family understand what we’re doing - they’d rather buy an off the shelf new build. Each satisfying step is followed by a stupid question about when we’re going to do the next bit. We plastered just before Xmas. It was amazing. A huge step. We sent them a video which was immediately followed by the question - “oh, are you going to put skirting boards in?” 😂😂😂

[@martinhunt6004]

YES Plaster Skirtings correct!😁

[@christianwithers7335]

Happy New Year. I love your abstract comparisons, you've made a few over the years. "why don't you just pay someone to do your running" 😂 more please, and a compilation every year end.

[@janh6639]

Absolutely great video. I look round at mine and stuff everywhere lots of jobs ongoing so totally get what’s happening on a much bigger scale for you. Just enjoy the ride and be ever so proud of yourself cause so far it’s awesome 😎

[@bapoo]

Not going to go into it but am emotional watching this as you are literally talking my mind. We are doing virtually the same thing in a fairly similar position to you save a few circumstantial deviations (one of which is bot having the balls to vlog my project for the world to see). From side projects distracting me to living in a makeshift building on our property to people who have no idea nagging on when it’s going to be done. On that last point i will say (to be glass half full) there are almost an equal number of people who are actively supportive of what we’re doing. Probably because many of them have seen your channel and have a but if an insight. You’re a top man Aiden. Am feeling your more sentimental hopes for 2025, respect for putting a brave face on with it. Hope it either happens for you or you somehow find peace in the cards you both have been dealt. I know it’s cringe to say but the grass isn’t always greener. Much love brother, keep on updating. Love hearing you walking alongside me in my remarkably similar endeavour.

[@simonsi787]

The people that say it will be quicker to get someone else to do it, will never understand the satisfaction you get when you eventually finish a job yourself. 😂

[@timballam3675]

Happy new year....

[@iamaparanoidandroid1]

Just a little correction - you can still drive a car home from an MOT where it fails on a Major, its just that it cancels the remainder of the old MOT period (so if you present early, it can cancel the remainder of the existing MOT.) If it's a Dangerous fail it can't be driven home, but those are rare unless there are bits hanging off etc...

[@s.wilson5675]

Happy New Year mate to you, Lou and Arthur (& cats). Keep the videos coming in 2025. Always entertaining.

[@willrenyolnds]

happy new year

[@camperventure388]

You're very natural in front of the camera which is the trick. Great job..

[@TheSpudder007]

Happy New Year mate. Great video as ever! I know exactly what you mean when people say, you're almost there, just the floor walls and ceiling to go (when all I can think is; I need to lift every f’ing block, clean, re-fit and slurry, run SWA cable under the floor for the garden room (along with data, alarm and switch cables), work out how to level the floor (if needed - will thenscreed donthay for me?), run island ducting and cables) and procrastinate some more!! That's just the floor to screed!!! I've not included the hours if research on KZbin😂. But I love it! I just wished I didn't need to work as I'd have more time!! Good luck for 2025, I hope it brings you and your missus all you wish for 🤞

[@markdyballuk]

Happy New Year Aiden and Lou. It is criminal that you don't have more subscribers. I have to say I admire what you do and have completed and the fact you want to do a proper job. it is admirable. I know its easy for me to say (it isn't because we are all struggling in one way and another) but you have to do what is RIGHT FOR YOU. it's your journey and the best way to do it is do it your way. Like Bukowski said "Don't Try" I wish you every success and carry on doing what you are doing the way you are doing it. Go get 'em boy!

[@markdyballuk]

oh, and bloody well tidy up, make some shelves and have places to keep things, far too much time wasted pissing around finding things 👍

[@AC-gm6bq]

Get stuck in mate and do lots of DIY videos of your progress..👍

[@over-engineered]

Not all private MOT garages are bad, I always go to the same local one, they charge £50 but don’t look for work, even though they have a repair shop. Took my 07 Yaris there recently, failed MOT on headlight alignment and cloudy headlight lenses. But when I went to pick it up they’d cleaned the lenses and aligned the headlight, re-done the MOT and passed it. no extra charge.

[@THE-AIDEN-PROJECT]

@@over-engineered you've definitely found a decent one there

[@over-engineered]

@@THE-AIDEN-PROJECTyes, used them for years. re. your floor levelling under insulation, I used a thin layer of sand/cement (soak the floor with water first) to smooth out the bumps and dips, especially around a triple beam. Would have cost a fortune in levelling compound.

[@THE-AIDEN-PROJECT]

​@@over-engineered yeah I think that's what I'll be doing, was considering putting eps down everywhere to bump up the floor and just leave the raised sections out to fill in with sand and cement

[@over-engineered]

@@THE-AIDEN-PROJECT my blocks were dense ones, if yours are lightweights maybe test adhesion first.

[@squizza28]

Good advice from Aiden to use council garages. At the one near me, he asks if you'll fix it yourself and if you say yes he'll tell you how to do it!

[@JohnnyMotel99]

Back in the 80's, I bought a 16k terraced house in Northwich. The council gave me a grant of 24k, to re-roof, CH, bathroom and kitchen fit out. Lost my job after two years and council very kindly wrote off the grant. Sold house for 48k. That allowed me to buy a 98k flat in London, that went for 305k after 10 years.

[@THE-AIDEN-PROJECT]

Very nice!

[@jamieteasdale2124]

Ok boomer

[@TooMuchInfoSir]

Relate to some of this so much, People asking for updates is nice (because they care) but difficult to convey the complexities of Reno's. Also, Why (if I had the money) would I pay someone who wouldn't do the job to my standards? I think the bummer of diy renovations (I'm 2 years in) is it starts to feel like a job. The joy and fun is replaced by the sinking feeling of 1000 tasks, spending more and more money, lack of a social life, continuous mess and dust. Briefly, you'll have a job which is fun, or a significant update and it pumps some energy back into you. It's a tough gig, takes a strong will not to crumble.

[@AdamBeddall]

Interesting you said about your struggle with yourube and your other potential future projects. House is your main priority at the moment which is logical, but I think some of those other things may be more beneficial from a youtube persepctive, theyre quicke, more relatable and you could do a mini series on a project, they could also be more suited to partnerships. Maybe think about whether theres any gym euipment or greenhouse suppliers or anything like that which you could link up with to sponsor a mini series 🤷‍♂️

[@samrix5793]

Really great video thank you for your content

[@MarcusT86]

Good video mate. I feel your pain on renovating and having everyone else nag when’s it done, when’s it done… and then it seems like they’re personally attacked when you remind them it’ll be done when it’s done - as if they’ve got to live in it themselves. I’m recording everything too to put on KZbin but I’m not anticipating any views, it’s just to show friends and family

[@thattoolguy9432]

Keep doing it your way mate.. i admire you for doing it... ive spent 25 year in construction and got totally f**ked over last year and now have nothing... but im stress free now ive f'ing calmed down 🤣 I think i need an escape from sh*tty London and off to the country and restart. Keep cracking on mate, its a lovely build with tons of potential ... F*ck the french chateau , who the hell would want to live there 🤣🤣

[@deemybutt]

Fantastic video!

[@Mircea007]

For some it's not about the journey, it's only about the destination.

[@alanreeves459]

Another great video 👍 I know you have to create videos that pull in more subs but i always enjoy your vlogs with your views on life (and the rants 😄) . Keep the haters and moaners at arms length and carry on doing things your own way. Happy 2025 with all that it may bring

[@gabegabriel2155]

I get the "why dont you pay someone to do it". Proper does your head in. And your right, they can't do stuff😂

[@Flat-Five]

When you say that house you put an offer on needed a new roof and the cost, did you mean the actual roof structure or just the tiles/membrane replacing?

[@THE-AIDEN-PROJECT]

@@Flat-Five yes the whole thing

[@HandySam]

Good insight ! I did similar to what you did and maybe i worry about the next stage (doing what you’re doing now!) As I’d be doing it solo solo with no “encouragement” 😅 I did a 265 detached house sold for 437.5 Then a 210 end of terrace sold for 290 and looking to do a small bungalow in the next few weeks fingers crossed.🤞🏻 I find it interesting going back through on all the houses that you made offers on and have similar stories. The two i made offers on both they said no to both ended up coming back to me see if my offers still stood. I think how I’ve had good opportunities to make offers.. perhaps is i post a lot on instagram stories and people reach out to me plus i have been on lots of viewings and got to know some of the agents and they will contact me when something is coming up my street so I’m in early doors as such.. plus a bit of luck 😅

[@evans1978]

I have just had a bad experience with my local Nissan dealership finding none existent problems with my Leaf. They wanted £1200 to fix it, rip off merchants. I took it home and will be taking it to a trusted garage (I only went to the dealership because there's a recall on my car that they had failed to organise despite numerous emails/visits and I thought it would get it moving) for a fresh MOT in a weeks time. Even if they find a fault (unlikely!) I know it won't cost anything like 1200 fu?!!?g pounds!

