Self-Manage Packs
Run your own refurb, with a developer's numbers behind you.
Overview
The same method we use to appraise and manage projects for clients, packaged so you can do it yourself. Properly costed, properly sequenced, no guesswork.
64,000words
19chapters + 5 appendices
40figures
32flags to a professional
14day refund, no questions
What you're actually buying
You don't need a project manager on retainer to run a refurb well. You need three things: an honest number for what it should cost, a spec that means every builder quotes on the same job, and a record that stops you paying for snags before they're fixed.
01
An honest number
Price the job line by line across 17 packages, including the surveys and professional fees most budgets forget until it's too late.
02
A spec that holds
Write real specification detail, so three builders quote the same job. Includes a worked example written to NBS-style clauses.
03
A paper trail
Variations, photos, snags and certificates all logged, so the final payment goes out when the work is finished.
Choose your pack
Buy the Guide on its own, add the Tool Pack, or take both and save.
Your House, Your Project
Book · PDF, instant
"Where do I start?"
- 19 chapters and 5 appendices, around 200 pages: buying, renovating and extending a home in England and Wales
- What to check before you buy, and how to run the work after
- Appraisal method, SDLT and LTT, VAT and grants, planning and permitted development, listed buildings, conservation areas, leasehold consents
- Surveys, drainage, ecology, flood risk and the solicitor searches that matter
- Specification writing, contracting, site management, building regulations, snagging and exit
- 40 figures and 32 flags telling you when to stop and call a professional
- No course, no upsell and nothing to sell you inside it
£19.99 · one-off
Get the book →
Your House, Your Project + Tool Pack
Best value · save £5
"Give me the method and the machinery."
- Everything in the book
- Plus the full Tool Pack workbook: 14 live tabs, everything calculating
- Project dashboard: total project cost, contract position, programme, snags and certificates on one screen
- Scope document across 17 packages, rolling up automatically into a cost plan
- Contract and variations tracker giving you a live revised contract sum
- Programme with an automatic Gantt view, and a risk register that scores itself
£34.99 · one-off · normally £39.98
Get both →
Tool Pack
Excel · instant
"I know what I'm doing. I just want the workbook."
- 14 tabs: dashboard, scope, cost plan, contract & variations, programme, Gantt, risk register, site set-up, contractor vetting, snagging, photo log, certificates, post-completion review
- Surveys and professional fees tracked separately from construction cost
- Retention gate that tells you when it's safe to release the final payment
- Every checklist carries a named responsible person
£19.99 · one-off
Get the Tool Pack →
Who it's for
A GOOD FIT
Hands-on investors and homeowners
You're comfortable managing tradespeople directly and want the structure and the numbers without paying for a managed service. First refurb or fifth.
NOT A FIT
If the deal doesn't stack
If the numbers are marginal, or the project needs real planning judgement, this pack tells you where that line is, and that's when to book a paid appraisal instead.
Built by a MAPM-qualified project manager with qualified trade experience. The same method behind Specifica's client appraisals: a builder's costing with a planner's discipline.
Doing it yourself, not doing it alone
The packs are built to be used without us. But self-managing doesn't mean going it alone on the parts that carry real risk. Knowing where that line sits is most of the skill.
01
When the numbers are tight
If a deal lands under roughly 10% margin, that's the point to stop guessing. A Development Appraisal replaces the averages with real local comparables and a costed schedule.
02
When planning gets involved
Anything beyond permitted development, or any structural change, needs professional input before you commit to a scope. The book flags exactly where those trip-wires are.
03
When you'd rather hand it over
Some projects turn out bigger than expected. Our Project Management service is there if you decide mid-way that you'd rather someone else ran it.
There is nothing to sell you inside the book. No course, no sourcing service, no mentorship. It repeatedly tells you to stop, ask someone qualified, or walk away. Three professional reviewers independently said that was its strongest feature, and we are not about to undo it.
If you finish it and decide you would rather we ran the project, we are here. If you finish it and never speak to us again, the book has done its job.
Order
Files are sent by email the same day payment is received. We're keeping this deliberately hands-on at launch so we hear what's working and what isn't.
| Pack | Format | Price |
|---|
| Your House, Your Project | Book · PDF | £19.99 |
| Tool Pack | Excel (.xlsx) | £19.99 |
| Your House, Your Project + Tool Pack | PDF + Excel | £34.99 |
Order by email
Tell us which pack you'd like and we'll send a payment link and your files. No account, no newsletter sign-up.
Email your order →
Refunds, plainly
Strictly, once you download a digital file the 14-day cancellation right falls away, and you confirm you understand that when you order. We don't intend to hide behind it.
If within 14 days you've worked through the pack and it isn't giving you what you expected, email us and we'll refund you. We won't ask you to prove anything or justify it. We'd rather know the pack missed the mark, which tells us something useful, than keep £19.99 from someone who didn't get £19.99 of value.
Beyond 14 days, or where a file is faulty or not as described, your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 apply as normal and are unaffected by anything above.
Questions
Is this a substitute for professional advice?
No, and it says so throughout. The packs tell you what you can sensibly handle yourself and flag clearly where you need an architect, structural engineer, planning consultant or building control. Knowing where that line sits is most of the value.
Will the Tool Pack work in Google Sheets or Numbers?
It opens and calculates in both. It's built and tested in Excel, and a few formatting details render best there.
Do I get updates?
Yes. We're actively revising these, and buyers get updated files free. Just reply to your order email.
Can I use it on client projects?
Yes, on your own projects, including ones you're paid to manage. You can't resell or redistribute the files, or supply them to clients as a product in their own right. If you want a team or client licence, get in touch and we'll sort one.
What if I get stuck halfway through?
Email us. If it's a quick question we'll answer it; if it's a decision that needs real work (a marginal deal, a planning call, a structural unknown) we'll say so and quote for it rather than guess. You can also step up to a full appraisal, or hand the project over for us to manage, at any stage.
England and Wales only?
The compliance content covers England and Wales, including the SDLT and LTT difference. The method and the workbook travel anywhere; the regulatory detail doesn't.