Durham Road is popular for investors

This Durham Road property had just come to the market in the last few days-

Durham Road, Spennymoor, DL16
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-49303823.html

It's on the market with an out-of-town agent, Reed Rains of Ferryhill. The photographs are heavily under-exposed, which gives a real feeling of darkness to the property but I believe they they are just bad photos - not necessarily a bad house.

From the look of the property on Rightmove (I've not visited it myself) there's a degree of renovation work to be done, and the listing itself states "reasonable offers considered." Not the smartest move from an estate agent that I've seen!

It's on for offers in the region of £40,000, which looks a little on the heavy side seeing as a renovated property on the same road hasn't yet sold, and is on the market for £67,950 -

Durham Road, Spennymoor, Durham
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-32624286.html

Let's speculate that you can get this for £35,000 (who knows what the vendor is thinking) then this will bring in a rental return of between £100 and £110 per week, which related to an annual gross rental return of between 14.8% and 16.3%, which is a very healthy return.

Keep your eye on the market.

Harrington Estate Agents look ready to open

Harringtons Estate Agents looks like it's ready to open in the old Surtees office at the top end of town.

Will this shake up the established duopoly of Robinsons and Dowen, or is it another estate agent doomed to fail? I don't have experience of Harringtons from their Durham office, but I'm sure that they are opening a new office on the back of success there.

I'm looking forward to seeng how they get on, but I'm looking for something different, an agent that does something that the existing ones don't deliver. To win in this market, they need to have an offering that allows them to stand out and gain instructions.

A Tudhoe village home appears on the BBC

Just a short note to say that in an episode of the BBC programme 'Escape To The Country' one of the properties featured was in Tudhoe Village.

It's good to see us getting national exposure!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04q0vxh/escape-to-the-country-series-15-26-county-durham

Does this Caldermere property have investment potential?

This 3 bedroom detached house in Caldermere has come into the market this week-

CALDERMERE, SPENNYMOOR, SPENNYMOOR DISTRICT
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-47345912.html

It's on at offers in the region of £144,000, which is still fairly competitive for a 3 bedroom detached home in Spennymoor.

I haven't seen the property myself, but it being detached, there is often an opportunity to extend when buying detached.

Looking through the estate agents poor descriptive term of "immaculately presented" (what is that supposed to mean?) it looks like a property that's been taken care of. You would need to go and see it before making any conclusions in this area, but a low or no maintenance purchase will make life easier.

I would expect a rental return of between £550 and £600 per calendar month, which is a gross annual return of between 4.6% and 5%, which is probably a little on the low side for investors, but is still a solid investment and a good buy in a popular location.

What's in an estate agents for sale board?

What's in an estate agents's for sale board?

The two main agents in Spennymoor both have for sale boards that don't really stand out.

In particular, Dowens boards are dark in colour and as the Winter closes in, they tend to fade against the background of surrounding dark.

Robinsons for sale boards are brighter but contain almost nothing except for the Robinsons name and contact number.

What does this mean to me? I hear you ask.

Well, the service you expect and receive from an estate agent surrounds their ability to sell your property.  The only other consideration is the estate agent achieving the best possible price for your property.

So it follows that a property where the for sale board can't be seen well in darkness or a property where the for sale board says almost nothing about the property render the property less saleable or achieving under the best possible price.

There is a largely held opinion that the for sale board is nothing but an advert for the estate agent and doesn't mean a great deal for the property or seller. This may have been true when the housing market was flying and estate agents didn't need to work hard for their business but time has moved on.

Estate agents that don't maximise EVERY possible opportunity to sell your property at the best price achievable are letting down their clients in some way.

Improvements in for sale boards and the technology that surrounds them can be found here-

http://eaboost.blogspot.com/2014/04/what-do-your-for-sale-boards-say-about.html

Amazon gifts under £10

Almond Close in Spennymoor would work as a family home but perhaps notfor investors

There has only been one property uploaded to Rightmove in spennymoor so far this week-

Almond Close, Spennymoor, Durham

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-30755448.html

It's a 4 bedroom detached property on Almond Close, off of Grayson Road at the top end if the town.

If you ignore the non-committal statements from the estate agent, such as "deceptively spacious" and "well maintained" then you will see a set of marketing photos that show-

*An imposing front photo

*A good-sized garden

*Rooms that look large, on the whole

Since 2008 properties in the close have sold for between £170,000 and £245,000, but these figures can only be seen as a historic guideline - the last recorded sale was in 2011.

As a family home, £167,500 seems a good starting price (albeit a strange price point for property portals.) as a potential investment, I would expect a rental return of between £675 and £795 per month, which would give a gross rental yield of between 4.8% and 5.7% per annum, based on the purchase price. I would guess that these returns would be too small for an investor, so the market closes a little to families - but that's not too much if an issue as there are plenty if families looking to move in or to Spennymoor.

Save with Amazon Family