Who am I, what do I know, and why am I providing this.

My name is Neil and this is the story of how I developed an interest in finding abandoned properties.

I’ll start with my philosophical and moral perspective on this. I have wandered around thousands of abandoned properties, and while it is fascinating and very rewarding to seek something out and then find it on the ground, the number of times I have been appalled by what seems to be a complete lack of interest or responsibility for land and a property that could be of value to somebody, which could help and assist in giving somebody a decent home, and in some cases was just absolutely beautiful and completely undeserving of being neglected.  

For whatever reasons some people appear to own properties that they have little sense of the value of, others will walk away from projects that clearly failed, and unfortunately some people will take the very deliberate steps of destroying something as they clearly cannot see the value, or potential value of something. 

My exploration of old mansions and estates were the perfect examples of this. You only have to look at the premium prices being fetched by converted stable blocks, walled gardens etc to see how attractive these buildings are when restored. The number of times I’ve seen an estate simply obliterated including all the numerous ancillary buildings, gardens etc is criminal. Taking down  a large unmanageable house is one thing, destroying perfectly serviceable buildings is an indication of a complete absence of responsibility or vision.

I also strongly believe in people doing land based projects where they are trying to grow trees, establish Gardens and develop self-sufficiency etc. Unfortunately the majority of people wanting to do this are young and energetic and completely broke. The route to getting land and property now is completely different now that it has become valued at a premium and where young people in the past may well have been able to buy somewhere with a few acres in the 70s when they’re in their 30s, now those same people will be living in in rented homes in cities and the dream will have to wait until they are are in their 50s or 60s and have the resources available to do what they want to do. 

I would like to see the abandoned places I have found being brought back into use and somebody deriving some benefit from them, and the environment benefiting from being maintained and improved. It’s simply better for all of us

I got started in the 70s when my mother took me exploring a few local derelict mansions. This sparked what has become a lifelong interest, and I still love wandering around places that have been lost, or fallen into disuse. 

My local library had a copy of the book “The Lost Houses of Wales” and I spent hours poring over this. I loved the glorious properties that you would see, and then finding what still remains there when you go round and explore their site.

 During the 80s I was unemployed and had time to spare. I had learnt how to use the larger OS mapping systems to search for anywhere that looked like a property that may be of interest. I still have some of those maps, covered with pencil circles around anything that interested me. I visited most of the places I found, pretty much the same as I try to do now.

Back in those youthful days I would think nothing of walking 8 or 10 miles just to get to a location, spend a couple of hours walking around, before walking home again. Of course back in those days you would have absolutely no idea what you found so it was a bit pot luck, but that was part of the fun. 

The fact that there’s a property clearly listed on the map doesn’t give you any indication whatsoever about how well looked after or what is currently happening there, what you’re likely to find etc, only what is actually physically there.

 Another interest that developed at the time was finding cottages and properties that were usually in the middle of nowhere. I started to find all sorts of interesting places that had been abandoned for numerous reasons. The most common reason for the apparent lack of use was that in many cases the access to them was poor and they were perceived as being too difficult or expensive to renovate.

I also wanted my own place. I had no source of income at the time and was looking for a way to get a place of my own when there seemed to be no realistic way of doing this. I even made a couple of unsuccessful attempts at squatting, but had no idea of the law, and little self confidence to be so brazen at that time, so this quickly fizzled out.

So over a number of years I built up a list of properties that I knew about that would be of interest if I were in position to make an offer to buy which unfortunately I never was. I also discovered that house prices and property booms do play a huge role in what is available. For instance the property boom of the early 90s meant that a large number of the properties I’d been keeping my eye on were being grabbed, sold and developed. Over a couple of years, a huge number of marginal properties were renovated and brought back into use.

What had happened was very simple. Where in the past these abandoned properties had been worth pennies, and not worth the effort of even trying to sell them, suddenly they were being sought after and their values had increased enormously. If you were a farmer who had bought the property 30 years ago to get hold of some land and suddenly realised that if you sold it, added an acre or two of very low value land to it, you were making a good chunk of change. So many did.

The moral of this story is that most people, if they realise they have something of value, and its loss would not in any way disadvantage them, will take the money and run.

With my interest in Derelict mansions, I combined this with my long-standing interest in photography. At one point I used to put some photo essays on the derelict places website. I photograph every location that I visit, and have a huge quantity of photographs of all of these places.

