Building Our £1M Dream Home

Building Our £1M Dream Home

Hello guys, Samuel Leeds here. Guess who's building a £1M home in Middlesbrough? Not me, but Leon and Melissa. I met Leon Scott in 2019 when he came for the crash course. At the time, he was in the process of purchasing a piece of land and was a bit concerned about whether it was the right decision. I told him if the math adds up, it's a good decision. Well, it did.

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A Tour of the House

Leon and Melissa are currently building a 3900 square feet house with five bedrooms. So it will be a massive home. And since it's just the two of them, I had to ask why such a big home? As Leon explained, they figured a 5-bedroom house would be a far larger sale if they decided to sell down the line.

The house has a great view that includes the majestic Roseberry Topping. Construction was still ongoing as the two showed me around, and viewing the top-level floors of the house saw me do a lot of ladder climbing. Their chosen house design called for the incorporation of a lot of glass and steel. I especially loved that their house design included balconies. Once complete, the house will feature spiral stairs, glass balconies, roof terraces, bifold doors, among other features.

I remarked that while I have built several houses, it's always for investment purposes. So what Leon and Melissa were doing, i.e., creating their own home, was nothing I'd ever done. So had they managed to stay on budget so far or surpassed it massively. Leon explained that they had gone over the budget slightly, mainly due to steel; they needed more steel than they thought. However, they managed to cut down costs in other areas.

Cost Breakdown

Land buying price: £250,000
Building costs estimate: £400,000
End value: just under £1 million

Going by these values, they would make hundreds of thousands of pounds in profit if they ever decided to sell the house.

Why Did They Decide to Build Instead of Buying

Neither Leon nor Melissa has a background in the property industry. Leon is a footballer, model, and influencer, while Melissa is a dance instructor. So what was the reasoning behind them choosing to build a home from the ground up and being their own project managers with zero experience?

I learned that they initially wanted to buy a house, but every home they viewed fell short in one or more ways. And after several viewings, Leon suggested that they buy land and build one instead. So they began actively looking for land, even driving to the countryside. Eventually, they got a call about a particular piece of land on sale. They went to view it, loved it, bought it, and changed the existing planning permission to cater to a different house design.

As to why they decided to project manage the construction of their home themselves, Leon explained it helped save on costs and presented a learning opportunity. By taking a hands-on involvement in the construction project, he's getting to learn more about the dos and don'ts of property development. And since he plans on doing this again, the lessons learned will come in handy.

But did they always want to live in Middlesbrough? Leon said pretty much. The reason being, Melissa has a dance studio business in the area, where she has over 70 students. They've got family there as well. And compared to a place like London, where the cost of living is high, Middlesbrough just made sense.

How Did Leon Come to Know of Me

Leon revealed that while in a resort in Turkey, he asked his followers on Instagram to recommend property trainers, podcasts or books, and most of them recommended Samuel Leeds, i.e., me. So he began listening and watching my videos, which led to him coming to my crash course and enrolling on advanced training.

Lessons Learned

Leon revealed that the biggest lesson he's learned in this experience is that putting together a trustworthy team is crucial to the success of a construction project. And I agree. I look forward to coming back to the house when it's complete. Maybe I'll even get to stay in the room with the balcony on the top floor.

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