[@ProfessionalPainterDecorator]

we started around the same time... where am I going wrong. lol

[@THE-AIDEN-PROJECT]

You need a viral video or 2 😅

[@dwalsh3469]

Estate agents are only incentivised to earn commission. The rest is up to the buyer to do their own due diligence. I made the error of assuming that my previous Grade II listed house was probably fine, because a) it was 400 years old, b) it looked okay, c) who doesn’t maintain their own house?. A stressful 8 years. I sold it for “market value” to a guy just like me, and I watched the estate agents lie their tits off at every viewing. (Don’t get a chateau - they are the same kind of disaster in waiting.)

[@101projects2]

I completely forgot about the knives, Luckily I don't check my Emails very often 😅

[@chrismalings4483]

I said Christmas, now Im saying summer. I overpaid for a dog of a house, but Ev1 says they paid 50k too much. Ev1 says they doubled their money over 10 years - most of it is just general inflation. Uk land/housing is overpriced junk, and inflation is the smokescreen. Winter weather is a bummer. My roof recover 3 bed was 4700 inc vat

[@Sean006]

Aiden's 'advice' is to buy bitcoin....if only you had said that a year ago!! Best wishes on all your projects for 2025.....and send Lou on a plastering course! Btw I love the idea of a French chateau. But keep Acer View and buy the chateau with KZbin money.....if only. Not sure about French building regulations though and can you speak French? (Only just about manage English😉) 👍👍👍

[@THE-AIDEN-PROJECT]

That's not financial advice if course 😆

[@paulgilliland2992]

It seems like most people don’t know anything about realistic construction pricing . If you said you lost money on the survey I’d say he saved you at least 50 grand or more.

[@JurassicJungle]

I keep getting asked when is my completion date. We are further ahead than you but still a lot of work to do.

[@THE-AIDEN-PROJECT]

Does my head in 😆 I always reply with "how long is a piece of string?"

[@JurassicJungle]

@@THE-AIDEN-PROJECT So when do you think you will be finished? Lol ;-)

[@ianbirkmyre4622]

The length of a piece of string is twice the distance from the middle to the end 😂

[@davideyres955]

Chock the back wheels when you’re jacking a car up. Bricks are your friend.

[@mojonojo3]

My best was buy at 168 sell 498

[@paulmarshall8012]

you have to rant or it builds up your right people who keep asking how long its going to take have no clue

[@gabegabriel2155]

Council mot Centre? Never heard of one. Give us an example

[@THE-AIDEN-PROJECT]

I'm pretty sure every council has one or more, they run so many vehicles they have their own MOT stations and they have to offer testing to the general public. They are a little challenging to find the details of sometimes though. Here's just a random one from a quick Google search: www.testvalley.gov.uk/business/doingbusiness/vehicletesting/mot-testing

[@AllElectricHouse]

Happy new year to you. Nice video as always. To be honest I think in some ways you might be overthinking the whole youtube strategy. Look at the likes of Casey Neistat. All he did was produce a daily vlog and his sub base sky rocketed. Ok so he's vlogs were awesome but in my opinion yours are too. I would think if you did a daily vlog you'll see you numbers really shoot up. Just like a daily diary etc with what you're upto. Anyway just my thoughts. I guess if it were that easy we'd all be doing it. Like you say but bitcoin. Do you actually own any bitcoin? I started investing it in back in 2017, my only regret is that I didn't buy more back then. I still have it, brought it as a long term investment for my kids so I have no intention of selling it, will just hand it down to them.

[@W555LAN]

probably another five years of toil and money and stress you’ll never get back, hardly seems worth it

[@nawaz8855]

Iv got a vito 2.2 cdi 2009 £700 road tax 😂 .

[@THE-AIDEN-PROJECT]

Wooah 😲 mines £335

[@Schinney]

Before you can do one job there are half a dozen other jobs that need to be done first, don't forget my 56 knife m8, see email 25/10/24 😂,Bitcoin and Ethereum the way forward, 10K at the start of 2024 in BTC is now worth over 20K , not financial advice 😂 Happy new year to you Aiden, keep going self build is hard work and can put a strain on relationships