See the rental potential of this flat in Dundas Street, Spennymoor

I'm going back to the basics of the blog this week and looking at a lower-priced property that has the potential for a good rental return. This property is a converted flat in Dundas Street-

Dundas Street, Spennymoor

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-37229916.html

It's a 2 bedroom flat on the market at Offers In the Region of £89,950. It looks like quite a stylish conversion and the estate agent described it as-

"CITY LIVING AVAILABLE IN SPENNYMOOR

A fantastic opportunity to purchase this unique ground floor apartment in a characterful building."

The estate agent is called Venture Properties and is based in Durham City, not based in Spennymoor. As with some of the properties I feature on here, the photographs and the description show a property that needs little or no work to have it ready to rent out. I think that rental demand for it would be strong as I agree with the estate agents - the apartment is akin to one you would normally find in a bigger city. I'm not sure why there have been two photographs included of the front door (one of it open and one of it closed) but generally the photographs show a well-maintained flat.

I'd expect a rental return of between £450 and £500 per month. This equates to a gross annual rental return of somewhere between 6.0% and 6.7%, based on the asking price.

This is a good, solid return on a residential property investment and I think that you could make a good long-term return on this property. There may also be a little play in the price. Nethouseprices show 2 properties sold in the street, but both freehold houses-

http://nethouseprices.com/house-prices/streets-details/county%20durham/spennymoor/dundas%20street/dl16/6ar/dundas%20street%20spennymoor

Comparing purpose-built 2 bedroom flats in Spennymoor, we have asking prices from around £60,000 to just under £100,000 so this one is towards the top end of that.

It's well worth a look.

Wansbeck Close is unusual for Spennymoor and ideal for investors

I've decided to look in today's blog at this property in Wansbeck Close, Spennymoor as we don'r get many apartments for sale in the town and this represents a nice change-

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34979172.html

I've lived in certain parts of the country where there are as many flats or apartments as there are houses. In certain areas, there are many, many large houses converted into two or more flats as developers found they could generate more money this way and 1960's to 1990's planning departments did nothing to stand in their way. With land and space being more plentiful in the North East, this isn't a phenomenon that has ever cropped up, aside from the major cities.

This property is a 2 bedroom first-floor apartment and looks to have been designed and built as a flat rather than converted into one after being built. From the photographs and description, there doesn't look like there is an major renovation needed to get this into a position to let out again. The bathroom looks newly redecorated and does look to be in good condition, as far as can be told from the photographs. The walls look to have quite dated wallpaper on, but a lick of paint in these areas will help to improve the overall presentation and rental potential of this property. The only area that the photos highlights as a potential concern is the kitchen. Although it looks to be in a perfectly lettable condition, to enable the property to gain top rental value a new kitchen may have to be installed. But that decision is about maximising potential - I repeat that the property looks ready to let out with the kitchen in it's current condition.

The estate agent is the town's newest major estate agency - Harringtons - and they describe the property as extremely spacious. The estate agent is another that doesn't seem to grasp the basic estate agency concept of portal pricing and they offer the property at a strange combination of "offers over" and "£69,950." Portal pricing isn't just an excuse for me to have a moan - it's an important factor in marketing a property. Set, whole prices such as £70,000 (which, let's be clear is ONLY £50 more than the asking price here) means that anyone searching from £70,000 to £80,000 will find the property - whereas with the current price they just won't.

The property will attract attention from fellow investors, so you may have to move quite quickly with this one. I'd expect it to gain somewhere between £375 and £425 per month, with the top end of that estimate being more likely if the kitchen is renovated. This equates to something in between 6.4% and 7.3%, based on the asking price. It's a fair return on an investment but you may wish to try a negotiation on the price in order to get the return that you are looking for, especially with any renovation costs to be factored in.

Looking at a higher price bracket can still bring solid returns

It's my first blog post for a little while, and I'm taking a look at a property in a higher price bracket than my usual. It can be easier to look at property in the lower-end price ranges and state that they will make a good rental income. However, this will often lead the landlord to be looking at housing benefit tenants, which isn't a problem in itself. But some landlords and some letting agents don't want to deal with housing benefit.

So it's this property on Abbey Green that I'll be taking a closer look at today-

Abbey Green, Spennymoor, County Durham

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-50660093.html

It's a 3 bedroom semi-detached house by the home builders Yuill. It's showing with Robinsons as new to the market, but appears that they are the second agent instructed. The asking price is another that ignores the portal pricing conventions and is on the market for £118,950. For those that don't know what portal pricing means or the difference it can make then see here-

http://eaboost.blogspot.com/2014/05/why-portal-pricing-really-matters.html

This agent describes the property as "In our opinion the property would suit a variety of purchasers including the smaller family" of which I'm not sure of the translation into English. From the recent build of the house, the description (including the NHBC guarantee) and the photographs we can see that the house needs little or no work to have it ready for occupation. Judging on how quickly these were snapped up when sold by the developers, I can't see that this one will be on the market for long if the price is right.

