Rented normally, it costs you £16 a month. That is £197 a year, every year you hold it.

What could kill thisThe checks

Cash buyers only — there is no mortgage on this one

The listing says no mortgage, and every figure on this page is worked with one.

4 problems found · 3 we could not check · 2 do not apply to this property

■ from the listinglisting last seen 18 Sep 2026

Will it pay?Calculator

You top up £16 a month — the mortgage takes 42p of every pound of rent

Borrowing £3,025 less would close that shortfall — which is £3,025 more cash at the start, on top of the deposit.

£374 mortgage

£507 running

£899 rent in£16 short

£175 of that is a guess — no service charge published.

□ service charge not published2 empty weeks a year assumed

What if I change my assumptions?The dials

At the asking price, 25% deposit, 6.50% charged

Change any of these 16 and every card on this page changes with it. The 6.50% is the 5.75% quoted plus a company premium.

◧ worked out from local rents

What will it cost me to buy?Breakdown

£31,980 + refurb costs

And about £983 more over five years, because it loses £16 every month you hold it — before any repair. That already assumes the rent never falls.

~£55,200

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

£31,980 to buy it

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?

Break-even is within £5,000 of the asked price

It lands that close to the £92,000 asked — inside the step this card rounds to, and inside the confidence band on the rent it works back from. So the price asked is already about the price this rent carries, and there is no honest discount to print.

◧ worked back from the rent

How big is it, really?The plan

Measured off the plan, not by a surveyor 572 sq ft

The area comes off the plan, not a survey. Open for what that means.

□ area off the floorplan — not a survey

Is it a good location?Open the map

Birmingham, B43 6AX

1 of 3 schools in this postcode area rated Good or Outstanding and flood risk checking… — open for the map, the schools and the rest.

Article 4Not assessed for this address

■ postcode area, not this address

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Every way loses money — Standard rental loses least, at £16 a month

Let it to the council: £288 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental−£16 · £87,180 in

Guaranteed council rent−£40 · £87,180 in

Housing-benefit rent−£189 · £87,180 in

Each row: money kept a month, then the cash it ties up. Not compared: Rent by the room (only 2 bedrooms) · Do it up, then remortgage (pays back at the remortgage) · Short-stay let (no local short-let data) · 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?The five-year sums

−£19,585 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 45% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £87,180 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed