Can this Tudhoe Moor property be one to add to your portfolio?

There always seems to be the better potential of higher rental returns on property at the lower end of the property market. To explore this, I'll take a look at a house that has come to market this week with an asking price of £52,000.

Tudhoe Moor, Spennymoor, County Durham, DL16

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-57429539.html

It's is up for sale with Robinsons and can be found on Tudhoe Moor. As I've already said, it's available with an asking price of £52,000. The property is a 2 bedroom semi-detached house.

Aside from the standard comments, the estate agent states -

"Corner plot with extra large Gardens to rear and side. Patio area, Off street parking to the front 

Brick outhouse in rear garden"

It's interesting to know some detail about a property, especially if you are intending on letting it out in the future. A selling point for a sales estate agent will be a selling point for a landlord looking for tenants.

From the description and photographs it looks like it would be ready to rent out straight away, so the expenditure would only be linked to the purchase of the property. You may want to add a lick of paint and put a few plants in the garden but nothing of great cost by the look if it from here. Of course you'll want to go and check it out yourself before making an offer.

It's time for the financials, so let's take a look at what it will bring in rent. There looks to be quite a bit of competition for 2 bedroom properties to rent, so I think that you would get somewhere between £325 and £375 per month. This equates to a gross annual return of between 7.5% and 8.7% based in the asking price. This is a good solid rental return for any investor but beware the competition - there are a lot of 2 bedroom houses available for rent at the moment.

Expanding my Spennymoor property blog

I'm looking at ways of expanding and varying my Spennymoor property blog. Although the blog highlights opportunities for landlords and has got some positive feedback, I'm looking we was of giving the blog a wider audience and a slightly broader appeal. There are a few ideas that I've been mulling over in my mind and I think that one or more of these will give the blog some new life. For those that like the current format, I will continue to look at available properties in the Spennymoor area and looking at any work that needs doing and the investment and rental potential of these properties. The blog hasn't run for a couple of weeks now, as I've been formulating the ideas to expand and diversify.

The additional ideas have been plentiful, with some discarded quickly and others have developed into kernels of ideas to take forward. Here are some of the potentials-

Interviews and features with local estate agents

I've looked at this as an opportunity for both the estate agents and their customers and potential customers. Estate agents will have a chance for people to read about what they stand for, what they are doing and what they could do for you as a user of estate agency services. Customers can read what makes an agent tick, what marketing they are currently running and what properties they currently have available. I have no idea about what response the Spennymoor estate agents would give this idea, but I think that it's a great outlet for publicity, especially as customers are looking in different places to the traditional marketing methods such as local newspapers.

Property awards

I'm thinking that as a large part of my blog surrounds the availability of potential investment property for landlords in Spennymoor, and the fact that I use the blog to look a how these are marketed, that I might look at running some property awards. I'd look at one of two options - either investment property of the week/month or a weekly/monthly award based on the quality of the marketing. I think that either or both would be quite interesting and would involve the readership of consumers and property professionals alike.

The investment property would go further than just looking at a few properties a week, it would look at real potential and the opportunity for an investor to get a look at something that might be a great investment.

The marketing side of estate agency really interests me, and in think that a well-marketed property gets more interest, more chance of a sale and a higher price achieved when the sale actually comes through. If I could recognise the marketing efforts if the local estate agents then I believe that it will lead to improvements in marketing and a better deal for Spennymoor customers.

There are several big moves in the estate agency industry to allow consumers to bring their property directly to market without an estate agent as an intermediary. If I could build up my Spennymoor readership to a string level then maybe in the future I could give potential sellers access to potential buyers but we're a long way from that at the moment.

An unusual property will bring much attention

It's close to Christmas, but houses are still appearing on Rightmove this week. The following 2 bedroom house has come to the market via Robinsons -

Studley Drive, Spennymoor, County Durham

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-49630004.html

It's got an asking price of £87,950 (the lack of knowledge about portal pricing shows through again, unfortunately.)

It's modern, still under NHBC guarantee and looks clean, modern and well laid out in the photos. There are 8 photos, but 2 are of the bathroom and one of the hall, so quite a let down there. It's also obvious that the light conditions weren't great when the photo was taken, which is a real shame as natural light helps to sell a property.

This aside, it should attract interest from owner occupies and some landlords. I would suggest a rental return of between £450 and £475, which means a gross annual return of between 6.1% and 6.5% based on the asking price.

It's a good property that's under a guarantee and looks well-maintained from the photos. It will attract attention, if not quite at this price.

Check out my ebook on how to sell your home-

What Traditional Estate Agents don't tell you: A guide to getting the most out of selling your home by Steven Thompson http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I5HOJAM/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_L-VKub0NF763Q

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

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