Looking at the data on sold prices for this road is a bit of a lottery because the houses were built so recently. The prices will not show incentives such as part exchange or free carpets, etc so it's difficult to draw any comparisons. The figures from nethouseprices are as follows-

http://nethouseprices.com/house-prices/streets-details/county%20durham/spennymoor/abbey%20green/dl16/6pd/abbey%20green,%20spennymoor,%20county%20durham?sale_date=last_ten_years

I think that a monthly rental return would fall somewhere between £600 and £675 for this property. This equates to a gross annual rental return of between 6.0% and 6.8%, based on the asking price advertised.

Again, we are looking at a solid rental return for a residential lettings investment and, as I've already said, there could be some competition from owner-occupiers for the purchase of this property.

Durham Road in Spennymoor always has strong demand from tenants

Although it's for sale by auction, so it's a little difficult to determine the actual selling price, this property on Durham Road definitely has investment potential-

DURHAM ROAD, SPENNYMOOR, SPENNYMOOR DISTRICT

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51785729.html

It's showing on Rightmove as offers over £49,950 and is being marketed by Dowen. The actual price will be determined by how the auction goes plus there's a buyers premium when you've bought the property - although the amount of this wasn't stated on the Rightmove listing. And the confusion continues a little further as, although the property on showed as uploaded in the last 3 days, the listing also states that the auction took place in 4th June. I'll attempt to clear up the confusion and post my findings on here.

In any case, the benefits of buying in Durham Road are evident, no matter what the property, as long as the price is right.  Durham Road always has a good demand for rental as it's good for transport links and close enough to the town centre. The only downside is the recent rise in attendances for Spennymoor Town football club and the parking issues this sometimes causes. But once a fortnight for a couple of hours through the football season isn't a major hardship.

The agent describes it as-

"A spacious THREE BEDROOMED end terrace property which has the benefit of TWO RECEPTION ROOMS and OFF STREET PARKING."

Although it appears to need some work to bring it up to modern rental demands, it is an end-terrace and it has the off street parking, so I'd suggest that when it has been modernised, it could a he ive a rental return in the region of between £425 and £500 per month.

This is where is usually give a rental return figure, but this one is a little more difficult than usual given the fact that the property is at auction and there is this unspecified buyers premium to consider.

I'll base the figures in £60,000 to cover these factors and the renovation costs. It works out as a possible gross rental return of between 8.2% and 10% per annum. A quite healthy return for your money.

As I've said before, I'll try to find out some more facts about the sale, the auction and the buyers premium and when I do I'll put a short post on here to confirm the details.

St. Andrews Road in Spennymoor could be an investors delight

I've been taking a look at what has become a growing Spring property market in Spennymoor. There are several auction entries this week, but it's this property below that's caught my eye as an investor-

St. Andrews Road, Spennymoor

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34358373.html

It's a 3 bed terraced house on St. Andrews Road Spennymoor with an asking price of Offers In the Region Of £69,950. It's on the market with Harringtons and they've got into this habit recently of listing property on Rightmove and using a photo of the interior as their lead photo. I would say that approximately 99% of properties on the property portals have a photo of the exterior as their lead photo - and for good reason. Being able to see the outside of a property gives the potential buyer a good idea of the size of the property, the parking and garden space and whether they perceive it to have kerb appeal. Photos really do paint 1000 words and I think that Harringtons have really missed a trick here. Especially with this property, as the interior is in need of some work and the room they have chosen is small, devoid of furniture and badly presented.

The agent describes it as-

"An ideal first time buyer purchase offering spacious living accommodation and in need of some cosmetic modernisation."

I see it as a property with much potential. From reading the description and looking at photos, the work needed here looks like redecoration rather than structural. It looks to have a big enough kitchen to fit a dining table in, which is a big bonus in today's market. People are seeing the kitchen as becoming more and more the most important room in the house. The house builders have tapped into this and now pretty much provide it as standard in new builds.

So, there's potential if you can spend a little money on it to bring it up to scratch. I see a monthly rental of somewhere between £395 and £475 for this property, after looking at what else is on the market. This equates to a gross annual rental of between 6.7% and 8.1%, based on the asking price of £69,959.

Even this level of refurbishment may put off some residential buyers, so there can be potential in this for the investor.

