The problem is I'm not aware of any metric by which property would be considered cheap at the moment (rent vs mortgage, median vs household income etc). Sure it might do ok, but the downside risk certainly seems higher.
"if u are lucky but more importantly mummy ,daddy and friends help out with the garden and cheap reno's and u also add value for nicks ."
I think it has also been a case of property prices have had such a stellar run, that renovation or not you just hold onto it for a bit and make a tidy profit. It might have felt like you had value added the property at the time, but lets face it even crappy properties sell for good $$$.
If I had to sell my property again I'm not sure I'd do anything to improve it, people just have such varying tastes (but this may have been because it wasn't a 'premium' property, so people couldn't afford to pay extra). I've seen a mate and his dad spend ages on a really nice garden setting, only to have the new owners essentially doze it and start again.