In the last 5 years or so satellite mapping, online mapping, the availability of historical Maps etc started to make this whole process a lot easier. I could suddenly explore anywhere in the country, I could look for something that I knew would be there and then see what was actually visible on the satellite imagery. Sometimes I would go on road trips to visit places, and anytime I was likely to be going for a long drive, I would always incorporate wandering around a couple of abandoned properties.

And as time went on I realised I was building up a huge database of information. I also realised that I had become extremely skilled in scanning satellite images, and recognising where properties are likely to be, seeing the signs and symptoms of current use, or abandonment and making use of all the available methods and systems to find innumerable places.

This also tied in with my life and career which at the time was very stagnant, and my own entry into property ownership had been fairly disastrous as I had attempted to to jump ahead of the game by building my own property, unfortunately having zero capital and assets, or even time, to do it in the first place. That didn’t work out.

I ended up in a career where I earned a reasonable income but only just enough to keep ahead of various debts that I had incurred, and ultimately had no way out of this situation.

I started to realise that my complete lack of assets could be completely turned around if I started to take over some of the properties that I was aware of. There is another factor here, my career was a registered nurse, and so I always had to be a little cautious of doing anything that can bring my registration into jeopardy. Clearly that particular issue no longer concerns me.

 So a combination of factors, including one day, travelling around the local community, when it just seemed like I was finding another abandoned property every few hours, and this was without even looking for them it seemed like the universe was truly steering me in a certain direction.

I decided to finish my job and career, rationalise what I didn’t have and with the help and support of my now ex-partner who had spent years wandering around all sorts of interesting places with me, I started to take over some of the properties on my list.

But I never actually stopped searching. I always have a list of 10 or 20 properties that I would take over if circumstances would allow, but I would then spend evenings just quietly meandering over the countryside on a computer, and every time I did this I just found more and more and more properties.
 
Put simply, I don’t have the time or resources to take advantage of this wealth of knowledge I appear to have developed over time. Shame really as I now seem to have all the other skills needed to take full advantage of this.

I did have thoughts about trying to monetize the information and database, supplying people with specific locations where squatting, or buying could be an option. I will still consider requests for such information, but I would consider myself as acting as an agent, and will charge accordingly. I really don’t see why I should give that information away. It took a long time to create.

 I suspect that I’m not really organised enough to do that, and that would be a bit of a minefield anyway. So I decided that whilst I would not be simply giving people the information of where they can find a nice house or a smallholding they could potentially take over, I could however share the information about how I personally undertake that process, knowing that it is extremely successful and simple to do. This way, anyone who wants land can get on a computer, read the guide, and hopefully find something of interest. 

My reward will be seeing some of these locations being turned around, made use of, and at least knowing that somebody is building a life there.

I suspect that I’m very good at it because I’ve been doing it for a long time and very quickly recognise the signs and symptoms of dereliction and abandonment.

There are some potential commercial aspects that this information may have, and it has the potential for possible investment. I am open to suggestions or offers. The information I have provided here gives a very clear indication of my knowledge base and skill set in what is probably quite a specialised field. If you are looking to purchase property and want research done, potential sites found etc, then I will consider any and all offers.

I have also had to learn where to find sources of useful information. You become a bit like a detective using numerous sources to build up a picture of the history of a property. The one area I need to build on now is actively finding people. I have lots of names, I have searched death records, and strangely found very few. I need to develop better people finding skills.

Oh, and my database of properties now runs into the thousands. I probably have a least 1000 that I have done at least some basic research on, and probably twice as many I have just seen on a map, made a marker and passed on. I could easily be studying this full time, but there is little or no point. I have hundreds of properties I could move onto tomorow. My simple logic is that if only a small percentage of these become mine over time, this will be well worth it.

Interestingly, the people skills I developed in my work setting have provided me with the confidence to put these schemes into action. I worked in mental health, and this gives you both a strong sense of self as well as an ability to deal with anything from people insulting you, to actively attacking you.

Suffice to say, you develop skills to deal with both, and no longer fear, or are affected by them. Taking over properties runs the very real risk of personal confrontation, so being able to effectively deal with anything other people can throw at you is a very valuable skillset.

I should point out that I am already benefiting from the knowledge and database I have built up. I am currently in adverse possession of a number of pieces of property, and will bring more under my control as time goes on. 

I am aware that people using this information may well find exactly the same properties I have my eye on. If that is the case, good luck to you. There is more than enough out there for us all to derive some benefit.