Parkside in Spennymoor is always popular

Just added to Rightmove is this property in the ever-popular Parkside-

Parkside, Spennymoor, County Durham

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51230369.html

It's a 3 bedroom semi-detached property with an asking price of £114,950. It's brought to the market by Robinsons and this agent seems to be popular in this part of town. According to their blurb-

" In our opinion this spacious home would provide an ideal purchase for the growing family"

When you cut through the vast amounts of agent speak in the description of this property (and there's a lot to cut through) it's a decent 3 bedroom semi-detached house. It's close to the town, the good primary schools and the third bedroom isn't a box room. From the photographs, it looks vacant, so if that is the case then a sale and completion could possibly be agreed quite quickly on this. Again from looking at the photographs and reading the actual facts in the description, there doesn't look to be a lot of work involved and it has a kitchen/diner which is a massive selling point and a bit of a rarity in properties of this age. Many of the really new build properties have this feature and it is a popular feature, as the family room.

From the point of view of an investor, I would expect a monthly rental return of £450 to £525 per month. This equates to an annual rental return of between 4.7% and 5.5%, based on the asking price. This is a reasonable return, and the property should hold value over the years, as the location will always be popular for investors and owner occupiers alike.

There will be initial interest in this property from people looking to buy and live in it, and from landlord-investors. It's worth getting an early look so you can make your mind up.

Semi-detached property in Deneside has investment potential

There seems to have been a small exodus of Spennymoor estate agents from Rightmove. There's nothing showing uploaded for the last three days. I've gone to the new estate agency property portal called On The Market, and found this property-

https://www.onthemarket.com/details/1198345/

It's a 3 bedroom semi-detached house on Deneside with an asking price of £69,000. The estate agent in question is a Spennymoor Property Blog regular, Dowen. As an agent with a presence in Spennymoor town centre, Dowen get their fair share of properties.

They describe this on as spacious, in a quiet location with pleasant views to the rear. And they're right! The property itself looks lived-in and well-looked-after but is obviously quite dated. To buy and let this out to potential tenants, you will probably want to update the kitchen and possibly the bathroom. From the photos and description alone, everything else seems a lick of paint away from going to the rental market.

According to the nethouseprices website, the average selling price for a property in Deneside is £57,984 -

http://m.nethouseprices.com/soldprices/property_results?street=DENESIDE&town=SPENNYMOOR&outcode=DL16

The most recent, and possibly the most relevant sale is that of number 65 in March 2014 for £70,000.

Regular readers of my blog will know that this is the point at which we loom at the numbers. I would expect this property to achieve somewhere between £395 and £450 per month. This equates to an annual return of between 6.9% and 7.8% based on the asking price. Taking into account the fact that you may have to update the kitchen and bathroom, this is a reasonably healthy rental return for an investor.

It's probably well worth a look and an offer, based on the information you can gather from the estate agent on the On The Market website.

Rowan Court in Spennymoor can bring a reasonable return for the investor

Obviously there aren't many peoperties coming to market at the present time, but this one caught the eye

ROWAN COURT, SPENNYMOOR, SPENNYMOOR DISTRICT

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-49695116.html

It's a 3 bedroom semi-detached house in Rowan Court and the asking price is Offers In The Region Of £106,995. I've spoken many times about portal pricing and ensuring that the marketing gives the property it's best chance. This would be at £100,000 or £110,000 and NOT at an odd price point such as £106,995.

Add to this, the photography could have been carried out in better light. But if you can look past this you may find a good property.

It looks well-maintained and from the photos and description of the property doesn't appear to require a lot of work. For landlords this is a plus. I'd expect a monthly rental of between £525 and £600. This relates to a gross annual return of between 5.8% and 6.7%, based on the asking price. This is a reasonable rental return and the fact that the property is 3 bedrooms will probably make it more attractive than the 2 bedroom properties currently available for rent.

It's worth a look for the investor.

Fern Grove in Spennymoor would give a decent rental return

One property that has come to market in Spennymoor over the lady week is this 2 bedroom house on Fern Grove, which has gone on the market for £72,500-

Fern Grove, Spennymoor, Durham

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-49518983.html

You'll have to forgive the estate agent for going over-the-top in their description of this one. Look at the following sentence from the description-

"Conveniently located for local schools and bus routes the property in our opinion would suit a variety of purchasers including the first time buyer and this lovely home must be viewed to be appreciated."

And that's all one sentence!

Putting this aside, it's in a good location, close to South View, and the bus route. The property has been refurbished in the standard manner of low-cost fitted kitchen and magnolia walls.  This will probably bode well as the current owner will most likely have put right any potential traits as part of the refurbishment.

I know that many landlords would rather do the renovation work themselves than pay a premium for someone else to carry it out, but there's still some mileage left in this property.

I'd expect a rental return of between £425 and £450 per month for this property.  This would bring a gross annual return of between 7% and 7.4%, based on the asking price. This is reasonable, compared to the standard accepted return of 6%.

Go and have a look!

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.